DepEd should hire the best elementary teachers
The Philippine Business for Education(PBED) advises the Department of Education to hire the best elementary teachers.
According to PBED Executive Director Love Basillote, the curriculum is not only the problem in the country’s education. The low quality of teachers is also a factor that students learn almost nothing.
“Hindi lang curriculum ang problema. The best teachers should be in elementary grades kasi foundational ‘yan,” Basillote said.
PBED also urged DepEd to lessen the curriculum in elementary. Focus more on reading and mathematics.
“Kailangang mag-focus sa reading and math especially sa early grades (from kindergarten to grade 3),” Basillote said.
Based on Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) 2019 data, only 10 percent of Grade 5 Filipino students achieved the minimum proficiency in reading, 17 percent in mathematics, and only 2 percent in writing. This is lower compared to Vietnam and Malaysia. Cambodia and the Philippines rank the same and a little bit higher compared to Laos and Myanmar.
Basillote added that the crisis in education in our country is quite alarming.
“The results of the 2019 SEA-PLM is deeply concerning. We don’t only have a problem; we are facing a learning crisis,” Basillote said.
“This will have a short term impact on our ability to recover from Covid19 and a long term impact on this generation’s lifetime earnings and well-being. We need therefore to address this as we would a crisis: decisive leadership, wide community engagement, more resources (budget), and localized interventions,” he added.
Ang SEA-PLM 2019 is in charge of assisting the learning outcomes in reading, writing, mathematics, and global citizenship of Grade 5 learners in all countries in Southeast Asia.
