Five initiatives for the Department of Education were laid out by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in 2023 to address the country’s declining learning competencies, which has become a grave concern. Of the five, only recalibrating the K to 10 curriculum was fulfilled while Vice President Sara Duterte was still the department secretary.
All other education-centered programs are in progress while the department undergoes a change in leadership following Duterte’s resignation. The outgoing secretary admitted it is an “uncomfortable truth” that majority of Filipino students fall below the minimum proficiency level in reading, mathematics, and science, as shown in the 2022 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).
The 2022 PISA results, released on Dec. 5, 2023, captured a grim snapshot of the hurdles Filipino learners and educators face, especially that the Philippines’ learning competencies are estimated to lag by about six years compared to other countries.
Over the past few months, the president instructed education officials to recover from these basic education learning deficiencies, improve teacher support, and raise the country’s performance in the PISA.
The president also set his sights on improving job-readiness and employability among senior high school graduates. Such an order transcends changing DepEd leadership, as Marcos picked Sen. Sonny Angara to head the department after Duterte’s resignation.
The issues related to closing the learning gaps in basic education and improving job-readiness of graduates are covered in two out of his five promises for the education sector during his 2023 State of the Nation Address.
See how has the president fared on his promises on education so far:
