By Manolo Serapio Jr.

Synergeia Foundation, in partnership with local governments, has rolled out assessment tests in communities in a bid to determine whether grade school students are learning in the time of distance education amidst a pandemic.

The outcome of the tests to be administered to students from Grades 2 to 6 and which cover English, Filipino and Mathematics would help educators and local governments assess their competency levels and implement remedies if necessary to improve them.

Mayors in Central Luzon pushed for the creation of an assessment tool during a meeting in October with Synergeia to find out whether remote education is working as the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools and forced children to learn from their homes.

The restructured education system prompted many local governments to fund the printing of self-learning modules for students while some communities supplied computer tablets to their constituents.

“The assessment tests are not intended to evaluate the efficiency of teachers, school districts or the Department of Education,” Synergeia President and CEO Milwida Guevara told a virtual meeting with mayors and educators this month.

“We’re doing this to determine the learning competencies which children have developed and those which they are weak in. It is important to assess and measure the learning outcomes which children have achieved,” said Guevara.

Synergeia, supported by institutions like the United Nations Children’s Fund and the U.S. Agency for International Development, works with 426 local governments across the Philippines to raise the quality of basic education.

The tests were put together with the help of experts from the Philippine Normal University and focused on the most essential learning competencies prescribed by Deped. 

Guevara, a Finance Undersecretary for nearly a decade and a former grade school teacher who continues to teach in graduate school, helped prepare and review the tests. Dr. Antonio Torralba, former dean of the College of Education at the University of Asia and the Pacific, also reviewed and refined the tests

The assessment tests  are designed to be given to a select number of students to be determined via a sampling method using the established Slovin’s formula that is simplified on this website link 

Sample size calculator

They aim to gauge whether grade school students have learned the required skills in English, Filipino and Mathematics during the first quarter of the school year that began in October, and to ascertain if they are ready to move to the next quarters.

Balanga City in Bataan province has already administered the English assessment tests for Grades 2-6. Teachers in Valenzuela City in Metro Manila will be visiting students in their homes to give the tests while observing safety protocols. 

There may be a need for an effective remediation to strengthen distance education in communities where the results of the tests would show a need to improve learning among students.

Filipino Grade 5 students lagged their counterparts in Southeast Asia in reading, writing and mathematics based on the 2019 Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics study released last year by UNICEF and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization.

And 15-year old students from the Philippines ranked lowest among 79 countries in reading proficiency and second lowest in mathematics and science in the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment.

By Manolo Serapio Jr.

Youth leaders in the municipality of Datu Paglas in Maguindanao province have added tutoring to their workload to help children who are struggling to learn outside classrooms as the COVID-19 pandemic restructured the education system.

All 230 leaders and members of the Sangguniang Kabataan are spread out  as volunteer teachers in the 23 barangays of Datu Paglas during the week to mentor students from Grades 1 to 6.

“The main point of the free mentoring program is to focus on children whose parents cannot tutor them,” said Datu Shariff Taha Paglas, head of the SK in Barangay Damalusay.

Many grade schoolers are left to deal with self-learning modules on their own as their parents head out to work on the farm, prompting the local government to tap the SK to mentor the children.

Twenty-four-year old Ivan Kamamang focuses on slow learners in his barangay, making sure they are able to understand difficult subject areas like mathematics with examples that are easier to grasp.

With a degree in secondary education, Kamamang and his SK team spend three days a week tutoring children in all eight sitios in Barangay Bunawan. They travel by motorcycle to reach remote areas to ensure that all children who need help would be attended to.

“Our goal is that no one should be left behind when it comes to education in Datu Paglas,” he said.

Seal of Good Education Governance

Datu Paglas has been a consistent recipient of Synergeia Foundation’s Seal of Good Education Governance since it was launched in 2017, with the local government continuously finding ways to better respond to the education needs of its constituents.

Synergeia has handed out 61 Seal of Good Education Governance, and will be awarding more to the next batch of cities and municipalities at the 14th Washington SyCip National Education Summit on March 17-19.

Local governments can download the application form from

https://www.sealofgoodeducation.com/ which also has all the details about the Seal. The deadline for filing of applications is on Feb. 19.

Even as COVID-19 forced schools to close and shifted learning to homes, many local governments worked hard to ensure that education would continue unimpeded in 2020.

That includes Datu Paglas which began its SK mentoring program in November.

The SK team led by Abdullah Madidis tutors children who are in a list of students that a school principal deemed to be needing help.

It’s quite a challenging career start for the elementary education graduate who often needs to think on his feet given the rigorous tutoring schedule and the pressure to attend to every child who requires assistance.

‘Teach creatively’

Synergeia encouraged Datu Paglas Mayor Abubakar Paglas to pursue his idea of tapping the SK to help the young students.

“Another role that we want to do is to train the SKs on how to teach creatively, especially those who are not education graduates,” says Synergeia program officer Dindo Guevara.

Criminology student Jarullah Naco tends to focus on Grade 1 students, leaving the higher grade levels to a fellow SK member who has a degree in education.

“I try to help as much as I can because most of the parents of these children didn’t finish their studies. But there’s only so much I can do for now,” he said.

Synergeia, supported by the U.S, Agency for International Development, works with local governments across the Philippines to ensure that every Filipino child gets good quality basic education.

Amidst the pandemic, Synergeia has advocated for in-person tutorials in places with zero COVID cases or low-risk areas, to help students with working or unschooled parents and those who cannot afford online platforms.

With strict compliance to safety protocols, these physical teaching sessions are underway in Synergeia partner communities in some provinces including Iloilo, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao and La Union.