SENATE Committee on Basic Education chairman Sherwin Gatchalian is considering to propose funding allocation for the Philippines’ preparation for the 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment or PISA, a move that he hopes will help improve the scores of the country’s 15-year old learners in the triennial assessment.

“During the budget season, we can include a provision there for PISA preparation. I picked up from our resource persons that one of the best practices to improve our PISA results is to actually prepare our schools,” said Gatchalian.

“For 2025, maybe we can add a small provision. I don’t think it will cost a lot. Next year, we’ll be taking PISA again so let’s include the budget to prepare the schools that will participate,” Gatchalian added.

In the same hearing, Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization INNOTECH Center Director and former Secretary of Education Leonor Briones recalled the steps the Department of Education took to prepare for the PISA.

These include the development of materials for public school teachers and learners and the curation of supplementary sources and familiarization materials, which the regions used for their field preparations.

DepEd-Cordillera Administrative Region Director Estella Cariño shared how they prepared the region’s participating schools.

The DepEd Regional Director explained the steps taken to prepare participating learners for the assessment with the use of a computer.

Since participating schools faced the lack or shortage of computers and power, they sought the help of local government units.

DepEd-CAR also conducted dry runs during which participating learners who live far from the school were given accommodations in classrooms. Participating learners were also given meals during preparations and on the day of the exam.

CAR is one of the top three regions with the largest shares of learners who reached the minimum level of proficiency in reading, science, and math. The other two regions are the National Capital Region and Region IVA.