DepEd blamed for poor ranking of Filipino students in math, science

The Department of Education (DepEd) has scored by ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro, a progressive lawmaker, for the poor ratings of the country's students in an international assessment for mathematics and science. 

She said that the department could not blame the previous leaders for the significantly lower scores in the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS). 

We attribute this to the DepEd because of its lapses and incompetence, and they should not blame the teachers because they are making up for the DepEd’s shortcomings,

she said. 

Castro made the remarks after Filipino students lagged behind other countries in the TIMMS, which assessed mathematics and science competency among Grade 4 students. 

The Philippines was ranked last out of 58 countries. Other countries at the bottom five of the TIMMS were Morocco, Kuwait, South Africa, and Pakistan. 

Following the result of the assessment, the DepEd has vowed to continue implementing reforms to improve the quality of education in the country using data from international assessments, including the recent study. 

Our standing policy is to translate these international assessments into concrete and implementable actions that can have a direct impact on our learners’ achievements and teachers’ improvements,

the DepEd said last Thursday. 

Though we had to prioritize our COVID-19 response this year, we did not lose sight of our mission of Sulong EduKalidad,

it added, referring to its initiative that aims to address issues and gaps in attaining quality education in the country.