December 3, 2020 – Identified as top performers in Philippine schools in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2018, Pasig City Science High School and the Regional Science High School for Region VI shared best practices in their commitment to delivering quality education.

The representatives of the two schools pointed out mentoring and teacher empowerment as two key factors in their outstanding performance during the PISA 2018.

Pasig City Science High School (PCSHS) Principal Charlie Fababaer showcased the role of teachers in adopting a student-centric and ICT-enhanced pedagogy that encourages deep learning, critical thinking, and creativity.

According to Mr. Fababaer, their school’s approach creates a playground of creative thinking and holistic development for learners, thus boosting exposure to national and international mathematics competitions and scientific projects.

“While our school is student-centric, we are also giving primary importance to our teachers. We are using In-Service Training and Learning Action Cell (LAC) sessions as our primary actions in enhancing their content knowledge and pedagogy, including classroom management and other aspects of teacher quality. [During] these professional development sessions, they are [allowed] to share their best practices and talk about the things that are working inside the classroom. We [also involve] them in our planning activities so that they would feel that they are empowered,” Fababaer said during the Updates on Education Quality Press Conference on Thursday.

For Regional Science High School of Region VI (RSHS-VI), Principal Ma. Santia Arboleda highlighted peer mentoring, where top performers of the class are encouraged to guide their fellow students through hard lessons.

The RSHS Region VI alumni are also invited to join the said coaching system to help graduating students prepare for their college entrance exams.

“We cannot do these things alone. To involve the stakeholders in the preparation for PISA 2018, the school held an orientation with the parents where the parents gave a positive response in supporting the school, [and] for technical assistance, the DepEd Division of Aklan [has] also extended support,” Arboleda noted.

With the support of DepEd and various stakeholders, both PCSHS and  RSHS-VI believe that the country’s preparation in the next round of PISA in 2022 will serve as an investment of education for the future generation.

Secretary Leonor Magtolis-Briones also praised DepEd Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and Baguio City National High School (BCNHS) for their respective practices as part of the national effort in raising the country’s quality of education. BCNHS has been cited by Secretary Briones for scoring the highest in reading literacy results in PISA 2018.

“It was never mentioned that we have these [20] schools which have achieved very high performance rating on a global scale. So there must be something good happening in the Philippine education and that something good has to be shared. So we’re asking the teachers, the school heads what lessons they can impart,” said Secretary Briones.

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