After solving classroom backlog, gov't must focus
 on dismal state of math-science education - Angara

After wiping out the classroom backlog, government should focus on math and science education, an area where it grapples with low test scores, lack of science laboratories, and poor global ranking.

Sen. Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara made the pitch for the two subjects after President Aquino announced in Cavite on Feb. 3 that the chronic classroom backlog has been conquered with his administration's construction of its 66,813th classroom in Carmona town.

Angara said government "should not rest on its laurels" and use the "same energy in erasing the classroom deficit in bringing up the quality of math and science teaching."

He said government cannot ignore the two subjects as they remain the building blocks of a strong national economy.

Both China and U.S, he said, are planting the seeds of a prosperous future by investing heavily on the math and science education of their seven-year-olds.

While there is a "quantum leap" in math and science education funding during the Aquino administration, "as proven, for example, by this year's P2.6 billion allotment for math and science tool kits for elementary schools," much remains to be done, Angara said.

He cited a 2012 official report which showed that only 1,923 public elementary schools out of the 38,521 nationwide had science laboratories, and only 2,809 public high schools out of 7,490 had one.

Compounding this is the fact that less than half of math and science teachers did not take these as majors in college or lack in-service training in these subjects, Angara said.

To address this, Angara proposed that a bigger chunk of Department of Education's P2.7 billion budget for training this year be used to upgrade capabilities of math and science mentors "including scholarships for those who would like to pursue Masteral degrees."

"We should recognize that the core of any education reform is not physical assets. The teacher is the lynchpin. What is the use of a state-of-the art science lab if the teacher is below par?"

Angara hopes that "simultaneous and substantial" investments in these two areas will raise math and science education from the "cellar of national and global ranking."

Average National Achievement Test (NAT) scores on math for Grade 3 students showed a drop from 62.8 percent in 2007-2008 to 59.9 percent in 2011-2012. Science scores also dipped from 56.1 percent to 55.1 percent.

NAT performance of high schools in math also fell from 50.7 percent in 2007-2008 to 46.3 percent in 2011-2012.

However, Grade 6 students registered an increase in test scores, from 51.5 percent percent to 66.1 percent in science, and from 60.2 percent to 66.4 percent in math during the same periods.

Despite lowering the bar, the cut-off score in math, only one-fourth of schools hurdled the 75 percent passing rate.

Not surprisingly, our low local performance is reflected in our low global ranking, Angara said.

"In the Global Competitiveness Report that gauged the quality of science and education, we ranked 112th out of 139 countries in 2010-2011 and 115th out of 142 countries in 2011-2012," he noted.

The Philippines placed 41st in science and 42nd in math among 45 countries in the 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, a quadrennial international assessment of math and science skills among primary and secondary schools.

Nonetheless, Angara said the Philippines has got what it takes "to arrest the drop, reverse the trend and even get ahead."

"We're putting in more money in education. In fact, the budget this year of DepEd is P337 billion. We're buying books, science equipment to the tune of P8.3 billion. We're hiring 33,200 more teachers," he said.

"We're distributing 38,351 sets of science and math equipment. This is the formula that will improve our standing," Angara added.

"We cannot progress without science and technology. We only have 165 science and technology professionals for every one million of us. If we want to improve this number, we must first improve math and science and education," he said.

Angara said early and hefty investments in math and science education will result in the creation of a "better-trained, employable workforce," which is needed to solve the lack of jobs.

"There is link between high math-and-science scores and low unemployment numbers. And as shown by Korea, Japan and Singapore, investment in human capital is a requisite for economic growth," he said.

Compared to the Philippines' 2.7 percent share of education in the GDP, Japan spends 3.8 percent, Singapore 3.3 percent and South Korea 5 percent of their GDP for education.