The Filipino learners as readers
By Delia R. Miguel
Undeniably, students with poor reading skills are becoming more apparent to
educators and parents due to the results found on criterion-referenced, high stakes mandatory
testing that most schools nationwide have incorporated across grade levels. This dismal
performance of learners in reading is apparent, too, in international assessments as noted by
Andreas Schleicher, Division Head and Coordinator of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OEDC) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)
in the light of the 2018 PISA results.
To note, in a global survey of reading comprehension conducted by the PISA of the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) last 2018, Filipinos ranked
last among 79 countries with a rating of 340 points compared to the average 487 points. The
country placed 79th in reading, with the majority of Filipino students who took part in the
assessment being in Grade 9. PISA is a triennial international assessment administered to 15-
year-old learners, who are about to finish their mandatory basic education. Implemented by
OECD, the PISA results are deemed able to provide relevant insights on student performance
and inform policy decisions by the Department of Education (DepEd). In this vein, DepEd
Secretary Leonor Briones, in an interview with Philippine Star published on December 3, 2019,
remarked that DepEd was not expecting high marks for the Philippines noting the results of the
National Achievement Test in 2018 which showed low levels proficiency in English, Math,
Science, and Filipino.
From the aforecited data, education in the Philippines faces two huge problems: poor
reading comprehension skills and poor performance in Math and Science. Of the two, from what
Former DepEd Secretary Bro.Armin Luistro stressed about reading as the foundation of all
learning, it would seem that reading needs utmost attention and action as students are still likely
to fail their Math and/or Science subjects as long as and while they have poor reading
comprehension. Their mastery of concepts and navigation of the concepts in the different
subjects rests greatly and significantly on how well they understood these concepts. This makes
it imperative that education officials enact reforms and programs that shall address this seeming
sad plight of the Filipino learners are readers.
