Philippine students last in reading comprehension

[Mike J]

I have been speaking with other people about this very subject.  I do a bible study with two youth in grade seven.  Both are so poor in comprehension that I was seeking advice on how to present information that they would understand.  I am pleased that government now realizes how serious this problem is.  I really hope they are able to do something about it.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/05/19/palace-poor-reading-comprehension-of-pinoys-students-a-reality

MANILA- The poor reading comprehension of Filipino students is a "reality" that must be recognized by the country in order to improve its educational system, Malacañang said Thursday.

Filipino students ranked last among 79 countries in a global survey of reading comprehension, a result that the Palace opted to view in a "constructive" manner, according to Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo.

"[O]ur government's joining in this assessment program signifies that this administration is unafraid to open the eyes of the Filipino people to the reality in order for us to ascertain what steps to undertake so we can perform better in the aspect of education," he said.

Over 600,000 students around the age of 15 from 79 different countries joined the reading assessment of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2018.

Filipino students got a rating of 340 points in the survey, which is lower than the average 487 points. Majority of Filipinos aged 15 are in Grade 9.

Mga mag-aaral na Pinoy, pinakamahina sa 79 bansa sa pag-intindi ng binabasa: PISA
Panelo said the Philippines joined the assessment as part of President Rodrigo Duterte's Quality Basic Education Reform Plan.

He said the government is working to address gaps in the education sector.

"Our education officials are on the right track as we address the issues and gaps in the basic education sector. These include a continuing review of the K to 12 program, improving our students' learning facilities and retooling the knowledge and skills of our teachers," he said.

[Tommy T.]

29 minutes ago, Mike J said:

"Our education officials are on the right track as we address the issues and gaps in the basic education sector. These include a continuing review of the K to 12 program, improving our students' learning facilities and retooling the knowledge and skills of our teachers," he said.

Mike... After observing and listening to L, who is a high school teacher here,  the "gaps" in the education sector here are huge. Teachers and students are not provided with basic materials - textbooks, note pads, pencils, computers... If a teacher wants to display something using a projector, he or she must provide that projector privately. Teachers are expected to teach western style subjects and methods, but are given no teaching aids or real guidance. They also spend 75% of their time filling out paperwork that probably nobody looks at - abstracts about the students and their physical beings, abstracts about student performance and all sorts of other reports.

Added to that, the newer teachers tend to be lazy, I am told. They show up to get a paycheck, then don't spend much time in preparation for classes or actual time for classes. Plus, there are many laws now that "protect" students from teacher abuse. Sure... many of them have reasons because of a few instances of true abuse in the past... But now, when I talk to L on the phone when she is at school, it sounds like a zoo with all the kids yelling and screaming. L is  a strong woman and good teacher, but she is now powerless to control the more unruly students out of fear of losing her job or teaching certification due to any student claiming any kind of "abuse." She has already had to defend herself to some parents when kids claimed abuse and won when the kids finally backed down from their bulls**t claims in the face of other student in classrooms as witnesses.

Sorry for my rant here... But the Philippine school system needs an entire overhaul from the top down - or from the bottom up?

We have discussed this in other threads, so I won't belabour this... The kids here now just mainly learn dancing, singing, partying. Not much English, history, no geography... Only the really gifted or motivated kids or kids in private and dedicated schools have a chance to succeed.

[fototek1]

In 2009 kids in Calbayog were 4-5 per book. They took turns with the books which were missing pages and up to 20 years old. Me and 4 friends (Americans on a trip with Rotary) were shocked at this and decided to see what we could do to help. As luck would have it, there is an American company that has school text books made in Asia. After some research it was discovered all of the reject books (Mostly cosmetic) were stored in a warehouse and the American company wanted to dispose of them. The 5 of us raised money back in the US to purchase the books for a few thousand dollars and partnered with Philippine Rotary clubs to distribute the books. I believe we sent enough books to cover the majority of students in the city for every subject. I just checked my facts because they seemed to good. We provided every child with  a text book  for every subject in 4 schools.

Edited December 6, 2019 by fototek1

[Marvin Boggs]

In subjects like this, I do believe it is important to face facts.  Namely, that PH is largely a 3rd world country in many respects.  As we know, 'systems' are often hopelessly behind here, whether we are talking about education, infrastructure, health, etc.  That said, I have seem some 3rd world education systems that are still successful, and produce well educated, well adjusted students.  

Imagine a one-room school that meets in the village pavilion, run by a single dedicated teacher.  She teaches the basics, she teaches them thoroughly, and the kids are there to learn instead of play.  These things exist...but it really requires the local efforts of the village.  Some of us in our retirement years might consider offering our time to the local barangay in this capacity.  

 

[hk blues]

10 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

We have discussed this in other threads, so I won't belabour this... The kids here now just mainly learn dancing, singing, partying. Not much English, history, no geography... 

That may be the case in some schools, Tom, but most certainly not in my son's school.  Yes, they do tend to spend more time on cultural events than we might expect, but they also have significantly more homework than I am used to seeing.  They certainly have a wide curriculum.  I will agree that there is a distinct lack of geography in my son's school.  But, overall, I'm happy enough that he is getting a balanced education here.

[Gary D]

9 hours ago, Marvin Boggs said:

 Some of us in our retirement years might consider offering our time to the local barangay in this capacity. 

Be very careful as you can get into deep trouble volunteering here due to the labour laws here.

[Tommy T.]

2 hours ago, hk blues said:

That may be the case in some schools, Tom, but most certainly not in my son's school.  Yes, they do tend to spend more time on cultural events than we might expect, but they also have significantly more homework than I am used to seeing.  They certainly have a wide curriculum.  I will agree that there is a distinct lack of geography in my son's school.  But, overall, I'm happy enough that he is getting a balanced education here.

I am quite pleased to hear about your experience there, HK... It definitely sounds like there is variation among the various schools. L teaches at a huge public school here in Davao and receives virtually no support from DepEd. She spends her own money to purchase teaching aids that she feels are relevant. She resorts to Google for illustrating some of her topics and must borrow a projector from another teacher in order to display visuals. Internet access and quality are problematic at best here as evidenced right now for the past half hour when I cannot access this web site at all. I have just typed up and save these comments for when internet becomes available again... some time...

L tells me that they teach chemistry, physics, higher math (algebra and trig) and history (but the history is almost exclusively of the Philippines). The kids here have a bit of homework, but it doesn't sound like what is given in your school district.

[Mike J]

13 hours ago, hk blues said:

That may be the case in some schools, Tom, but most certainly not in my son's school.  Yes, they do tend to spend more time on cultural events than we might expect, but they also have significantly more homework than I am used to seeing.  They certainly have a wide curriculum.  I will agree that there is a distinct lack of geography in my son's school.  But, overall, I'm happy enough that he is getting a balanced education here.

Is this a public or private school?

[Marvin Boggs]

I have some additional insight on this.  Was discussing it with my soft little brown thing, and asking about reading, writing, etc:

 

Did you read much as a kid?   - No, we didn't have any books

What about story books, did your Mom read to you?  - Nope, there aren't any books in Hiligaynon

But what about in school, they didn't have Hiligaynon books?  - No, our school books were English or sometimes Tagalog

So what language was being used by the teacher during class?  - Mostly English, it depends

What about assignments, like did you have to read English books and write a report?  - No the teacher just taught in class, they didn't have a library or books like that unless they were shared

But isn't Tagalog the official language?  - Yes we learned it in school too

But no one spoke it where you lived?  - No  (I can corroborate this, even when we visited Cebu, they were using English as the default between Hiligaynon and Visayan.   IDK why Tagalog doesn't seem so prevalent)

But outside of school, did you use English at all?  - Never, until I started working later

 

My observation here is that there is simply no reading habit or even access to books in the native tongue.  At least not 'out in the province'.  Teaching the kids English from an early age may be a good move, but no reading of books or WRITING it to back up the spoken usage.  Tagalog seems to be a language they would never use unless they were watching the national news or visiting Manila.  

It seems to me the 'bright' kids kind of recognize the importance of English in their future, and try harder at it.  I can't foresee any easy answers to this national literacy problem:  The kids speak one language at home, learn another in school, but without access to many books, and without any occasion to use the English until after graduation. 

 

[Tommy T.]

49 minutes ago, Marvin Boggs said:

It seems to me the 'bright' kids kind of recognize the importance of English in their future, and try harder at it.  I can't foresee any easy answers to this national literacy problem:  The kids speak one language at home, learn another in school, but without access to many books, and without any occasion to use the English until after graduation. 

 

I think, Marvin, it may unfortunately be a bit like I previously described about education here. There is very little money or effort directed to provide text books, computers (or computer time), even notebooks - for the students. As your post notes, there are so many dialects abounding, but teaching is conducted in only a few languages. Here in Davao, in the middle of the Davaoweno language, Cebuano, Visayan and others that you have mentioned, my partner, L, is mandated to teach using Tagalog in her high school. Can you even imagine how difficult that must be for the kids? And, as you also mentioned, there is virtually no "literature" devoted to so many of these "minor" languages.

Lastly, as you also say, the kids are taught in one language (typically Tagalog) in schools, the parents might speak Mandauan yet the most successful language to get ahead here is English with few or no textbooks for learning or reference available? This gives me a headache just contemplating it all!!