DepEd group urges gov’t to make National Achievement Test ‘truly useful’ in reforming PH Education

According to Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Chairperson Vladimer Quetua, “this year’s NAT is of exceptional significance since it will be the first since the pandemic and the accompanying learning crisis of the poor implementation of distance learning.”

According to ACT, the administration of this year’s NAT should be seen as an opportunity to “fully utilize” its findings to raise the standard of education in the nation, “since it has failed to do so in the past two decades.”

The Department of Education (DepEd) announced the scheduled NAT for Grade 12 students on Jan. 30 and 31.

If done correctly, it can give us a clearer picture of the crisis in education that we are experiencing right now,” Quetua added. He said that the main issues that hinder the quality of education can be identified and fixed if they are honestly and critically examined.

According to Quetua, NAT scores in past years have regularly demonstrated the “low proficiency level of our students” across nearly all academic areas.

ACT said that the government has only expended an equivalent of 2.2 percent to 3.6 percent of the annual gross domestic product on education since 2010. This, the group noted, is a “far cry” from the recommendation of the United Nations (UN) at six percent.

“What significant reforms can we expect when our government is not keen on investing in our learners?” Quetua asked.

ACT is advocating for an “inclusive and honest-to-goodness assessment of our education’s situation, and game-changing reforms that will truly make our education accessible, equitable, of high quality, and responsive to the needs of nationalist development,” given the ongoing review of the K–12 curriculum by the Department of Education (DepEd) and the upcoming study of the country’s education systems by the Education Commission.

-MB