ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR III
Alam ko, papasa naman ako!
When the student realized that he would be promoted to the next grade even if he did not possess the competency for the current grade level, he would not make a special effort to pass and master the competencies. The teacher is forced to let the kid pass if they know that failing a student who is very slow in most of the aptitudes will require more work from them and that they may have to spend the summer tutoring the students they kept. Our students are brought down by this cycle. There is an alarming learning poverty created by mass promotion of our learners.
Mass promotion is the practice of advancing students to the next grade level regardless of their academic performance or mastery of competencies. It is an unofficial but common policy that has been culturally and administratively ingrained in the Philippine education system, according to a report by the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) 1. The report, which surveyed over 300 stakeholders nationwide, including teachers, school leaders, government officials, parents, students, and industry experts, revealed that mass promotion has negative impacts on the quality of learning and the development of values among students.
One of the ill effects of mass promotion is that it results in a failure to master fundamentals such as reading, writing, and numeracy. These skills are essential for students to progress to higher levels of learning and to cope with the demands of the 21st century. However, due to mass promotion, many students are unable to acquire these skills adequately and end up lagging behind their peers in other countries. For instance, in the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which measures the reading, mathematics, and science literacy of 15-year-old students from 79 countries, the Philippines ranked last in reading and second to the last in mathematics and science 2. This dismal performance reflects the poor quality of education that many Filipino students receive due to mass promotion.
Another ill effect of mass promotion is that it causes unintended behavioral issues among students. Mass promotion undermines the value of hard work, resiliency, teamwork, and respect that are supposed to be instilled in students through education. Instead, it fosters a culture of complacency, mediocrity, cheating, and disrespect among students who know that they will pass anyway regardless of their efforts or conduct. According to PBEd executive director Justine Raagas, there are many anecdotes from teachers of students blatantly disregarding their work or copying answers or worse, just easily giving up and saying, ‘It’s okay. I’m going to pass anyway’ 1. These attitudes not only affect the academic performance of students but also their character formation and moral development.
In conclusion, mass promotion is a harmful practice that should be stopped in the Philippine basic education system. It lowers the quality of learning and damages the values of students. It also hinders the development of a competitive and innovative workforce that can contribute to the progress and prosperity of the country. Therefore, it is imperative that the Department of Education (DepEd) and other stakeholders implement measures to ensure that students are assessed based on their actual competencies and retained or not promoted to the next grade if it is not yet showing the attributes and the mastery of the competencies needed.
This may be what we need to address the ills of our education!
Kung hindi ako makabasa at hindi ko pa kabisado ang Math, baka hindi ako pumasa. Kaya pag bubutihin upang maipasa ko ito!
