DepEd slams report saying 70K Bicol students can’t read

Briones was referring tot he results of pretests administered by the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI) (File Photo: Department of Education – Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA — Education Secretary Leonor Briones on Monday slammed 2019 report which showed that more than 70,000 elementary students in Bicol cannot read in both English and Filipino saying the figure was “exaggerated.”

Briones was referring to the results of pretests administered by the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI) which refers to the revised assessment tool designed to determine a student’s reading level.

She said the results were exaggerated since it combined the number of students who had difficulty reading in English and Filipino and emphasized that “not knowing how to read is different from being illiterate.”

“Palagay ko, insulto naman iyon sa mga Bikolano dahil one of their schools, iyong Partido States University ano nila, eh ang taas ng rating eh. So iyon, gusto ko lang i-clarify iyan (I think it is an insult to Bicolanos because one of their schools, the Partido States University obtained a high rating. I just wanted to clarify that),” Briones said in a Laging Handa press briefing in Malacañang.

She also asked media to be careful in interpreting and reporting about the Phil-IRI results

Meanwhile, Briones defended anew the results of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 after the Philippines ranked the lowest among 79 countries that took part in the assessment.

The assessment, conducted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), showed that the Philippines scored 340 points against the OECD average of 487.

She said the right attitude should be to “learn from the PISA results.”

She also emphasized that the results do not necessarily mean that all students in the country scored poorly in the assessment test.

According to Briones, students from the National Capital Region (NCR) scored the highest while in terms of regional performance, Regions 7 (Central Visayas) and 11 (Davao Region) also obtained high scores.

She said there were also some 20 schools in the Philippines which matched the average scores obtained by countries which are members of the OECD.

The OECD is an intergovernmental economic organization with 36 member-countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade.

Briones said the DepEd continues to implement its “Sulong EduKalidad” program which shall review and update the K-12 curriculum; improve the learning environment; upskill and reskill teachers; and, engage stakeholders for support and collaboration.

The DepEd is expected to release a full report on the curriculum review by March 30, she said.

She said the agency is also meeting with members of the business sector, civil society, and other experts to determine other reforms that can be made to raise the quality of education in the country.

Guidelines on Covid-19

In the same press briefing, Briones announced that agencies and local government units will release updated guidelines on the holding of large gatherings and public events amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak.

However, she said the DepEd has postponed some events such as Palarong Pambansa scheduled from February to March and April.

“The various regions are having their regional athletic meets which will lead to the Palarong Pambansa, which is really the huge athletic event of the entire country. So, these are scheduled in March and April,” Briones said.

Earlier, a joint memorandum circular by the Departments of Tourism, Health, and Interior and Local Government (DILG) was released to encourage local governments to pursue events despite public fears over Covid-19 as long as precautionary measures are in place.