PASIG CITY, February 5, 2020 – Department of Education (DepEd) Undersecretary and Chief of Staff Nepomuceno Malaluan highlighted the significance of Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) at the Education World Forum 2020 (EWF2020) at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London. He said that the PISA results will establish the baseline and evidence needed by the country in relation to global standards.

“We want the PISA result to complement our own national assessment, to provide further evidence on needed reforms. By participating in PISA, we will be able to establish our baseline in relation to global standards, and benchmark the effectiveness of our reforms moving forward,” Usec. Malaluan said.

He underscored that the results of PISA motivated the Department to address the challenge of quality by launching Sulong EduKalidad.

“Sulong EduKalidad, under the backdrop of the PISA results, has galvanized broad unity to work together on key reforms, including collaborative research to deepen insights from PISA and our national assessments, and coordinated concrete interventions under four pillars (K-to-12 curriculum review and update; Improving the learning environment; Teachers’ upskilling and reskilling; and Engagement of stakeholders for support and collaboration)”, Malaluan noted.

Usec. Malaluan spoke on behalf of Education chief Leonor Magtolis Briones, who cancelled her EWF2020 engagement to check on the situation of displaced learners and teachers affected by the phreatic eruption of Taal Volcano last January 12. He also challenged PISA in emphasizing the important contexts and nuances to country comparisons and ranking.

“A ranking system gives the public the impression that countries are perfectly comparable. But the country contexts and education systems are vastly different.  They differ in size, levels of development, and challenges,” he said.

Malaluan concluded that the Philippines is taking quality education seriously by seeking initiatives like PISA to guide its way towards education transformation. “We look forward to balanced communication of all aspects and nuances of PISA, as we partner with PISA and the global education community towards advancing quality education for all,” Malaluan concluded.

The Education World Forum has brought delegates from two-thirds of the world’s population including education ministers to debate on future education policies. The forum for this year is anchored on the theme “What should we do with what we know?” It aims to build long-term vision and courage to adjust strategy to changing circumstances, and to develop collective intelligence and community to enhance and sustain change, among others.

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