IF you are willing to even die for your country, the least your country demands of you is to learn mathematics.
This is one meme going the rounds of the internet, which carries a message that is too important to be ignored.
Many Filipinos, especially the young, are averse to learning hard subjects in school. And one of them is math, another is science. Both are the building blocks of the current technological age of the global society, and thus should be given importance. The phenomenal rise of world leaders like China and India may be traced to their passionate effort to attain technological advancement.
As late as last year, various studies showed that Filipino students are lagging in knowledge about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics compared to their counterparts in other Asian countries.
The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) for 2022 (released the following year, 2023) still ranked the Philippines at 77th out of 81 participating countries in knowledge rating. The country scored Level 1a to 1b on math, reading, and science — meaning students had below minimum proficiency in all three subject areas.
‘We should prepare young Filipinos to compete and if possible, excel in the future technology and innovation-driven world.’
The sad part here is that since 2018 when the Philippines first joined PISA, there has been no marked improvement in the learning status of our local learners.
PISA, which is conducted by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), has been evaluating the literacy of 15-year-olds every three years since 2000.
It is thus a matter of official responsibility that the Department of Education and the Department of Science and Technology firmed up their partnership with the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to help boost the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) curriculum and advance scientific literacy in the education sector.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara and Science Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. signed the four-year MOU which aims to develop the STEM curriculum, train teachers, provide scholarship and mentoring sessions, and advance information sharing and research.
“This is a significant step in redeveloping the science and technology curriculum, enhancing learner engagement, and strengthening school networks and resources for research,” DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara said in a statement.
Under the partnership, the DOST will deploy scientists and researchers to “directly engage” with schools to act as resource persons. The DOST will also aid DepEd with teaching tools, platforms, and access to its facilities to equip educators with the latest information and methodologies for STEM. For its part, the DepEd will identify participating schools and ensure the partnership is in line with its policies and curriculum standards.
We hope that this DOST-DepEd partnership is just the first of similar efforts by government agencies to solve the problem of STEM deficiency.
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED), state colleges and universities, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Department of Agriculture (DA), and Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) should bind together in the national effort to help the youth gain traction in scientific literacy.
We should prepare young Filipinos to compete and if possible, excel in the future technology and innovation-driven world.