K-12 program should be at par with international education standards

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MANILA –- A lawmaker on Thursday wants to make sure that by 2018, the new K-12 curriculum in Philippine education system should be evaluated and be at par with international educational standards.

Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian (1st District, Valenzuela City),in filing House Resolution 1474, proposed that an assessment of the new K-12 curriculum as mandated by Republic Act No. 10533, also known as the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, be done and that the Philippines should participate in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2018.

“By 2018, the K-12 curriculum and other reforms mandated by the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 will have been fully implemented and will therefore be ready for comprehensive evaluation and assessment as the Philippines continues its mission to ensure the constitutional right of each Filipino to quality and accessible education,” Gatchalian said.

PISA is a triennial international survey which aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students. Every three years, fifteen-year-old students from randomly selected schools worldwide take tests in the key subjects: reading, mathematics, and science, with a focus on one subject in each year of assessment.

The lawmaker is urging Education Secretaty Armin Luistro to make the Philippines take part in the said program.

It is to “benchmark the Philippine education system with the implementation of the new K-12 curriculum,’ said Gatchalian.

According to the lawmaker, the Philippines is qualified to participate in PISA 2018 if DepEd immediately makes an action to complete PISA’s application requirements.

“The credible and transparent methodology of PISA testing and analysis has generated high-level policy recommendations that have encouraged countries and economies of all shapes and sizes to introduce targeted, innovative reforms producing real improvements in student learning outcomes in education systems around the world,” Gatchalian said.