THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers criticized the Department of Education for conducting an online Comprehensive Rapid Literacy Assessment and Amplified Numeracy Assessment for elementary learners saying that the results of the tests are not credible.

The group said the tests are ineffective in gauging the country’s learning crisis.

“Palpak ito at pahirap lamang sa mga estudyate, guro at magulang. Bakit online ang tests gayong alam na natin na noong distance learning pa lamang ay maraming bata ang walang access sa internet o walang panggastos sa load?” Vladimer Quetua, the group’s chairperson, said.

“Shouldn’t we be taking advantage of the face-to-face classes for teachers to do accurate assessments of what the learners have and have not learned in the past years? In the past three weeks, we have seen how the grades given to learners under distance learning do not accurately reflect what they have learned as apparently, many had their modules answered by others. The face-to-face class is the best opportunity to realistically gauge the learning crisis,” he said.

Quetua said that teachers have been waiting for DepEd to distribute test forms for the assessment, but the agency has yet to send them out. He added that teachers resorted to making their diagnostic tests.

“Nagkanya-kanya na ng paggawa ang mga guro ng diagnostic tests dahil alam namin na napakaimportante nito para magkaroon ng evidence-based learning assessment at makapagplano kami kung paano namin sisimulan ang pagtuturo. Pero hindi sapat na iasa lamang ito sa kani-kaniyang inisyatiba ng guro. Kailangan ng nationally-directed learning assessment para mabuo ang datos sa buong bansa at maging batayan naman ng pambansang plano sa education recovery,” he said.

The group claimed that holding remedial classes is not a solution to the reality that majority of the learners are behind in terms of learning.

“Kailangang magkaroon ng angkop na adjustments sa target learning competencies. Hindi magiging epektibo ang learning recovery kung nakakulong pa rin tayo sa napakahabang listahan ng Most Essential Learning Competencies ng K-12 curriculum. We have to go back to the fundamentals and set realistic targets to ensure learning recovery,” Quetua said.