By Estanislao Albano, Jr.
It is easy to see how come that even as the quality of our basic education is plunging, teachers and officials of the Department of Education (DepEd) are still collecting billions in Performance-Based Bonus (PBB) yearly.
First, the performance indicators and performance targets the agency set in its pursuit for PBB eligibility are alien to quality education, the service it is mandated by law to render.
Second, the DepEd is successfully gaming the PBB system.
Among all of DepEd’s performance indicators, it is only the one pertaining to performance in the National Achievement Test (NAT) which measures the quality of learning outcomes but contrary to the intent of the PBB “to motivate higher performance,” the NAT targets listed by the DepEd are not designed to enhance learning outcomes but merely to beat the PBB system.
First, the NAT mean percentage score (MPS) threshold is random. From 2015 to 2017 (there are no records online on the targets for 2012 to 2014), the target threshold was “average” (35%-65%), in 2018 and 2019, it was “towards mastery” (66%-85%) and from 2020 onwards, “nearly proficient” (50%-74%).
Second, the targets which are pre-set percentages of the takers who cope with the prevailing NAT threshold are not sustained but are fluctuating in contravention of Memorandum Circular No. 2012-1 of the AO No. 25, s. 2011 Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF). In the case of the Grade 10 NAT, the targets so far ranged from the 64% in 2017 to the 18% in 2023.
Third, because the targets are indeterminate, there is no way the agency could flunk the NAT criterion. In fact, in 2018 when the Grades 6, 10 and 12 scores all fell way below the then 66% threshold at 37.44%, 44.59% and 36.71%, respectively, the DepEd still absurdly qualified for the PBB. This means that even if the agency is tripped by the lone indicator for quality education, it can still run away with the incentive intended as reward for exemplary performance..
There is also the issue that there is no way outsiders can verify if the targets are indeed being attained because the DepEd is not abiding by the IATF injunction for transparency in the implementation of the PBB. The DepEd claimed its baseline in Grade 6 NAT in 2018 and 2019 was 63.93% which meant that that portion of the takers scored at least 66% in the tests as the prevailing threshold then was “towards mastery.” However, data from the DepEd’s Bureau of Education Assessment show only 16.11% of Grade 6 students scored “nearly proficient” in 2018 which meant the achievement is even lower than 16.11% as the threshold for “nearly proficient” is 50%.
Apart from subverting the lone indicator for quality education, the DepEd has thrown in its lot with quantity by embracing indicators that ensure learners stay in school until they graduate preferably within the prescribed timeframe regardless if they learned anything or not. At the birth of the PBB in 2012, the completion rates – completion rate is the “percentage of students who finish a specific level of education within the required number of years” – for elementary and the secondary were 71% and 74%, respectively, but as of SY 2021-2022, these have skyrocketed to the near perfect 99.83% and 98.66%, respectively.
In 2019, the results of the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) exposed the futility and folly of chasing quantity instead of quality as only a measly 20.45% of our students attained Level 2, the minimum proficiency level, across the three subjects in the test. The country also landed second to the last overall as the international average of students who made Level 2 was 77%.But that rude awakening has not cured DepEd of its obsession with quantity. For SY 2023-2024, the agency still targeted completion rates of 99.83% and 98.66% for the elementary and secondary, respectively. In contrast, it set the targets for Grades 10 and 12 NAT at 39% and 27%, respectively, which absurdly are significantly lower than the grades’ respective baselines of 48.13% and 37.15%. Clearly, that’s a bid to circumvent the intents and conditions of the PBB.**
