President Duterte accepts World Bank’s apology, expects more accurate education assessment
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has accepted the apology of the World Bank (WB) on Monday after the financial institution prematurely published an assessment of Filipino students’ academic ability, noting, however, that he wanted to know the true assessment of the students’ performance.
The World Bank has apologized for issuing a
report revealing 80 percent of Filipino children do not have the essential math
and reading skills they should have depending on their academic level.
In his public address, President Duterte said
the Department of Education (DepEd) is focusing on a new set of data that will
be soon presented to the financial institution so that they can amend their
statistics and data inputs.
In welcoming the World Bank’s apology for its
report, the President said he hoped the organization would be more cautious in
the future.
“I would not want to begrudge World Bank. But
itong mga international whatever bodies working on the problems of the world
should be very careful in their statistics,” President Duterte said.
“It is not good to, you know, commit a wrong
internationally.”
The World Bank has published a study
reflecting the low performance of Filipino students without giving DepEd the
chance to provide inputs.
The report was based on three assessments the
Philippines previously participated: the Program for International Student
Assessment in 2018, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study
in 2019, and the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics also in 2019.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones said the
report “insulted” and “shamed” the Philippines and she had
requested the World Bank to issue an apology.
The President commended Secretary Briones for
calling out the World Bank on the issue hoping that a more accurate report
based on the latest data will be made.
“I am sure that the Department of Education
is working on a new set of data to be submitted to them so that they can
correct their figures and data inputs,” he said.
“On that note and for the sake of the
transparency and policy direction, we would like to know the latest assessment
matrix of student performance and achievement, as well as the latest national
data and figures in terms of learning outcomes, especially during the pandemic,
so we can identify which gaps need to be addressed,” he added.
The President said budgetary constraints have
been preventing the country from improving on all facets of governance,
promising to continue working to boost the country’s economy.
He also expressed hope that the next
administration will be “more competent than us, more bright than us, and more
productive than us” so that it can address the current challenges.
“Hindi ako nag-aano kung may mataas pa sa
akin in performance. If it is true, well, I would encourage them, I would cheer
them up, and I would be on the sidelines giving inputs of what I can provide
for as an advice,” he said. PND
