The Department of Education on Monday demanded an apology from the World Bank for its report that about 80 percent of Filipino students were not as proficient as they should have for their grade levels.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones said the report was “insulting” and the Philippines was expecting an apology at the soonest.
“Since the country was insulted, was shamed and so on, we expect and look forward to a public apology,” she said in a Palace briefing.
The 80-year-old education chief also alleged the World Bank of using old and inaccurate data. The World Bank used the country’s scores in 2018 in the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).
“Iyong PISA assessment na data, noong 2019 pa, diniskas na iyan ng buong Pilipinas so luma na iyang data nila dahil since 2019 ay marami nang nangyayari,” Briones said.
“Ang World Bank na nagpalabas nitong datos na ito, hindi sumusunod sa protocol. Kasi kung mag-report ka about a country, kailangan malaman ng country na iyon kung ano ang sasabihin ninyo; kailangan nilang ipalabas. Walang kasabi-sabi, inuna sa media. So malaking kakulangan ito,” she added.
Aside from PISA numbers, the World Bank report used the country’s performance ratings in the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study and the 2019 Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics.
Palace spokesman earlier said that report was “very disturbing and very alarming.”
The World Bank noted a “crisis” in Philippine education that worsened amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
It said more than 80 percent of children in the Philippines “do not know what they should know in school.” John Ezekiel J. Hirro