ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR III
There was a time in the distant past that Filipinos pride themselves as the best in Asia in terms literacy, numeracy, rhetoric’s, instructions and over-all education standards. It was a time when we can say that our Grade 6 are dependable teachers not simply because of sheer romanticized feelings but because they were dependable educators whose prowess was lead by strong Thomasites educators and sturdy drive towards social mobility. There were times that ASEAN neighbors are coming to enroll in our Universities in University Los Banos , inour International Rice Research Institute , the Coconut and Carabao Center in Visayas State University and the Science City in Munoz Nueva Ecija etc…
Those days are gone , in fact its long gone. What we have now is a shadow of our old self, educationally that is.
The Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) recently conducted a study that brought to light a critical issue in the education system in the Philippines – the practice of mass promotion.
The study revealed that students are not genuinely assimilating knowledge but merely advancing through the scholastic system due to mass promotion. This ‘unspoken’ policy of broad-scale advancement, or mass promotion, is linked to substandard learning outcomes.
Justine Raagas, the PBEd Executive Director, stated during the 2023 State of Education Report launch, “Without a robust educational foundation, our global labor force competitiveness diminishes. It hinders innovation, productivity, and economic growth, limiting our potential for progress and prosperity.”
Now this alarming, but not news, this is an old reality, an inconvenient truth that we cannot do something about.
This systemic issue of mass promotion, which has been ongoing for an extended period, not only results in failure to master basic fundamentals such as literacy and numeracy but also leads to behavioral issues as students lack essential values like diligence, resilience, teamwork, and respect.
Assistant Secretary Alma Ruby Torio, representing DepEd, clarified that the department does not endorse mass promotion, as they follow a “performance-based grading system”. According to DepEd Order No. 8, s. 2015, the passing grade for all learning areas should be 75.
To me, the issue on Mass Promotion or what the teachers knew as No Child Left Behind policy, which is clearly paving the way for Mass Promotion. Further, DepEd Teachers are also guided by that Performance Based Bonus that actually prohibits or discourage non-passing of students , failure negatively impact their PBB Bonus.
Further, one more thing that hinders educational upliftment is the belief that students who cannot be promoted to the next grade level or year level cannot succeed in life. That is why the prevailing mind set is that ALL MUST PASS, sadly even if competencies are not meet nor mastered.
The need for ACCESS is also a factor the constitution The State shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels, and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all. However, herein lies the catch, access cannot guarantee effective workforce.
So in all, we are all in a bind, sala sa init sala sa lamig!
In fact, we cannot and I Cannot recommend whats the best way forward. But one thing is sure Mass Promotion is one negative variable towards meaningful learning and working against the quality of workforce we are creating.
