THE Department of Education is planning a special Science Program for Grades 7 to 10 in preparation for the Programme for International Student Assessment in 2025, which will focus on Science.

DepEd Undersecretary for Curriculum and Teaching Gina Gonong announced this during a Senate hearing on the proposal to suspend the regular academic program for 8 weeks.

“We have identified 1.6 million target learners for PISA 2025. The special Science program will be rolled out in the second quarter of SY 2024-2025 for Grades 7-10,” Gonong said.

The special Science program will integrate PISA-like questions and OECD samples into its lessons and will be implemented in stages.

The first stage will involve all students in Grades 7-10. The second stage will focus on the 1.6 million target learners, narrowing down to approximately 150-180 schools.

The final stage will target about 7,500-8,000 students who will take the PISA exam.

Dr. Portia Padilla from the UP College of Education raised concerns about the majority of schools and students not participating in PISA 2025.

In response, Undersecretary Gonong clarified that these schools will continue with their regular lessons. However, learners identified as needing intervention will receive special literacy and numeracy support.

Senator Nancy Binay questioned DepEd’s approach.

“It seems we are just preparing for the test. How do we reboot the curriculum? The intervention prepares for the test but does not address the learning gaps shown by the PISA results,” Binay said.