THE PHILIPPINES plans on studying and adopting Vietnam’s education spending practices and teaching methods to boost the global performance of Filipino students, a senator said over the weekend.
Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate’s basic education panel, said the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) is set to visit Vietnam this month to study how its students scored higher than Filipinos in the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment for Mathematics (PISA).
Based on the 2022 PISA results, seven out of 10 Vietnamese students aged 15 reached a minimum proficiency in Math, compared to only two out of 10 Filipino learners reaching the same level.
Students at a minimum proficiency level in Math can interpret and recognize simple mathematical situations without direct instructions.
The senator said EDCOM II will study how Vietnam efficiently used it budget on education with 4.06% of its gross domestic product (GDP), yielding better performance from their students. The Philippines spent 4.06% of its GDP on education in 2022.
The country spends about P55,000 per student aged 15 and below, while Vietnam spends about P69,000 for students in the same age bracket.
Filipino students ranked 77th out of 81 countries in the yearly global assessment, performing worse than the global average in all categories. Vietnamese students placed 31st in the same list.
The PISA results also showed that Vietnam’s poorest learners scored 91 points higher than the Philippines’ poorest students, scoring 427 and 336 respectively.
“This initiative reflects a proactive approach to enhancing our education system by drawing insights from the successes of Vietnam, with the aim of identifying strategies and methodologies that can be adapted to elevate educational standards in our country,” Mr. Gatchalian said.
The commission has repeatedly flagged the lack of resources and limited time given to teachers to implement lesson plans in class. — John Victor D. Ordoñez
