SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian is pushing for a measure that seeks to establish a math and science high school in every province in the country.

This move aligns with the administration’s directive to strengthen focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in basic education.

“Sa Mathematics at Science nakasalalay ang pagsulong ng inobasyon sa ating bansa. Upang mahasa ang kaalaman ng mas marami nating mga kabataan pagdating sa agham at mathematics, isusulong natin na ang bawat probinsya sa Pilipinas ay magkaroon ng Math and Science High School na pagmumulan ng ating mga mathematician, engineer, at scientist,” Gatchalian said.

“This specialized academic preparation opens doors to critical thinking, financial literacy, and evidence-based decision-making and is highly critical to the improvement of the nation’s economy as it relies on a workforce proficient in math and science,” he added.

Under Senate Bill N476 or the Equitable Access to Math and Science Education Act, all provinces which do not have public math and science high school shall work with the Department of Education to establish one.

These schools shall also implement a six-year integrated junior-senior high school curriculum that focuses on advanced science, mathematics and technology subjects under the guidance of the DepEd and the Department of Science and Technology.

Those who graduated from these math and science high schools shall be required to enroll in fields such as pure and applied sciences, mathematics, engineering, technology or any other field deemed appropriate by the Commission on Higher Education.

In 2018, the results of the Programme for International Student Assessment revealed that Filipino learners ranked second to the last in Mathematics and Science among other learners in 79 countries.

The Philippines also ranked last out of 58 countries in both Mathematics and Science in the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study.

In the Southeast Asia Primary learning Metrics 2019, only 17% of our Grade 5 learners met the minimum standards in Mathematics.

Gatchalian pointed out that based on UNESCO Institute of Statistics data, there are only 186 researchers per million inhabitants in the Philippines, one of the lowest among Asean countries.

Thailand and Malaysia, for example, have 963 and 2,054 researchers per million inhabitants, respectively.