Angara eyes computers, special classes for PISA 2025 takers

''Special attention” will be given to students who will be taking the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) next year in a bid to improve the Philippines’ performance, Education Secretary Sonny Angara said Tuesday.

During the deliberations of the Senate Committee on Finance on the proposed 2025 budget of the Department of Education (DepEd) and its attached agencies, Angara said that they are now following the 2025 PISA Readiness Plan in accordance with the instruction of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to improve the country’s PISA results.

“We intend to provide them with the resources, the nutrition to do better. So it’s going to be like a bar exam,” he said.

“Maybe we can house them, create a special class, review class for them where they receive special attention. Maybe a tutorial type of system and digital assistance as well, meaning provision of computers so they are familiar with taking exams on computers. [So,] there’s no shock factor come exam time in March 2025,” he added.

According to Angara, they have so far identified 1.6 million 15-year-old public school learners from Grades 7 to 10 who may possibly take the PISA.

By January 2025, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development will name over 150 public schools where the takers will be coming from, and by February, the 7,000 takers will be individually identified by the OECD, he added.

In the 2022 PISA, the Philippines ranked sixth lowest among the 81 countries and economies that participated in the study, indicating that Filipino learners continued to lag in mathematics, science, and reading.

In response, Marcos had directed the DepEd to work hard on improving the country's performance based on the latest PISA.

Angara also earlier said he recommended the creation of a task force to improve the performance of Filipino students in the PISA.

In preparation for the next PISA, Angara said that the DepEd has come up with short- and long-term interventions on how Filipino learners could improve their performance, with a specific focus on the science subject.

He said the agency will also monitor the learners’ progress to see if the interventions are effective. — VBL, GMA Integrated News