By Estanislao Albano, Jr.
WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE DEPED’S ABADONMENT OF A READING CUT OFF?
It is highly possible that we could have been spared the international humiliation of landing in the bottom of the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) had we maintained the “No Read, No Move” Policy or even just religiously applied the “Zero Non-reader in Grade 4” Policy as that would have assured that our examinees were already reading for years before the exams. The officials of the DepEd-Cordillera, one of our best performing regions having placed No. 1 in Grade 6 NAT in 2016 and 2017 and No. 4 overall among local regions in the 2018 PISA, admit they cannot discount the possibility that some of the region’s takers were non-readers the fact that participating schools were picked at random.
According to the report of the DepEd on the performance of our students in the PISA, private school students outscored their public school counterparts by 42 points score in Reading Literacy and that only follows they having learned to read in Grade 1 while many of their public school counterparts read much later. The reading incompetence has also pulled down the overall performance of our PISA examinees because students with reading difficulties are not expected to do well in any exams.
Needless to say, the delay in the learning of reading stunts the educational development of learners and likewise slows down the learning pace in the affected schools due to the unreadiness of the students for other lessons. The effort to belatedly teach the non-readers and frustration readers to read specially those already in high school also diverts precious human and other resources (“How Kalinga’s biggest high school copes with its reading woes,” Manila Times, March 22, 2020) .
WHAT HAS THE DEPED DONE OR IS DOING ABOUT ITS BLUNDER OF DISCARDING THE “NO READ, NO MOVE” POLICY?
Nothing. Up to now it still has to comment on the suggestion of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) made in the policy note “Pressures on Public School Teachers and Implications on Quality” issued February 2019 that it stops the practice of sending non-readers to high school. If it cannot impose a Grade 6 cut off, how much more Grade 3 or Grade 1? Even after the embarrassing expose of the presence of tens of thousands of non-readers in high school and elementary in Bicol in February 2020, DepEd has not issued any policy or instruction on what to do with non-readers at the end of the school year and the application of all remedies pertinent to the school year.
WHAT HAS THE DEPED DONE REGARDING THE ESCALATING READING CRISIS?
In November 2019, the DepEd issued DepEd Memorandum No. 173, series of 2019, launching the “Hamon: Bawat Bata Bumabasa” initiative which aims to galvanize the entire DepEd organization to redouble efforts to improve reading proficiency. However, it is a foregone conclusion the program will not impact the reading crisis because it does not address the root cause of the problem as it does not mention any reading cut off nor give any instruction on what to do with children who could not read at their own grade level at the end of the school year.
The omission of a reading cut off renders the claim in the memorandum it will strengthen the ECARP contradictory and absurd.
WHY IS THE ILLITERACY IN OUR ELEMENTARY AND HIGH SCHOOLS GETTING WORSE WHEN WE HAVE THE ECARP AND THE PHILIPPINE INFORMAL READING INVENTORY (PHIL-IRI)?
The ECARP is supposed to enforce the “Zero Non-reader in Grade 4” Policy and being part of the support programs of the ECARP, the Phil-IRI is supposed to identify the learners who will be retained due to failure to mastering basic literacy skills. However, even if the ECARP is in effect and the Phil-IRI is conducted each school year, the reading crisis is only worsening.
The ECARP and the Phil-IRI have no effect on the reading crisis because DepEd does not enforce them as intended per DepEd Memorandum No. 324, series of 2004: to ensure that every child becomes a reader at the end of Grade 3 and that no pupil is promoted to the next grade level unless he manifests mastery of basic literacy skills.
WHAT HAVE OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES SO FAR DONE RELATIVE TO THE READING CRISIS?
In February 2019, the state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) recommended that the DepEd should stop the practice of sending non-readers to high school which should have been a very good start but the DepEd did not even comment on the recommendation until now. Had they heeded the PIDS suggestion, there would be no non-readers in high school starting last school year. The stoppage of the exodus of non-readers to high school would have triggered a chain reaction which could have started the rehabilitation of the DepEd’s weakened capability to teach children to read. Dreading having their graduates marooned and putting their schools and themselves on the spot, elementary schools would have been forced to tighten their quality controls. The Grade 6 teachers would have turned the heat on the Grade 5 teachers to stop passing on non-readers least they be the ones left holding the bag at the end of the school year and so on down the grades to Grade 1.
WITH DEPED REFUSING TO IMPOSE A READING CUT OFF, WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP SOLVE THE READING CRISIS?
First, call on Congress to conduct the following:
1. full scale investigation on the problem to include presentation of the DepEd of all the available Phil-IRI historical data collected and maintained pursuant to DepEd Memorandum 266, series of 2010, DepEd Order 70, series of 2011, and DepEd Order 50, series of 2012, which directed the maintenance of a national Phil-IRI database including the national reading profile referred to in the Phil-IRI Manual issued in 2010. The subpoena should cover the current nationwide data.
2. validate whatever fresh data the DepEd will submit to reliably establish the extent of the non-reader problem through the conduct spelling tests to smoke out non-readers from Grades 4 up to high school.
Second, pressure the DepEd to reinstate the reading cut off. If the DepEd insists on not having a reading cut off, it should explain because it is well known that the secret of the traditional curriculum and the private schools up to now for keeping Grade 2 onwards clear of non-readers is their strict application of the “No Read, No Pass” Policy in Grade 1.
Third, teachers of the reading cut off grade and the principal to execute a joint notarized certifications that all the members of the classes they promote are independent readers in both languages. An accredited private group or a credible government body outside of the DepEd will validate the certifications. Misrepresentation shall be dealt with accordingly.
Fourth, the administration of the Phil-IRI should be handed to an accredited private group to ensure integrity, transparency and accessibility of results. An alternative to this is for the DepEd to continue administering the reading assessment tool subject to validation by an independent and credible body. Misrepresentation will be dealt with accordingly. **
