NSCB - 2006 StatSeries - Quality of basic education remains poor but improving; Eastern Visayas is tops!

Quality of basic education remains poor but improving;
Eastern Visayas is tops!
Ref No.: SS-200606-SS2-01
Posted: 03 July 2006

by the Social Sectors A Division, NSCB

Results of the National Achievement Test (NAT) in SY 2004-2005 revealed that the quality of basic education in the country remains poor ¹. The Grade VI pupils averaged an overall achievement rate of 58.7%, equivalent only to near mastery level, while Fourth Year students were worse off with only 46.8%, or a low mastery of the subjects. Nonetheless, these scores are improvements over the previous year’s results where the students averaged only 50.0% and 44.4%, respectively. Meanwhile, Eastern Visayas surpassed all regions in the SY 2004-2005 NAT in both levels, with a near mastery achievement rate of 69.2% in elementary and 58.6% in secondary.

The NATs were administered by the National Education Testing and Research Center (NETRC) to Grade VI and Fourth Year students in government schools in March 2005. The tests were designed to determine what graduating students know and can do in five subject areas at the end of the school year, namely: Mathematics, Science, English, Filipino and Hekasi/Araling Panlipunan (AP). A score of 75% and over means that the student has mastery of the subject; 50% to less than 75%, near mastery; and below 50% means low mastery. For SY 2002-2003, National Diagnostic Tests (NDTs) were given to Grade Four pupils and First Year students in June 2002, and for SY 2003-2004, NATs were given to Grade V pupils and Fourth Year students in March 2004. NDTs were given to determine the readiness of incoming fourth graders and high school freshmen.

NAT performance improving over the years

Comparing the SY 2004-2005 NAT results with those of the previous years provides some hope for basic education in the Philippines as an improving trend is clearly manifested. Elementary students showed ranges of 4 to 10 percentage points increases in mean scores in the three subjects of Math, Science and English, with English as the highest. On the other hand, improvements in mean scores of high school students were lower, ranging from 1 to 4 percentage points increases, with the highest in Math. (Fig 1a and Fig 1b) ².

Figure 1a
National Achievement Test (Grades 4-6)
SY 2002-2004

Figure 1b
National Achievement Test (Fourth Year)
SY 2003-2004

Source of basic data: NETRC

Filipino and English are the strongest subject areas; Science the weakest

Among the subject areas, the Grade VI pupils scored highest in Filipino, while Fourth Year students scored best in English. Science was the least of the competencies of both elementary and secondary students at 54.1% and 39.5%, respectively (Fig 2a and Fig 2b).

Figure 2a
Mean Percentage Scores of the National Achievement
Tests in Grade VI by Subject Area, SY 2004-2005

Figure 2b
Mean Percentage Scores of the National Achievement
Tests in Fourth Year by Subject Area, SY 2004-2005

Source of basic data: NETRC

Half of Grade VI and less than half of Fourth Year
students in near mastery level

Only one out of five Grade Six pupils and one out of 200 Fourth Year students had acquired mastery of the required education competencies for their respective grade/year levels. Half or 50.5% of Grade VI pupils, while less than half or 40.8% of Fourth Year students, had near mastery education competencies. Among the subjects, Grade VI pupils showed the least mastery of Science where only 14.8% scored at least 75%. At the secondary level, it is alarming to note that there were barely any Fourth Year students with mastery of Filipino (0.002%), while for Science, there were only 1.8% students with the required mastery (Table 1).

Table 1
Percentage Distribution of Pupils/Students by NAT Mastery Level
SY 2004-2005

	Elementary			Secondary
	Mastery (75-100)	Near Mastery (50-74)	Low Mastery (below 50)	Mastery (75-100)	Near Mastery (50-74)	Low Mastery (below 50)
Overall	20.0	50.5	29.4	0.5	40.8	58.8
Math	30.5	35.6	33.9	16.4	31.3	52.3
English	26.4	43.0	30.6	6.6	49.2	44.2
Science	14.8	47.0	38.2	1.8	24.0	74.3
Filipino	30.1	44.7	25.2	0.002	27.4	72.6
Hekasi / AP	29.2	40.8	30.1	3.3	50.4	46.3

Source of basic data: NETRC

Class size matters in performance

Grade Six pupils who are in classes with 21-60 pupils, had mean overall percentage scores ranging from 58.7 to 59.9, and performed slightly better than those in classes with more than 60 pupils. Those who are in classes with 91-100 pupils performed the worst with a mean overall score of 49.9. On the other hand, Fourth Year students who are in classes with 31-50 students scored from 48.0 to 48.1 overall compared to 43.1 to 47.1 for classes with more than 50 students (Table 2a and Table 2b).

Table 2a
Mean Percentage Score by Class Size
NAT Grade Six, SY 2004-2005

	1-10	11-20	21-30	31-40	41-50	51-60	61-70	71-80	81-90	91-100	Not specified
Math	52.6	55.7	60.5	60.5	58.6	58.9	56.4	57.8	50.0	44.4	54.5
English	52.5	54.6	59.7	60.4	59.2	59.6	57.2	55.9	51.0	50.7	55.1
Science	48.1	50.1	54.6	55.3	54.1	54.3	52.3	52.5	51.8	44.7	50.4
Filipino	55.5	57.3	61.6	62.7	62.2	62.5	60.6	59.1	58.7	58.7	56.9
Hekasi	53.1	55.3	60.0	60.7	59.7	59.9	57.8	56.6	50.7	50.8	55.1
Total	52.4	54.6	59.3	59.9	58.7	59.0	56.9	56.4	52.4	49.9	54.4

Table 2b
Mean Percentage Score by Class Size
NAT Fourth Year, SY 2004-2005

	1-10	11-20	21-30	31-40	41-50	51-60	61-70	71-80	81-90	91-100	Not specified
Math	46.2	46.7	51.9	53.7	52.7	50.8	50.7	47.5	44.3	43.8	45.0
English	46.1	46.2	51.5	52.4	52.4	51.4	51.7	50.0	48.5	49.2	45.6
Science	36.6	37.6	39.3	40.4	40.6	39.7	39.6	37.7	36.0	35.0	36.6
Filipino	39.6	39.0	41.6	42.9	43.0	42.7	42.8	41.7	41.0	40.8	39.2
AP	46.8	45.7	49.2	51.1	51.1	50.1	50.4	48.3	47.2	46.9	45.3
Total	43.0	43.1	46.7	48.1	48.0	47.0	47.1	45.0	43.4	43.1	42.3

Source: Department of Education – Report Card to the Public School System (SY 2004-2005)

Better NAT performance for pupils with more textbooks

Pupils who used at least six books in Grade Six have better performance than those who used less than 6. Pupils who used 9 or more textbooks got the highest score (60.8) in the achievement test (Table 3).

Table 3
Mean Percentage Score by Number of Textbooks Lent to Grade VI Pupils
NAT SY 2004-2005

	Philippines	none	1-2	3-4	5-6	7-8	9 or more	Not specified
Math	59.1	54.2	57.3	57.8	58.9	61.3	61.6	55.2
English	59.2	55.1	57.8	58.2	59.0	60.9	61.2	55.8
Science	54.1	50.5	53.0	53.3	54.0	55.6	56.0	50.6
Filipino	61.8	57.3	60.4	60.7	61.6	63.7	63.8	57.8
Hekasi	59.6	55.3	58.2	58.7	59.4	61.3	61.6	55.6
Total	58.7	54.5	57.3	57.7	58.6	60.6	60.8	55.0

Source: Department of Education – Report Card to the Public School System (SY 2004-2005)

Eastern Visayas ranks no. 1 in elementary and secondary levels, in all subjects

Eastern Visayas topped the NAT in all subject areas, followed by CARAGA and Ilocos Region in both the elementary and secondary levels. On the other hand, the bottom three in the elementary level are ARMM, Soccskargen and Cagayan Valley (Tables 4a and 4b). At the secondary level, ARMM, Bicol Region and Davao Region scored the least.

Table 4a
Mean Percentage Scores of the National Achievement Test (NAT) in Grade VI
By Region and Subject Area, SY 2004-2005

Region	Subject Area					Average	Rank
Region	Mathematics	English	Science	Filipino	Hekasi	Average	Rank
Philippines	59.1	59.2	54.1	61.8	59.6	58.7
NCR	56.9	57.6	52.8	62.7	59.3	57.9	8
CAR	55.0	56.0	51.3	56.5	53.5	54.5	14
I-Ilocos	65.8	64.6	58.9	65.6	64.5	63.9	3
II-Cagayan Valley	52.7	53.8	49.1	57.2	54.7	53.5	15
III-Central Luzon	57.0	58.1	52.9	61.4	58.5	57.6	9
IV-A-Calabarzon	64.7	62.5	58.0	67.5	64.2	63.4	4
IV-B-Mimaropa	62.1	60.0	55.8	65.1	62.3	61.1	5
V-Bicol	53.9	54.9	50.3	59.3	56.7	55.0	12
VI-Western Visayas	54.1	56.5	52.6	58.4	57.7	55.8	10
VII-Central Visayas	63.7	61.8	55.2	62.2	59.9	60.6	6
VIII-Eastern Visayas	72.1	70.0	63.7	70.6	69.4	69.2	1
IX-Zamboanga Peninsula	59.6	59.5	53.8	58.8	57.9	57.9	7
X-Northern Mindanao	54.7	56.3	50.5	56.7	55.0	54.6	13
XI-Davao	54.8	55.8	51.9	57.8	56.1	55.2	11
XII-Soccskargen	52.6	53.8	50.1	56.0	54.2	53.4	16
CARAGA	71.9	69.9	63.4	70.1	69.4	68.9	2
ARMM	46.2	49.3	42.7	49.2	47.4	47.0	17

Source of basic data: NETRC

Table 4b
Mean Percentage Scores of the National Achievement Test (NAT) in Fourth Year
By Region and Subject Area, SY 2004-2005

Region	Subject Area					Average	Rank
Region	Mathematics	English	Science	Filipino	Araling Panlipunan	Average	Rank
Philippines	50.7	51.3	39.5	42.5	50.0	46.8
NCR	46.8	50.5	36.3	42.5	49.0	45.0	11.5
CAR	49.8	53.2	38.2	41.7	49.7	46.5	8
I-Ilocos	56.9	54.0	46.3	43.6	53.2	50.8	3
II-Cagayan Valley	51.5	52.4	39.9	42.2	51.1	47.4	6
III-Central Luzon	48.2	49.7	37.6	41.3	48.4	45.0	11.5
IV-A-Calabarzon	49.1	50.3	37.7	42.9	50.4	46.0	10
IV-B-Mimaropa	54.7	53.5	41.7	44.6	53.2	49.5	5
V-Bicol	44.2	46.4	34.6	40.8	46.4	42.5	16
VI-Western Visayas	45.9	49.3	37.0	42.0	49.2	44.7	13
VII-Central Visayas	56.8	55.1	41.4	43.8	52.2	49.9	4
VIII-Eastern Visayas	68.9	62.6	53.1	47.8	60.3	58.6	1
IX-Zamboanga Peninsula	52.5	51.0	41.8	41.6	48.1	47.0	7
X-Northern Mindanao	49.9	50.8	39.4	42.1	48.9	46.2	9
XI-Davao	45.8	48.4	35.8	40.6	45.3	43.2	15
XII-Soccskargen	46.7	47.4	37.4	40.6	47.0	43.8	14
CARAGA	64.7	59.7	49.9	46.7	56.2	55.4	2
ARMM	41.1	40.5	31.4	32.7	37.4	36.6	17

Source of basic data: NETRC

Considering that the Eastern Visayas region is relatively poor ³, the region’s record of topping the NAT is a promising development for the area. According to the Department of Education Region VIII, its impressive performance may be an outcome of the “Best Practices” being implemented in all their divisions and schools. Examples of the best practices include the following: Reinforcement, Remediation and Enrichment (RRE); Project IMS – Intensive Monitoring and Supervision; Twinning Approach – Pairing the High Performing Schools with Low Performing Schools; Begin It with Right Program (BIRP); and Project MEDIA – Monitoring Educational Development for Immediate Action; to name a few.

The region boasts of having the best public high school in the country, the Lope de Vega National High School in Northern Samar, which topped the 2003-04 NAT with an average score of 86.67%. Although the said school lacked facilities, it is a showcase of the DepEd’s efforts on decentralization as well as the Department’s initiatives in involving the local communities.

Meanwhile, the topnotch school division in both elementary and secondary levels is Ormoc City, also in Eastern Visayas, with a mean percentage score of 78.82 and 66.76, respectively. Also, four Eastern Visayas school divisions in the elementary, and five school divisions in the secondary levels made it to the top 10. Eastern Samar and Southern Leyte made it to the top 10 in both levels (Table 5).

Table 5
Top 10 School Divisions
NAT Grade VI and Fourth Year (SY 2004-2005)

	Grade VI		Fourth Year
Rank	Division/Region	MPS Total	Division/Region	MPS Total
1	Ormoc City , Reg. VIII	78.8	Ormoc City , Reg. VIII	66.8
2	Southern Leyte , Reg. VIII	78.8	Dagupan City , Reg. I	63.7
3	Batangas, Reg. IV-A	75.4	Northern Samar , Reg. VIII	62.2
4	Muntinlupa City , NCR	73.9	Southern Leyte , Reg. VIII	62.1
5	Eastern Samar , Reg. VIII	73.8	Eastern Samar , Reg. VIII	61.1
6	Bislig City , CARAGA	73.9	Surigao del Norte, CARAGA	61.1
7	Siargao, CARAGA	73.0	San Carlos City , Reg. VI	60.7
8	Ozamis City , Reg. X	72.9	Surigao City , CARAGA	60.1
9	Biliran, Reg. VIII	72.4	Western Samar , Reg. VIII	60.0
10	Lipa City , Reg. IV-A	71.7	Calbayog City , Reg. VIII	58.9

Source: Department of Education – Report Card to the Public School System (SY 2004-2005)

TIMSS Reflects Similar Trends

Aside from the NAT, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) ⁴ serves as another tool for assessing quality and student achievement in Science and Math globally. The Philippines participated in the 1999 and 2003 TIMSS which was administered to the fourth and eighth grade levels in about 50 countries.

Similar to the NAT results, the 2003 Philippine TIMSS results revealed that Grade Four pupils got higher scores in Math than in Science, with overall average achievement rates of 358 and 332, respectively. The scores of Second Year students in Math and Science had only a one-point difference, with scores of 378 and 377, respectively (see Fig 3a). However, all scores fall under the low benchmark of 400 established by TIMSS (as against the advanced benchmark of 625, high benchmark of 550, and intermediate benchmark of 475). Filipino fourth graders ranked 23rd in both Math and Science among 25 countries; while the Second Year students ranked 41st in Math and 42nd in Science among 45 countries

Source: 2003 National Research Coordination Office, UP Diliman

Again, a redeeming result is that compared with the 1999 performance, the Philippines showed the most improvement in both Math and Science among the Second Year students of the 45 countries with 33 and 32 points difference from 1999 to 2003, respectively (see Fig 3b and Table 6). Only one other country, Israel, showed at least 30 points increase in average scale scores in Math, while Lithuania did so in Science.

Table 6
Countries with the highest improvements
in Math and Science Average Scale Scores of Second Year Students
TIMSS 1999 and 2003

Math Science

Country	1999	2003	Difference (2003-1999)	Country	1999	2003	Difference (2003-1999)
Philippines	345	378	33	Philippines	345	377	32
Israel	466	496	30	Lithuania	488	519	31
Lithuania	482	502	20	China , Hongkong SAR	530	556	26
Indonesia	403	411	8	Jordan	450	475	25
Italy	479	484	5	Israel	468	488	20
China , Hongkong SAR	582	586	4	Malaysia	492	510	18
New Zealand	491	494	3	Republic of Moldova	459	472	13
Romania	472	475	3

Source: TIMSS 2003

Among all regions in the country, within each level, the regions generally ranked the same for both Math and Science. Grade Four pupils in Calabarzon got the highest scores in Math and Science, while neighboring Mimaropa had the lowest in both subjects. Second Year High School students in CAR scored the highest in both subject areas, while Zamboanga Peninsula was lowest (Table 7).

Table 7
TIMSS Average Math and Science Achievement by Region
2003

Region	Grade IV				Second Year
Region	Math	Rank	Science	Rank	Math	Rank	Science	Rank
NCR	400	2	394	2	403	5	406	5
CAR	398	4	374	3	457	1	459	1
I-Ilocos	399	3	367	4	396	6	389	6
II-Cagayan	333	12	288	13	355	10	357	9
III-Central Luzon	360	5	331	5	356	9	356	11
IV-A-Calabarzon	409	1	396	1	407	4	412	3
IV-B-Mimaropa	304	16	254	16	334	14	335	13
V-Bicol	341	8	314	8	409	3	407	4
VI-Western Visayas	341	9	307	9	360	8	365	8
VII-Central Visayas	340	10	301	10	372	7	372	7
VIII-Eastern Visayas	308	14	289	12	355	11	356	10
IX-Zamboanga Peninsula	307	15	282	15	306	16	300	16
X-Northern Mindanao	350	7	324	7	335	13	331	14
XI-Davao	334	11	294	11	325	15	309	15
XII-Soccskargen	355	6	328	6	428	2	419	2
CARAGA	324	13	284	14	352	12	346	12
Average	358		332		378		377

Source: 2003 National Research Coordination Office, UP Diliman

¹ The results of NAT administered last March 7 and 14, 2006 for the elementary and secondary levels, are expected to be released in August this year.

² For elementary level, the comparison refers to the same cohort of pupils (from Grade IV in SY 2002-2003 to Grade VI in SY 2005-2005. For secondary level, it refers to the change over time for successive batches of Fourth Year students.

³ The third smallest economy in terms of per capita gross regional domestic product in 2004, and among the bottom half in terms of poverty incidence in 2003.

⁴ A project of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) headquartered in Amsterdam, it is directed by the TIMSS International Study Center at Boston College in cooperation with a global network of organizations and representatives from the participating countries. The next TIMSS is scheduled in 2007 but there is a possibility that the Philippines will not participate due to low prioritization and corresponding budget limitations

REFERENCES:

Highlights from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003, National Center for Education Statistics, USA.
Philippine performance in TIMSS 2003, 2003 National Research Coordination Office, UP Diliman.
“Poor Samar HS rich in test scores”, The Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 4, 2006.
Report Card of the Public School System, Powerpoint presentation on NAT 2004-2005, DepEd.
Unpublished tables, National Achievement Tests, National Education Testing and Research Center (NETRC).

For inquiries on this series, please contact:

Fe Vida N. Dy-Liacco / Debbie Ann P. Sarmiento
Social Sectors A Division
National Statistical CoordinationBoard
Tel. No. +63 2 890 9678
E-mail Address: fvn.dyliacco@nscb.gov.ph / dp.sarmiento@nscb.gov.ph


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