What are “learning losses”? How do we know that our children are learning, and by what standards are they measured against? Is there really an education crisis? As the chief of Communications and Advocacy for the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EdCom, II), questions like these are what I face on a daily basis—from parents, practitioners, and the public.
I cannot fault them: The learning crisis is a mostly invisible one, measured by standard tests that we don’t always participate in, and are conducted years in between. The Programme for International Student Assessment, for example, is conducted every three years, while Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, every four years. Locally, there are rarely any headlines or resources about the results of the National Achievement Test—which is supposed to be a useful tool to inform decisions ranging from teacher strategies to government programs and resource allocations.
We measure obvious numbers related to education—number of years of schooling, number of classrooms, teacher-to-student ratio, and the like. But, as we are beginning to see today, learning doesn’t necessarily go hand-in-hand with these numbers.
Case in point: We have high attendance rates for all levels, but, when measured objectively against learner assessments both locally and internationally, we fare dismally. The average Filipino student, when compared to a learner in other countries, is a short 5.5 years of learning. Being in school is clearly not the same as learning.
The learning crisis’ invisibility is a big part of the problem. While headlines are often inundated with stories on street crime or drug violence, education is not as appealing on the 7 o’clock news. Education numbers don’t exactly excite the general public as much as economic figures such as gross domestic product, consumer price index, and inflation rate.
The fact that this crisis is also a long-term one does not help. In education, we sow the seeds that we planted five or 10 years before. This does not bode well with a political landscape where policies are influenced significantly by the election cycle.
How, then, do we communicate an invisible crisis?
Firstly, we ensure that the story behind the problem is understood. At EdCom II, we have the advantage of collecting data that informs decision-making. These data tell a story, and making sure that story is understood is a big step toward solving the problem.
Communicating stories on the ground is also an important element. The technical secretariat of EdCom II has begun visits to sites where we can learn best practices and concepts that can inform future policy. In the next few months, we will continue to look into these case studies—whether they can be found locally or abroad—and tell their stories.
Secondly, we engage our stakeholders. At EdCom II, we strive to spark meaningful conversations through participative democracy. We have begun using surveys that gather, analyze, and understand our stakeholders, aided by statistics and machine learning.
This system gives us the ability to leverage Filipinos’ inclination toward digital engagement. While we can just as easily create a poll on social media platforms, these participative democracy tools give us structured data directly from the people. Early runs of this system look promising, and we aim to continue this type of crowdsourced data collection through the length of our project.
Lastly, we envision the goal. Where do we want to be by the end of EdCom II’s lifespan? It may be difficult to answer this question now, but we are encouraged not only by local examples, but also by other countries who have managed to turn around their own learning crises. This also highlights the very real need for data-driven, reliable, and valid assessments that truly quantify learning. We can’t manage what we don’t measure.
Coming in from the private education sector, seeing the nuances of the education system on the ground has always been a feature of my working life. I have seen my fair share of teachers who show up despite being overworked, school administrators who try their best despite low enrolment rates, and students who, against all odds, strive to make do with what they have, and learn.
It is an eye-opening experience to try and communicate the big picture at EdCom II. It may seem like a daunting task, but so much is on the line. At the end of the day, this is what keeps us going: the promise of a better future for all Filipino learners.
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Luigi Calingasan Conti is the chief of Communications and Advocacy of EdCom II.