case study about school problems in the philippines

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

The philippine teachers concerns on educational reform using concern based adoption model.

• Department of Education, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea

This study aims to identify the Philippines teachers’ concerns in K–12 implementation. The Concerns Based Adoption Model was applied to determine the level of concerns, and the Stages of Concern Questionnaire has been administered to 400 teachers. Findings indicate that consequence and collaboration was the teachers’ current concern (impact stage). Furthermore, experience and education factors showed the biggest significance affecting their collaboration among teachers. These current concerns match the existing problems of Philippine education: poor PISA results and lack of resources. This research urges the Philippine government to promote professional development activities that encourage teamwork and collaboration among teachers.

1 Introduction

The approval of the Republic Act 10,533 (Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 or K–12 law) reformed the entire education system of the Philippines including curriculum, teacher training, and offered programs ( Tamar and Atinc, 2017 ). Schools are expected to be the training ground for students to prepare them for the real world. As the curriculum is used as the blueprint on what students should learn, the teaching force plays the biggest role in delivering this essential information to the students ( Redondo, Jr. and Bueno, 2019 ). With the new program implementation in the Philippines, teachers’ response to this new policy should also be taken into consideration. As stated by Fritz (2001, as cited in Tuytensa and Devosab, 2009 ), teachers are susceptible to different outlooks to policy change hence it is essential to understand how teachers view the policy and it’s characteristics.

Educators and policymakers are responsive in implementing change and policies to suit the following needs of the students, teachers, and the educational environment. Educational developments and modifications in education require proactive participation and response from the teachers. Therefore, the teacher’s preparedness and self-regulation are essential for them to deliver proper instruction and exert their influence in the classroom ( Bray-Clark and Bates, 2003 ). To study these educational innovations and arising concerns surrounding them, the Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM) became one of the most effective frameworks and an “empirically grounded model” for implementation analysis ( Anderson, 1997 ). CBAM was conceptualized by Gene Hall and defines, describes, and predicts the possible levels of teacher concerns and behaviors during implementation ( Hall et al., 1979 ; Hall and Hord, 1987 ; Hall and Hord, 2001 ). The CBAM model can be utilized in various ways by using the tools for measuring the process of implementation like curriculum developments, school programs, etc. Significantly in the field of education, CBAM can aid in the field of education through the following reasons: (1) evaluate the effects of reform programs or initiatives for educators and recognize the dynamic structure of the educational organization which involves the interplay within various key players; (2) contains a “conceptual framework for change” that thoroughly recommends an effective change implementation and understand the individuals involved in the change process through the three dimensions of CBAM; and (3) study the individuals’ feelings, perceptions, behavior, and professional development ( Saunders, 2012 , pp. 187–188). The CBAM model consists of three dimensions: seven Stages of Concerns (SOC), eight Levels of Use (LoU), and innovation configurations. For this research, the focus will be on the seven SOC which consists of the Unconcerned/Awareness, Informational, Personal, Management, Consequence, Collaboration, and Refocusing stages ( George et al., 2013 ).

Considering the impact and importance of teachers in any educational implementation, it is important to investigate the basis of teachers’ concerns regarding the adoption process. Hence, the present study examines the concerns Filipino teachers have in response to new situations or demands emerging from the adoption of the K–12 educational system. The teacher’s ability to face different challenges and self-regulation is essential for them to deliver proper instruction and exert their effects in the classroom ( Bray-Clark and Bates, 2003 ). For this research, the following questions will be explored: (1) Among the seven stages on the CBAM, what is the current concerns level of the teachers regarding the new K–12 implementation and the difference across teachers’ experience and involvement with the innovation? and (2) What are the factors affecting the current level of concern on the K–12 implementation? Due to the nature of the new educational reform, recent research is directed more on the new system and its implementation process. Hence, there is currently a gap in the literature focusing on the teacher’s development and sentiments towards the reform. As Department of Education Secretary Leonor Briones highlighted their intention to thoroughly review the K–12 educational program ( Montemayor, 2018 ), it is integral to assess the teacher’s level of preparedness by learning their personal insights on their own standing in the educational reform. This research will aid in understanding the current impact of the education reform on the teachers and students, and what should be the main points and focus on improvement.

1.1 Theoretical Background: Educational Reform and Teachers’ Concerns

1.1.1 k–12 educational reform in the philippines.

The Republic Act of 10,533 or Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 (K–12) is one of the biggest reforms the Philippines has experienced after more than 50 years of having a 10-years educational system. The most significant contribution brought by this reform is the additional 2 years of Senior High School (SHS) which makes the new system befitting to international standards ( Oxford Business Group, 2021 ). Moreover, all technical and vocational courses are also offered to prepare students to join the workforce ( Barlongo, 2015 ). The adoption and implementation process of the K–12 system has been a well-discussed matter before its execution. In the Transitions to K–12 Education Systems: Experiences from Five Case Countries publication prepared by the Asian Development Bank, they enumerated eight factors that influenced the reform in the Philippines: large size, secondary lags, low cycle completion, inequality, academic test performance, teacher development, public-private partnership, and education spending recovering ( Sarvi et al., 2015 ). Hence, in 2010, the administration prioritized educational reform, and meticulously planned for the enactment of the Republic Act of 10,533 or the Enhanced Basic Education Act (CHED, n, d). This educational reform is set not just to simply meet the global standards but to also assure that the next generation of graduates would be at par and on a level with the rest of the world.

The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization or SEAMEO (2017) stated that K–12 holds a set of objectives: aligning the system with the international standard, refining the youth’s educational experience, and boosting the country’s competitiveness. Table 1 shows the specific objectives and corresponding features of the K–12 education system:

TABLE 1 . Programs based on K–12 objectives.

The implementation of this program started in the year 2011 and the first batch of Senior High School students graduated by 2018. Figure 1 shows the yearly plan of the government and their targeted years for the new batch undergoing the K–12 system. Based on the plan, the universal Kindergarten started in 2011, while the Grade 7 and the new Grade 1 curriculum were implemented by the following year. In 2016, the first Senior High School program began and hence the first batch of Senior High School students graduated in the year 2018.

FIGURE 1 . Interaction effect between involvement in innovation and teaching experience.

The Basic Education is now compulsory for all and is structured based on the following: Kindergarten or Early Childhood Education, 6 years of Elementary or Primary Education (Grade 1–6), 4 years of Secondary/Junior High School (Grade 7–10), and 2 years of Senior High School (Grade 11–12). After graduating from high school, students can opt to attend a Technical Vocational Education and Training Program (TVET) and/or Higher Education. Students can start Kindergarten from the age of 5 and are expected to enter their last year of Senior High School by the age of 17 ( Sarvi et al., 2015 ).

1.1.2 Teachers’ Concerns on the K–12 Implementation

According to Vilches (2017) , teachers’ impact and performance are considered a huge influence on the success and failure of educational reforms; hence, implementing reforms and programs should be done alongside teachers. The sudden implementation of the K–12 in the Philippines left teachers in confusion with their roles in the new educational system, specifically the development of their roles throughout the process, the appropriateness of the new curriculum and the real classroom situation, and the difference in the internal communication of different education stakeholders. A study conducted by Braza and Supapo (2014) about the problems of the Mathematics curriculum under the K–12 education system showed that there are three main problems in the implementation: administrative, teacher-related, and student-related. The teachers were discovered to struggle in delivering the content of class materials and possess poor teaching strategies/skills. Due to the lack of professional development opportunities, teachers were unprepared to teach the content based on the assigned schedule and have a more diversified teaching methodology. Moreover, the absence of proper support and materials led to lesser time for teachers to efficiently instruct the content. Dizon et al. (2019) further supported this claim stating that there is a lack of preparation for teaching development. It is necessary that teachers themselves must be well-equipped with proper teaching strategies that maximize teacher-student participation.

Outside the four walls of the classroom, various concerned groups in the Philippines like Alliance of Concerned Teachers Partylist Representatives Antonio Tinio and France Castro strongly expressed that the Philippines was not yet ready for the full implementation of the K–12 system. They expressed that there is a “persisting shortages in school and classrooms, particularly senior high school; lack of textbook, learning facilities, and other needs of students.” Teachers were also left to shoulder the expenses on their own ( Tibay, 2018 ). The ACT noted that the Department of Education is already late in reviewing the implementation process; nonetheless, they are hoping that both the DepEd and Congress will have an “honest-to-goodness review” of the first run of the implementation to show the lapses and points of improvements the government can manage for the education sector ( Juntereal, 2019 ).

2 Concerns-Based Adoption Model

Hall and Hord, Hord et al., Loucks-Horsley and Stiegelbauer (as cited in in Khoboli and O’toole, 2012 , p. 140) explained that CBAM “focuses on how people, such as teachers, parents, students and policy makers, respond to change.” Moreover, it also shows the emotional and psychological processes individuals go through once they are confronted and/or adopt an innovation ( Hall, 1975 ). Under this model, there are 5 assumptions about the innovation in classroom and instruction: (1) change is a process, not an event; (2) change is executed by individuals; (3) change is an intimate personal experience; (4) change contains progressive growth in feelings and skills; (5) change can be enabled by interventions directed toward the individuals, innovations, and contexts involved ( Anderson, 1997 ).

The CBAM was inspired by the works of Frances Fuller as she theorized the “concerns theory for teacher education.” In one of her papers about Concerns of Teachers: A Developmental Conceptualization, she notes that there must be a close observation between knowing what teachers need and what is available to them. Her research contains two studies and groups of student teachers that were surveyed through a counseling method. The first study results showed that student teachers were first concerned with their “self” on how they can meet the supervisor’s expectations, deal with school authority, and perform class maintenance. This concern gradually shifted to their “students’” performance in class and effective learning. The second study showed a similar response with the first on how the student teachers’ concern shifted from “self” to “students.” In this study, the student teachers’ responses were divided into three categories: (1) Where do I stand? How adequate am I? How do others think I’m doing? [self] (2) Problem behavior of pupils. Class control. Why do they do that? [student management] (3) Are pupils learning? How does what I do affect their gain? [student concerns]. Results showed that there is a correlation in the student teachers’ concern between [1] and [2] while there is a difference between [1] and [3] and [2] and [3], which shows that there is a distinction between the flow of teachers’ concern from self to students ( Fuller, 1969 , pp. 211–214). Fuller’s work shows a developmental sequence of teachers’ concerns from themselves to student management to impact on students—the self, task, and impact concerns. Self-concerns refer to the personal dilemmas of the teacher in his/her ability to perform well; task concerns refer to the responsibilities and duties teachers need to keep in mind in managing the classroom; and lastly, impact concerns refer to the evaluation and worries of teachers in the possible effect of their teaching and management to the students ( Christou et al., 2004 ). Research works from the University of Texas conducted studies concerning the adoption of teachers and professors on certain implementation. They saw similar results with the one Fuller had before and hypothesized that there are certain categories of concerns and logical progression in the development of concerns. This led the researchers to identify the three dimensions of CBAM: seven Stages of Concerns (SOC), and eight Levels of Use (LoU), and innovation configurations ( Hall, 1975 ). Hall and Hord (2001) explained that the Stages of Concern which utilizes the Stages of Concern (SoC) questionnaire is the most important data gathering tool in the model ( George et al., 2013 ).

2.1 Stages of Concern

The Stages of Concern identify the individual’s worries or feelings about innovation. It is called stages because of the step-by-step development evolution of the concerns as they shift from one to another. These stages are used to determine in which part of the process the individual’s feelings are heightened. It consists of seven stages which were classified into three categories centering on Fuller’s developmental sequence of concerns: self, task, and impact ( Hall, 1975 ). Table 2 features the seven stages, their corresponding developmental sequence, and their definition.

TABLE 2 . CBAM stages of concerns.

2.2 CBAM Application

Christou et al.’s (2004) research investigated the reform in the Mathematics curriculum in Cyprus’ elementary schools. To efficiently instruct Mathematics, some developments were focused on changing the curriculum content and resource materials. Teachers were expected to assist the students to discover things by themselves rather than spoon-feeding them. Based on their research findings of curricular change, they believe that teachers are the key to the effective implementation by understanding how they handle the process. However, there seems to be a conflict between the teaching methods of teachers and reforms in the Math curriculum which led to a huge concern and frustration among teachers. Because of this, the researchers wanted to identify the concerns teachers have in the new curricula and Mathematics textbooks in Cyprus. They wanted to look at the “degree to which Cypriot teachers had accepted and followed it in the classroom.” Also, they wanted to see if there is any difference between the teacher’s experience in the education field and their involvement with the implementation. The participants consist of 155 male and 500 female teachers coming from 100 elementary schools in Cyprus. The researchers utilized their own adapted version of the Stages of Concern Questionnaire which includes 36 items and can be answered based on a 9-item Likert scale—ranging from Strongly Disagree [1] to Strongly Disagree [9]. Since the questionnaire was modified, factor analysis was done to check the validity of the questionnaire. Answering the two main research questions, the first result of the study showed that the informational and personal stages have the highest mean showing that teachers were acquainted with the objectives and philosophy of the Mathematics book. Meanwhile, the management stages (task) garnered a low mean value expressing those teachers were more concerned about their ability to deliver the objectives of the material. The fewer focus teachers had in their “self” phase showed that they are less concerned with starting the implementing the Mathematics curriculum since they had experiences with the implementation of other innovations before. Moreover, it was hypothesized that the more teachers overcome the task stage, the higher chances they will have little concerns over the impact phase of the development of concerns. The second result showed that teachers with more experience scored higher in the personal and informational stages than the beginning teachers. Highly experienced teachers, even in the absence of full information on the implementation, have more confidence in dealing with innovation. Beginning teachers showed more concern in collaborating with other colleagues and work than the consequence of the implementation on their students ( Christou et al., 2004 ).

In the case of Jordanian universities, CBAM was used to evaluate the E-learning system and check the “current stage of concern” of the faculty members in 12 Jordanian universities. A total of 400 faculty members received the questionnaire, and 138 faculty members finished the questionnaire. The responses were analyzed through the SPSS program. Results showed that teachers’ highest level of concern was on the informational stage which had 83%, which was followed by the management stage with 73%. These results showed that teachers are curious about using the E-learning system and the requirements needed to fulfill this system. The lowest group percentages are from Awareness (54%), Refocusing (55%), Collaboration (56%), and Consequence (59%). Based on Fuller’s developmental sequence of concerns, the lowest percentages are under the impact level, which means that teachers need more training on the use of the e-learning system to push their focus from personal concerns to the impact of the system on their students and on others ( Matar, 2015 ).

3 Methodology

This study follows cross-sectional research which aims to identify the current stage Philippine teachers are in regarding the K–12 educational implementation. The participants were chosen via random sampling and were asked to answer an online survey. The survey was distributed with the permission of the respective department of education branches and the researchers contacted the head or principals of different schools for assistance. The number of responses collected consists of 400 participants from different elementary and secondary private and public schools in the Philippines.

3.1 Data Analysis

For the 1st question, the independent variables of the study were the teachers’ total teaching experience and the years of their involvement in the implementation of the new educational system in the Philippines, and the dependent variables are the seven stages of concerns. Based on the study, four groups of teachers were dispersed across the whole range of teaching experience, and three groups covered the years of involvement with the innovation. Table 3 presents the numbers of teachers in each group. To answer research question 1, the mean and standard deviation will be computed to check the relationship between the levels and teachers’ experience and involvement with the innovation. The second question seeks to determine the factors affecting the teachers’ current stage of concern. To compute this, the regression analysis was done. Gender, Education level, School Type, School Location, Mountain area, and Teaching Level were chosen as predictors to determine the personal profiles and working (school) environment of the teachers. Table 4 presents the descriptive statistics of the following variables and predictors mentioned above.

TABLE 3 . Teachers involvement by years of teaching experience and years of involvement in the innovation.

TABLE 4 . Descriptive statistics for the Philippine teachers.

3.2 Instrumentation: Concern Scales

The Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ) was adopted as the data gathering tool for this research. Before the 35-item questionnaire was finalized, a 195-item instrument was analyzed using the item-scale score correlation and content analysis to avoid redundancy of the items which led researchers to decrease the items to 35 with 5 items per scale. This 35-item questionnaire was conducted in various research settings such as a cross-sectional and longitudinal study to a number of educational innovations. Conclusive evidence shows that SoCQ was able to accurately measure the Stages of Concerns, and at the same time shows reliability and validity ( Hall et al., 1979 ).

For this study, the SoCQ includes a set of scales to prepare a numerical representation of the level and possible causes of concerns toward the Philippines’ educational innovation. Specific words such as “10-years education system” were added to fit the context of the Philippines’ educational system innovation. The adopted SoCQ included a total of 37 items: 35 items for the statements/items where participants are asked to choose on a 0–7 Likert Scale: 0 = Irrelevant, 1 = Not True of Me Now, 2 = Not True of Me Now, 3 = Somewhat True of Me Now, 4 = Somewhat True of Me Now, 5 = Somewhat True of Me Now, 6 = Very True of Me Now, and 7 = Very True of Me Now. The remaining 2 items inquire about the year of involvement in the innovation and their training in preparation for the innovation. As per the SoCQ manual, the order of the items was kept in their exact order to avoid risks of reliability and validity.

Before analysing the variance and regression of the data, a reliability analysis was carried out on the CBAM scale comprising 7 items. Cronbach’s alpha showed the questionnaire to reach acceptable reliability, α = 0.90. The Cronbach alphas for all stages were high except for the Awareness stage which got α = 0.66. Nonetheless, the values of the alphas show that the instrument has acceptable reliabilities for the study. The alphas for each stage are as follows: (Informational α = 0.91, Personal α = 0.90, Management α = 0.85, Consequences α = 0.85, Collaboration α = 0.85, and Refocusing α = 0.88).

4.1 Research Question 1: Teachers’ Current Stage of Concern Across Experience and Involvement

Table 5 shows the mean and standard deviation responses in relation to the teacher’s experience and involvement in the innovation. Analyzing the table, the low mean value of Awareness (x̄ = 2.00) shows that teachers were all well-informed about the innovation given that frequent discussions and concerns have been raised by education-related organizations and even some private and public sectors. Moreover, because they were already involved with this innovation for a sufficient period, their awareness stage is on a low level.

TABLE 5 . Means of SoC by teachers’ experience and by teachers’ years of involvement in the innovation.

The next stage, Task stage (Management, x̄ = 2.1) has a lower mean compared to the Self Stage: Awareness (x̄ = 2.00), Information (x̄ = 2.12), and Personal (x̄ = 2.14). However, it has a relatively low mean average compared to that of the impact stage (Consequence, x̄ = 2.15; Collaboration, x̄ = 2.15; Refocusing, x̄ = 2.12). This means that teachers were now focusing on how to achieve their class objectives, assessing the students’ performance, and achieving the end goal of the innovation. Thus, it can be hypothesized that as the teachers under the new K–12 education became used to the new implementation, their concerns are more on finding ways for students to adapt to the new educational program.

The highest means can be seen on the Consequence (x̄ = 2.15) and Collaboration stages (x̄ = 2.15), indicating that the teachers are now more concerned about the effects of the implementation on their students and their colleagues’ activity. Under the consequence stage, teachers are more focused on the impact and relevance of the innovation to the students, educational outcomes, and changes needed for better student outcomes ( George et al., 2013 ). Anderson (1997) further explained this stage where teachers will also try to modify the innovation or their application to see better effects. The Collaboration stage, on the other hand, also shows the teachers’ willingness to work with others for the utilization and improvement of the implementation. As seen in the table, both the Consequence and Collaboration stages fall under the category of Impact which shows that teachers are now on the stage of worrying whether the implementation has a positive impact on their students’ lives.

4.2 Research Question 2: Factors Affecting the Current Level of Concern

To identify which factors of the CBAM were strongly related to each stage, we conducted a regression analysis using the CBAM stages as the dependent variables. The CBAM stages are divided into seven and Gender, Education level, School Type, School Location, Mountain area, and Teaching Level were used as predictors. We also calculated the interaction effect between Involvement with Innovation and Teaching Experience. Before checking which factors of the CBAM were strongly related to each stage, the coefficients were checked to see which stage gives the best level of significance and can be analyzed for this question.

As presented in Table 6 , Collaboration ( p = 0.012) showed the strongest significance among the seven. Based on their r-squared, the collaboration ( R 2 = 0.060) stage showed the highest significance among the seven. Table 7 illustrates the regression analysis with the chosen predictors for this study. The low R 2 value for this study can be attributed to the hard differentiation of human behavior towards the change process ( Frost, 2021 ). Achen (1977, as cited in Figueiredo Filho et al., 2011 ) also noted that the small R 2 value is not a sign of a weak relationship among variables. The variance interpreted from the R 2 can depend on the variation of the variables included in the study. Interpreting the significance of this study can also be seen from both the statistical and practical significance. Statistical significance focuses on the p -value (null hypothesis) while, on the other hand, practical significance observes the effect size and usefulness of the results based on the field of study. In short, a study that may not be statistically significant can still be practically important. One example is the area of Gene and Environmental study; the effect size of .01 can be considered as a significant effect size even if the value is small ( Lawrence, 2017 ).

TABLE 6 . Coefficients table for the CBAM stages.

TABLE 7 . Regression results with the Collaboration Stage regressed on multiple predictors.

Under the Collaboration stage, the highest significant effect is shown on teachers with years of experience, followed by education and the interaction effect for involvement and experience. For the education factor, teachers with a graduate degree, either master’s or doctorate, showed a significant result showing that there is an increase in the collaboration sense for teachers who had their graduate degree. Teachers who have more teaching experience tend to seek lesser collaboration with colleagues or any individuals. However, the interaction effect between involvement with innovation and experience showed significant results. As the teacher gains more years of involvement with the innovation and teaching experience, the more they tend to be open for collaboration. The line chart below shows the relationship of involvement and collaboration, assuming that experience is at 10, 20, 30, and 40 years. It is observable that levels of collaboration tend to increase at levels of involvement, and as the levels of experience increase, there is a higher rate of increase of collaboration per year of involvement. Hence, there is a higher impact of involvement to collaboration if the teachers have more teaching experience.

5 Discussion

In the present study, the current level of teachers’ concern, as shown in Table 2 , shows their concern for the innovation consequences and need for collaboration. This result can be attributed to the recent result of the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). PISA is an examination given by OECD to 15-year-olds, was participated for the first time in 2018 by the Philippines to evaluate their current global standing. Unfortunately, the country performed worse among the 79 participating countries—ranking last with an average score of 340 points which is lower than the global 487 average ( Punongbayan, 2019 ). Table 8 shows the Reading, Mathematics, and Science scores of the 5 top- and low-ranking countries in the 2018 PISA.

TABLE 8 . PISA 2018 results of the 5 top and low countries.

As the students who experienced the first run of the K–12 implementation in 2018, the result above is a wake-up call for all the education stakeholders. More importantly, this is where the greatest concern of the teachers lies—on whether the current and teaching method is effective to the students. ACT France Castro specifically pointed out the “congested curriculum” as a huge contributing factor to the poor performance in the international assessment. According to him, the curriculum negatively influences the performances of the teachers and students as it jeopardizes the teaching time and the period of student learning ( Corrales, 2020 ). Moreover, this so-called “chopseuy method,” a coined teaching method where teachers try to teach a bit of each lesson, defeats the purpose of the mastery of content and teacher’s pedagogy ( Manuel, 2020 ). Unless the government decides to restructure the curriculum, students will graduate with lesser learnings and the PISA results will stay on the bottom tier. These problems raise the concerns of teachers to seek effective ways either through professional development or collaborating with their co-teachers to discover more teaching methods.

Suggesting collaboration among colleagues or any professional educator presents as a good solution to this disheartening result. Lara-Alecio et al. (2012) and Goddard et al. (2010) documented that teachers who were involved in collaborative activities had their students score higher in Science, Mathematics, and Reading assessments. Creating a positive community among the teachers where they can share ideas and teaching methods and lessen the stressors for teachers can directly impact not only the teachers’ personal needs but also support the students more on their educational journey. With all the issues surrounding the K–12 implementation, the Philippine government needs to strengthen its teaching force by providing sufficient materials and resources for teachers to utilize. Adding co-teaching programs will also be helpful to students who are lagging or needs educational attention are supported during and even after the class.

5.1 Collaborative Education for Effective Learning

Among the seven stages of concerns, collaboration showed significance for both research questions. An effective collaboration aims for not only personal development but also benefits the group which is achievable through proper cooperation with each other—a “community of learners and support” focusing on the social aspects of education ( Head, 2003 ) Previous research findings ( Lee and Smith, 1996 ; Goddard et al., 2007 ; Berry et al., 2009 ; Louis et al., 2010 ; Dumay et al., 2013 ) showed that encouraging collaboration among colleagues leads to the teacher effectiveness such as discovery effective teaching practices and better student outcomes. According to Mora-Ruano et al. (2019 ), research proved that there are benefits for teacher collaboration ( Lee and Smith, 1996 ; Louis et al., 2010 ; Dumay et al., 2013 ). Hailen (2015, as cited in Mora-Ruano et al., 2019 ) reported that Finland's 2016 curriculum reform identifies a “collaborative atmosphere” as the key to advancing the school system. Cooperating among each other in achieving the school curriculum objectives can promote teacher professional development ( Mora-Ruano et al., 2019 ). For students, collaboration benefits have improved learning and increased clarity about their intended outcomes ( Langer et al., 2003 ). Previous research ( Shachar and Shmuelevitz, 1997 ; Pounder, 1999 ; Berry et al., 2009 ; Goddard et al., 2010 ) showed that students who attended schools with high levels of teacher collaboration performed well in their school activities.

The second research question showed that teachers with higher teaching experience tend to focus less on collaborating with other teachers. Similar to other research findings ( Christou et al., 2004 ; Ronfeldt et al., 2015 ), the lesser sense of collaboration from highly experienced teachers can be attributed to their self-efficacy and background in dealing with the subtleties of classroom changes. On the other hand, the interaction effect between experience and innovation shows that as the levels of experience increase, the collaboration also increases per year of involvement. Regarding their educational background, teachers with graduate degrees showed significant results which are in contrast with previous research findings ( Puteh et al., 2011 ; Hao and Lee, 2015 ; Yea Lo, 2018 ). Other research shows that teachers have demonstrated equal concerns about the classroom system and delivering curriculum classroom content; particularly in preparing their materials and strategizing their teaching methods, teachers are distracted with their individual concerns that collaboration is not a viable option for them. In the Philippines’ case, teachers with higher education degrees than bachelors would likely engage in collaborative efforts compared to those who only have bachelors. Teachers with higher degrees are trained more on teaching pedagogy and have discovered more about the specificities of the education field. Given the lack of resources in the Philippines, these teachers are more flexible to plausible options available in their surroundings: cooperation with co-teachers.

6 Conclusion

This research was aimed to evaluate the current concerns of teachers as the first run of the K–12 implementation is done, and to see if their teaching experience and involvement with the innovation has an effect on their level concerns. Through using the CBAM questionnaire, the questions were classified into 7 stages—all can be classified into Fuller’s concerns theory for teacher education. The questions delved into topics concerning their teachers’ concerns from shifting to their decades-old 10-years system to a new K–12 system that modified not only the number of school years but also the curriculum and learning method. The data presented showed that teachers are more focused on the impact stage. Out of the three stages, consequence and collaboration showed the highest mean scores, indicating that teachers are heavily concerned about the impact of the new educational system on their students, and the ways they can do to improve their teaching methodology. We can hypothesize that Philippine teachers are now generally more concerned about two things: the influence of the innovation on their students, and professional development especially through coordination with others. Teachers are eager to know whether their students can gain sufficient knowledge from their teachings, can comprehend and learn about the things they need for school assessment and daily life, and can modify the ways of the implementation for better educational output.

The results of the study showed that educational organizations should focus more on reforming the innovation as the results and resources provided to the teachers are insufficient. Based on the issues and findings, there are three things the government should focus on now: (1) revisiting and loosening the curriculum; (2) investing in Professional Teacher Development; and (3) creating collaborative teaching programs and training. Teachers have expressed in the beginning that the proposed curriculum is hard for them to deliver, not only because of the lack of resources but also because of their insufficient skills and time. In the Philippine context, collaboration needs more work and attention as the resources and time of the teachers may be limited. Pursuing collaboration requires the cooperation of not only the teachers but also the government. Providing professional development opportunities that enable more collaborative activities among teachers is highly encouraged. If the curriculum developers can plan and create a more systematic curriculum flow, then it would help teachers to strategize their teaching methods and lesson plans. To make this more feasible, the government should invest in giving more opportunities for training and seminars. Moreover, the education department can also increase team buildings and training to open more opportunities for teachers to collaborate with each other and learn from each other’s teaching methods.

It is important to note that even if the concerning stage is in its higher stage, it does not mean that the lower-level concerns are gone. There are a lot of educational factors and individual insights that might affect and increase the concerns of some specific stages. What each education stakeholder should do is to make sure that the initial concerns—being informed of the context of the innovation, making sure that the involved individuals need and readiness are observed, and organizing and managing of innovation—are properly monitored and resolved so that teachers can focus on their roles in the classrooms. In summary, the Philippine Department of Education needs to understand that teachers, even in a different environment, are heavily concerned with the students’ welfare. Implementation efforts should focus on engaging collaboration and should also consider the availability of resources for the teachers and students. With the lack of the previous study addressing these concerns, this research hopes to contribute to the direction of the modification of the K–12 educational system.

Data Availability Statement

The raw data supporting the conclusion of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Ethics Statement

Ethical review and approval was not required for the study on human participants in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author Contributions

KM conducted the data gathering and wrote the manuscript. JC edited, reviewed, and assisted in the necessary steps to proceed with the study. SL assisted in the data analysis and final review of the paper.

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2020S1A5C2A03093092).

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors, and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Anderson, S. E. (1997). Understanding Teacher Change: Revisiting the Concerns Based Adoption Model. Curriculum Inq. 27, 331–367. doi:10.1080/03626784.1997.11075495

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Barlongo, C. (2015). Reforms in the Philippine Education System: The K to 12 Program. Available at: https://businessmirror.com.ph/reforms-in-the-philippine-education-system-the-k-to-12-program/ .

Google Scholar

Bray-Clark, N., and Bates, R. (2003). Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Teacher Effectiveness: Implications for Professional Development. The Prof. Educator 26, 13–22.

Braza, M. T., and Supapo, S. S. (2014). Effective Solutions in the Implementation of the K To12 Mathematics Curriculum. SAINSAB 17, 12–23.

Berry, B., Daughtrey, A., and Wieder, A. (2009). Collaboration: Closing the Effective Teaching Gap . Retrieved from: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED509717.pdf .(Accessed August 13, 2021).

Christou, C., Eliophotou-Menon, M., and Philippou, G. (2004). Teachers' Concerns Regarding the Adoption of a New Mathematics Curriculum: An Application of CBAM. Educ. Stud. Math. 57 (2), 157–176. doi:10.1023/b:educ.0000049271.01649 www.jstor.org/stable/4150269 (Accessed May 21, 2020)

Corrales, N. (2020). K-12 Blamed for Low Math, Science Ranks. Philippine Daily Inquirer . Retrieved June 15, 2021, from Available at: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1371337/k-12-blamed-for-low-math-science-ranks#ixzz7GqPPYcSQ .

Dizon, R. L. L., Calbi, J. S., Cuyos, J. S., and Miranda, M. (2019). Perspectives on the Implementation of the K to 12 Program in the Philippines: A Research Review. Int. J. Innovation Res. Educ. Sci. 6 (6), 757–765.

Dumay, X., Boonen, T., and Van Damme, J. (2013). Principal Leadership Long-Term Indirect Effects on Learning Growth in Mathematics. Elem. Sch. J. 114, 225–251. doi:10.1086/673198

Figueiredo Filho, D. B., Silva Júnior, J. A., and Rocha, E. C. (2011). What Is R2 All about? Leviathan (São Paulo) (3), 60. doi:10.11606/issn.2237-4485.lev.2011.132282

Frost, J. (2021). How to Interpret R-Squared in Regression Analysis. Stat. By Jim . Retrieved January 2, 2022, from Available at: https://statisticsbyjim.com/regression/interpret-r-squared-regression/ .

Fuller, F. F. (1969). Concerns of Teachers: A Developmental Conceptualization. Am. Educ. Res. J. 6 (2), 207–226. doi:10.3102/00028312006002207

George, A., Hall, G., and Stiegelbauer, S. (2013). Measuring Implementation in Schools: The Stages of Concern Questionnaire . Austin, TX: SEDL .

Goddard, Y. L., Goddard, R. D., and Tschannen-Moran, M. (2007). A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation of Teacher Collaboration for School Improvement and Student Achievement in Public Elementary Schools. Teach. Coll. Rec. Rec 109, 877–896.

Goddard, Y. L., Miller, R., Larsen, R., Goddard, G., Jacob, R., Madsen, J., et al. (2010). “Connecting Principal Leadership, Teacher Collaboration, and Student Achievement,” in Paper Presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting ( Denver, CO) .

Hall, G. E., George, A. A., and Rutherford, W. L. (1979). Measuring Stages of Concern about the Innovation: A Manual for Use of the SoC Questionnaire . 2nd ed. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory .

Hall, G. E., and Hord, S. M. (1987). Change in Schools: Facilitating the Process . Albany, NY: State University of New York Press .

Hall, G. E., and Hord, S. M. (2001). Implementing Change: Patterns, Principles, and Potholes . Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon .

Hall, G. (1975). “The Effects of “Change” on Teachers and Professors—Theory, Research, and Implications for Decision-Makers,” in Paper Presented at the National Invitational Conference on Research on Teacher Effects: An Examination by Policy-Makers and Researchers ( Austin, Texas .

Hao, Y., and Lee, K. S. (2015). Teachers' Concern about Integrating Web 2.0 Technologies and its Relationship with Teacher Characteristics. Comput. Hum. Behav. 48, 1–8. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.01.028

Head, G. (2003). Effective Collaboration: Deep Collaboration as an Essential Element of the Learning Process. The J. Educ. Enquiry .

Juntereal, C. J. (2019). Public, Private Schools Call for Thorough Review of K to 12. Manila Bull. Retrieved June 15, 2021, from Available at: https://mb.com.ph/2019/10/23/public-private-schools-call-for-thorough-review-of-k-to-12/ .

Khoboli, B., and O’toole, J. M. (2012). The Concerns-Based Adoption Model: Teachers' Participation in Action Research. Syst. Pract. Action. Res 25, 137–148. doi:10.1007/s11213-011-9214-8

Langer, G., Cotton, A., and Goff, L. (2003). Collaborative Analysis of Student Work: Improving Teaching and Learning . Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development .

Lara-Alecio, R., Tong, F., Irby, B. J., Guerrero, C., Huerta, M., and Fan, Y. (2012). The Effect of an Instructional Intervention on Middle School English Learners' Science and English reading Achievement. J. Res. Sci. Teach. 49, 987–1011. doi:10.1002/tea.21031

Lawrence, E. (2017). Statistical Significance, Effect Size, and Practical Significance.

Lee, V. E., and Smith, J. B. (1996). Collective Responsibility for Learning and its Effects on Gains in Achievement for Early Secondary School Students. Am. J. Edu. 104, 103–147. doi:10.1086/444122

Manuel, P. (2020). Solon Blames K-12 Curriculum for PH's Dismal Performance in Int'l Assessments. CNN Philippines . Available at: https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/12/13/solon-K-12-curriculum-PH-dismal-performance-international-assessments.html (Accessed December 28, 2020).

Matar, N. (2015). Evaluating E-Learning System Use by CBAM-Stages of Concern Methodology in Jordanian Universities. World Comp. Sci. Inf. Tech. J. 5 (5), 75–81.

Montemayor, M. T. (2018). K-12 Program to Improve Quality of Education: Briones. Philippine News Agency . Retrieved February 3, 2021, from Available at: https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1037617 .

Mora-Ruano, J. G., Heine, J.-H., and Gebhardt, M. (2019). Does Teacher Collaboration Improve Student Achievement? Analysis of the German PISA 2012 Sample. Front. Educ. 4 (85). doi:10.3389/feduc.2019.00085

OECD, U.S. Department of Education (2019). PISA 2018: Insights and Interpretations. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/pisa/PISA%202018%20Insights%20and%20Interpretations%20FINAL%20PDF.pdf .

Oxford Business Group (2021). The Philippine Government Works to Implement its K-12 Programme while Raising Educational Standards. Available at: https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/overview/philippine-government-works-implement-its-k-12-programme-while-raising-educational-standards (Accessed May 9, 2020).

Pounder, D. G. (1999). Teacher Teams: Exploring Job Characteristics and Work-Related Outcomes of Work Group Enhancement. Educ. Adm. Q. 35, 317–348. doi:10.1177/00131619921968581

Punongbayan, J. C. (2019). Dismal Pisa Rankings: A Wake-Up Call for Filipinos. Rappler . Retrieved June 15, 2021, from Available at: https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/246384-analysis-dismal-programme-international-student-assessment-rankings-wake-up-call-filipinos/ .

Puteh, S. N., Salam, K. A., and Jusoff, K. (2011). Using CBAM to Evaluate Teachers' Concerns in Science Literacy for Human Capital Development at the Preschool. World Appl. Sci. J. 14, 81–87.

Redondo, S. C., and Bueno, D. C. (2019). The Cognizance of the Basic Education Teachers on the K to 12 Program. Institutional Multidisciplinary Res. Dev. J. 2. doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.27230.89924

Ronfeldt, M., Farmer, S. O., McQueen, K., and Grissom, J. A. (2015). Teacher Collaboration in Instructional Teams and Student Achievement. Am. Educ. Res. J. 52 (3), 475–514. doi:10.3102/0002831215585562

Sarvi, J., Munger, F., and Pillay, H. (2015). Transitions K-12 Educ. Syst. Experiences five case countries .

Saunders, R. (2012). Assessment of Professional Development for Teachers in the Vocational Education and Training Sector : an Examination of the Concerns Based Adoption Model. Aust. J. Edu. 56 (2). doi:10.1177/000494411205600206

SEAMEO (2017). Guidebook to Education Systems and Reforms of Southeast Asia and China . Bangkok: Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization . [Publication]Available at: https://www.seameo.org/SEAMEOWeb2/images/stories/Publications/Centers_Pub/2017SEAMEOChina/GuidebooktoEducationSystemsandReforms.pdf .

Seashore Louis, K., Dretzke, B., and Wahlstrom, K. (2010). How Does Leadership Affect Student Achievement? Results from a National US Survey. Sch. Effectiveness Sch. Improvement 21, 315–336. doi:10.1080/09243453.2010.486586

Shachar, H., and Shmuelevitz, H. (1997). Implementing Cooperative Learning, Teacher Collaboration and Teachers' Sense of Efficacy in Heterogeneous Junior High Schools. Contemp. Educ. Psychol. 22 (1), 53–72. doi:10.1006/ceps.1997.0924

Tamar, L. R., and Atinc, M. (2017). Investigations into Using Data to Improve Learning: Philippines Case Study . Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution . Retrieved from Available at: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/global-20170307-philippines-case-study.pdf .

Tibay, R. (2018). Lawmakers Start to Worry about Impact of K To12 Program on Ph Education System. Manila Bull. Retrieved June 15, 2021, from Available at: https://mb.com.ph/2018/05/26/lawmakers-start-to-worry-about-impact-of-k-to-12-program-on-ph-education-system/ .

Tuytens, M., and Devos, G. (2009). Teachers' Perception of the New Teacher Evaluation Policy: A Validity Study of the Policy Characteristics Scale. Teach. Teach. Edu. 25 (6), 924–930. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2009.02.014

Vilches, M. L. C. (2017). “Involving Teachers in the Change Process: One English Language Teacher's Account of Implementing Curricular Change in Philippine Basic Education,” in International Perspectives on Teachers Living with Curriculum Change . Editors M. Wedell,, and L. Grassick (London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan ), 15–37. doi:10.1057/978-1-137-54309-7_2

Yea Lo, Yueh. (2018). English Teachers’ Concern on Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR): An Application of CBAM. JuKu: Jurnal Kurikulum & Pengajaran Asia Pasifik 6 (1), 46–58. ISSN 2289-3008. Retrieved from Available at: https://juku.um.edu.my/article/view/11174 .

Keywords: Philippine education, CBAM, teacher collaboration, level of concerns, educational policy

Citation: Magallanes K, Chung JY and Lee S (2022) The Philippine Teachers Concerns on Educational Reform Using Concern Based Adoption Model. Front. Educ. 7:763991. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2022.763991

Received: 24 August 2021; Accepted: 04 January 2022; Published: 23 May 2022.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2022 Magallanes, Chung and Lee. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Jae Young Chung, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Read The Diplomat , Know The Asia-Pacific

• Central Asia
• Southeast Asia
• Environment
• Asia Defense
• China Power
• Crossroads Asia
• Flashpoints
• Pacific Money
• Tokyo Report
• Trans-Pacific View

Photo Essays

• Write for Us
• Subscriptions

The Philippines’ Basic Education Crisis

Recent features.

The Global AI Market No One Is Watching

Latin America and the China-US Space Race 

September 24, 2024

Sponsored article: the challenge of cancer care in rural northeast india.

What’s in a Name? For Andaman and Nicobar Islands’ Capital, Everything.

How China Soured on Nepal

The Hidden Significance of China’s Aircraft Carrier Passage Near Japan’s Yonaguni Island

Will Indian Courts Tame Wikipedia? 

The Asia-Pacific and the Israel-Lebanon Flashpoint: The UNIFIL Variable

Voters Show up in Record Numbers to Kick off Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections

What Could a Harris Administration Mean for Southeast Asia? 

Central Asia: Facing 5 Assertive Presidents, Germany’s Scholz Gets Rebuffed on Ukraine

Envisioning the Asia-Pacific’s Feminist Future

Asean beat  |  society  |  southeast asia.

Out of the country’s 327,000-odd school buildings, less than a third are in good condition, according to government figures.

Three Filipino schoolgirls walking home from school on a muddy road in Port Barton, Palawan, the Philippines.

Several recent studies have pointed out the alarming deterioration of the quality of learning in the Philippines, but this was officially confirmed in the basic education report delivered by Vice President Sara Duterte on January 30. Duterte is concurrently serving as secretary to the Department of Education.

Addressing stakeholders with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in attendance, Duterte highlighted the key issues that plague the country’s basic education system before announcing her department’s agenda for reform .

She echoed what previous surveys have indicated about the low academic proficiency of Filipino students. She also identified her department’s biggest concern. “The lack of school infrastructure and resources to support the ideal teaching process is the most pressing issue pounding the Philippine basic education,” she said.

She presented the latest government inventory which shows that out of 327,851 school buildings in the country, only 104,536 are in good condition. There are 100,072 school buildings that need minor repairs, 89,252 that require major repairs, and 21,727 that are set for condemnation.

She added that the procurement practices in the agency “had red flags that demanded immediate actions.” She shared initial findings in the ongoing review of the K-12 curriculum that underscored the failure of the 10-year-old program to deliver satisfactory results.

“The K-12 curriculum promised to produce graduates that are employable. That promise remains a promise,” she said.

Duterte criticized the heavy workload assigned to teachers as she pressed for an immediate review of the current setup in public schools. “This is a system that burdens them with backbreaking and time-consuming administrative tasks, a system that provides no adequate support and robs them of the opportunity to professionally grow and professionally teach, assist, and guide our learners,” she said.

She unveiled her education agenda themed “Matatag: Bansang Makabata, Batang Makabansa,” (Nation for children, children for the nation) and focused on curriculum reform, accelerated delivery of services, promoting the well-being of learners, and providing greater support to teachers.

Responding to the report, Marcos joined Duterte in acknowledging the government’s accountability to the nation’s young learners. “We have failed them,” he said. “We have to admit that. We have failed our children and let us not keep failing them anymore.” He promised to build better infrastructure by investing heavily in education.

He can cite as reference his government’s development plan , which was also released in January, about how the education crisis is linked to “decades of incapacity and suboptimal investment in education.”

Duterte’s admission about the dismal state of basic education was welcomed by some educators. Senators vowed to work with Marcos and Duterte in passing education reform measures. Opposition legislators urged Duterte to hear the views of school unions and student organizations whose appeals for better learning conditions are often dismissed by authorities as part of anti-government propaganda.

Meanwhile, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) noted that the report “failed to present today’s real extent and gravity of the learning crisis due to the lack of an evidence-based learning assessment conducted after the pandemic-induced school lockdowns.” The group was referring to the prolonged closure of schools under the government of President Rodrigo Duterte.

“Her father was president for six years and had not done any significant move to improve the lot of our mentors and of the education system. It is the government who have failed the teachers and our learners,” the group insisted.

It was also under the Duterte government when around 54 Lumad schools for indigenous peoples in Mindanao Island were either suspended or forced to shut down by authorities based on accusations that they were teaching rebellion.

The report also didn’t mention that some of the major questionable procurement transactions in the education department took place under the previous government.

The ACT criticized Duterte’s reform agenda because it features “general promises that lack specific action plans and definite targets.”

“No specific targets and timelines were presented to convincingly show that the agency will cut down the classroom shortage significantly,” it added.

Duterte said the agency will build 6,000 classrooms this year, which is quite small compared to the backlog identified in the report. There’s also no deadline for the electrification of around 1,562 schools that still do not have access to power.

Despite her impassioned plea to uplift the working conditions of educators, Duterte was castigated for being silent about the pending proposals to raise the salary grades of public school teachers.

ACT reminded officials to prove their political will in reversing the decline of Philippine education. “The call to reforming education should not be a grandstanding cry but a sincere pledge to rectify the mistakes and shortcomings of the past and the present,” it said.

This can be measured in at least two ways this year. First, Duterte’s willingness to file appropriate charges against erring officials involved in anomalous transactions under the previous administration. And second, Marcos’ commitment to substantially increase the funding for education.

Philippines Undertakes Major Review of School Curriculum

By mong palatino.

The First 100 Days of Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte

How Philippine Education Contributed to the Return of the Marcoses

By franz jan santos.

Philippine President Promises ‘No Special Treatment’ for Celebrity Preacher

By sebastian strangio.

By Cheng-kun Ma and K. Tristan Tang

4 Obstacles to India Joining the UN Security Council

By dhananjay tripathi.

Myanmar’s Silent Digital Crisis

By phyu sin shin thant.

South Korea’s Changing Position on Kim Jong Un’s Daughter

By isozaki atsuhito.

By Sarosh Nagar and Sergio Imparato

By Ana Soliz de Stange

By Siemens Healthineers

By Leesha K. Nair

• Philippines

The Philippines Still Hasn’t Fully Reopened Its Schools Because of COVID-19. What Is This Doing to Children?

I f 17-year-old Ruzel Delaroso needs to ask her teacher a question, she can’t simply raise her hand, much less fire off an email from the kitchen table. She has to leave the modest shack that her family calls home in Januiay, a farming town in the central Philippines, and head to an area of dense shrubbery, a 10-minute walk away. There, if she’s lucky, she can pick up a phone signal and finally ask about the math problem in the self-learning materials her mother picked up from school.

“We’re so used to our teachers always being around,” Delaroso tells TIME via the same temperamental phone connection. “But now it’s harder to communicate with them.”

Her school, Calmay National High School, is among the tens of thousands of Philippine public schools shuttered since March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Delaroso is one of 1.6 billion children affected by worldwide school closures, according to a UNESCO estimate.

But while other countries have taken the opportunity to resume in-person classes, the Philippines has lagged behind. After 20 months of pandemic prevention measures, amounting to one of the world’s longest lockdowns , only 5,000 students, in just over 100 public schools, have been allowed to go back to class in a two-month trial program—a tiny fraction of the 27 million public school students who enrolled this year. The Philippines must be one of a very few countries, if not the only country, to remain so reliant on distance learning. It has become a vast experiment in life without in-person schooling.

Read More: What It’s Like Being a Teacher During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“[Education secretary Leonor Briones] always reminds us that in the past when there were military sieges, or volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, typhoons, floods, learning continued,” says education undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio.

But has it this time? Educators fear that prolonged closure is having negative effects on students’ ability to learn, impacting their futures just a time when the country needs a young, well-educated workforce to resume the impressive economic growth it was enjoying before the pandemic hit.

Globally, COVID-19 will be impacting the mental health of children and young adolescents for years to come, UNICEF warns. School shutdowns have already been blamed for a rise in dropout rates and decreased literacy, and the World Bank estimates that the number of children aged 10 and below, from low- and middle-income countries, who cannot read simple text has risen from 53% prior to the pandemic to 70% today.

If the pilot resumption of classes passes without incident, there are hopes for a wider reopening of Philippine schools. But without it, there are fears of a lost generation .

How COVID-19 impacted Philippine education

From March 2020 to September 2021, UNICEF tallied 131 million pre-tertiary students from 11 countries who had been trying to learn at home for at least three quarters of the time that they would normally have been in school. Of that number, 66 million came from just two countries where face-to-face classes were almost completely nixed: Bangladesh and the Philippines. (Bangladesh reopened its schools in September.)

Amid the initial COVID-19 surge of March 2020—just weeks shy of the end of the academic year—the Philippines stopped in-person classes for its entire cohort of public education students, which then numbered some 24.9 million according to UNESCO. The start of the new school year in September also got pushed back, as President Rodrigo Duterte imposed a “no vaccine, no classes” policy.

When schooling finally resumed in October 2020, the education department’s solution was a blend of remote-learning options: online platforms, educational TV and radio, and printed modules. But social inequalities and the lack of resources at home to support these approaches have dealt a huge blow to many students and teachers.

A departmental report released in March 2021 found that 99% of public school students got passing marks for the first academic quarter of last year. But other surveys claim that students are being disadvantaged. Over 86% of the 1,299 students polled by the Movement for Safe, Equitable, Quality and Relevant Education said they learned less through the education department’s take-home modules—so did 66% of those using online learning and 74% using a blend of online learning and hard-copy material.

Read More: Angelina Jolie on Why We Can Let COVID-19 Derail Education

Even though she’s an academic topnotcher—getting a weighted grade average of 91 out of 100 last year—Delaroso also feels that remote learning is inferior.

At Delaroso’s high school, teacher Johnnalie Consumo, 25, has detected a lack of eagerness to study, with some parents even filling in worksheets on their child’s behalf—going by the evidence of the handwriting.

“They have a hard time forcing the kid to answer modules because the kid isn’t intimidated by their parents,” she tells TIME. “The way a teacher encourages is very different from how a parent would.”

Consumo sometimes visits the homes of under-performing students and finds that they are out doing farm work—harvesting sugar cane, say, or making charcoal—to augment a family income that has been slashed by a suffering economy and a rising unemployment rate . Exercise books have been turned in blank, she says. Or students appear to pass their modules, only for her to find that they copied the answers. The frustration is enormous.

“It’s hard on our part,” Consumo tells TIME, “because we really try our best.”

Poverty and education in the Philippines

Internet access is a huge challenge. In urban areas, instructors can give lessons over video conferencing platforms, or Facebook Live, but 52.6% of the Philippines’ 110 million people live in rural areas with unreliable connectivity. It doesn’t come cheap either: research from cybersecurity firm SurfShark found that the internet in the Philippines is among the least stable and slowest, yet the most expensive, of 79 countries surveyed.

Internet access assumes, of course, that the user has a device, but in the Philippines that’s not a given. Private polling firm Social Weather Stations found that just over 40% of students did not have any device to help them in distance learning. Of the rest, some 27% were using a device they already owned, and 10% were able to borrow one, but 12% had to buy one, with families spending an average of $172 per learner. To put it into perspective, that’s more than half the average monthly salary in the Philippines.

“Some of them don’t have cell phones,” says Marilyn Tomelden, a teacher in Quezon province, three hours away from the Philippine capital Manila, who first noticed the digital divide when many of her sixth graders were unable to comply with what she thought of as a fun homework assignment: submitting videos of themselves performing dance moves she had demonstrated in an earlier video.

“Because we’re in public school, we cannot demand that they buy phones,” Tomelden says. “They don’t have money to buy their own food, and they’re going to buy their own cell phone for learning? Which is more important to live—to eat or to study?”

Instructors need to be equipped with the right resources too. A study from the National Research Council of the Philippines found that many teachers have had to shell out their own money to support their students in remote learning.

Read More: The Long History of Vaccinating Kids in School

Government agencies do what they can to help. Earlier this year, the customs bureau donated phones and other gadgets it had confiscated to the education department for distribution to needy students. But it’s a drop in the ocean.

“It’s something that is beyond [our] capacity to address—the inequality in terms of availability of resources of learners, depending on the socioeconomic status of families,” says education undersecretary San Antonio.

Some students are so exhausted by the struggle to study remotely that they are calling for long breaks between modules. Many parents and pressure groups are going even further, demanding total academic suspension until a clearer post-pandemic education system is ironed out.

Congresswoman France Castro is a member of ACT Teachers Partylist, a political party representing the education sector. She says a complete freeze would cause more problems than it solves.

“Education is a right,” she tells TIME. “Whatever form it will be, whether blended learning or modular, it’s better to continue it than to stop.”

But in the meantime, with their workloads multiplied, it is students and teachers paying the price. Consumo, the teacher from Januiay, regularly stays up late completing the reams of new paperwork generated by the distance learning system.

“You won’t be able to sleep anymore, just thinking about the deadlines and the work that still needs to be done,” she says. “I cry over that.”

More Must-Reads from TIME

• The Reinvention of J.D. Vance
• Iran, Trump, and the Third Assassination Plot
• Welcome to the Golden Age of Scams
• Did the Pandemic Break Our Brains?
• 33 True Crime Documentaries That Shaped the Genre
• The Ordained Rabbi Who Bought a Porn Company
• Introducing the Democracy Defenders
• Why Gut Health Issues Are More Common in Women

Contact us at [email protected]

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.

Established in 1966, it is owned by 69 members—49 from the region..

• Annual Reports
• Policies and Strategies

ORGANIZATION

• Board of Governors
• Board of Directors
• Departments and Country Offices

ACCOUNTABILITY

• Access to Information
• Accountability Mechanism
• ADB and Civil Society
• Anticorruption and Integrity
• Development Effectiveness
• Independent Evaluation
• Administrative Tribunal
• Ethics and Conduct
• Ombudsperson

Strategy 2030

Annual meetings, adb supports projects in developing member countries that create economic and development impact, delivered through both public and private sector operations, advisory services, and knowledge support..

ABOUT ADB PROJECTS

• Projects & Tenders
• Project Results and Case Studies

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

• Public Sector Financing
• Private Sector Financing
• Financing Partnerships
• Funds and Resources
• Economic Forecasts
• Publications and Documents
• Data and Statistics
• Asia Pacific Tax Hub
• Development Asia
• ADB Data Library
• Agriculture and Food Security
• Climate Change
• Digital Technology
• Environment
• Finance Sector
• Fragility and Vulnerability
• Gender Equality
• Markets Development and Public-Private Partnerships
• Regional Cooperation
• Social Development
• Sustainable Development Goals
• Urban Development

REGIONAL OFFICES

• European Representative Office
• Japanese Representative Office | 日本語
• North America Representative Office

LIAISON OFFICES

• Pacific Liaison and Coordination Office
• Pacific Subregional Office
• Singapore Office

SUBREGIONAL PROGRAMS

• Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA)
• Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program
• Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Program
• Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT)
• South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC)

With employees from more than 60 countries, ADB is a place of real diversity.

Work with us to find fulfillment in sharing your knowledge and skills, and be a part of our vision in achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable asia and the pacific., careers and scholarships.

• What We Look For
• Career Opportunities
• Young Professionals Program
• Visiting Fellow Program
• Internship Program
• Scholarship Program

FOR INVESTORS

• Investor Relations | 日本語
• ADB Green and Blue Bonds
• ADB Theme Bonds

INFORMATION ON WORKING WITH ADB FOR...

• Consultants
• Contractors and Suppliers
• Governments
• Executing and Implementing Agencies
• Development Institutions
• Private Sector Partners
• Civil Society/Non-government Organizations

PROCUREMENT AND OUTREACH

• Operational Procurement
• Institutional Procurement
• Business Opportunities Outreach

Advancing the K-12 Reform from the Ground: A Case Study in the Philippines

Share this page.

This paper describes the implementation of the Certificate in Educational Studies in Leadership (CESL) in the Philippines as a professional development initiative delivered in a customized blended learning mode.

• http://dx.doi.org/10.22617/WPS200105

The design principles of this promising pilot leverage on the use of technology, activation of communities of practice, and planning and implementation of context-specific transformational action projects targeted at education leaders. The authors contend that CESL fits within the leadership development ecology of the Philippine Department of Education and the National Educators Academy of the Philippines for the 21st century. As a transformative development program, CESL can be one of the many ways to jumpstart and sustain authentic education reforms.

• Introduction: The Philippine Context
• K-12 Reform and Education Leadership
• Certificate in Educational Studies in Leadership
• CESL: Professional Learning Development through Blended Learning
• CESL: Relevance, Collaboration, and a Future Focus
• Conclusion: Can CESL be Integrated into DepEd’s System

Additional Details

• More on education
• More on ADB’s work in the Philippines

Also in this Series

• Emerging Hydrogen Energy Technology and Global Momentum
• Proposed Life Cycle Approach for Promoting Climate Resilience and Carbon Neutrality: Case of the Road Subsector in Tajikistan
• Basic Tool Kit for Cybersecurity in Education Management Information Systems
• ADB funds and products
• Agriculture and natural resources
• Capacity development
• Climate change
• Finance sector development
• Gender equality
• Governance and public sector management
• Industry and trade
• Information and Communications Technology
• Private sector development
• Regional cooperation and integration
• Social development and protection
• Urban development
• Central and West Asia
• Southeast Asia
• The Pacific
• China, People's Republic of
• Lao People's Democratic Republic
• Micronesia, Federated States of
• Learning materials Guidelines, toolkits, and other "how-to" development resources
• Books Substantial publications assigned ISBNs
• Papers and Briefs ADB-researched working papers
• Conference Proceedings Papers or presentations at ADB and development events
• Policies, Strategies, and Plans Rules and strategies for ADB operations
• Board Documents Documents produced by, or submitted to, the ADB Board of Directors
• Financing Documents Describes funds and financing arrangements
• Reports Highlights of ADB's sector or thematic work
• Serials Magazines and journals exploring development issues
• Brochures and Flyers Brief topical policy issues, Country Fact sheets and statistics
• Statutory Reports and Official Records ADB records and annual reports
• Country Planning Documents Describes country operations or strategies in ADB members
• Contracts and Agreements Memoranda between ADB and other organizations

Subscribe to our monthly digest of latest ADB publications.

Follow adb publications on social media..

Impact of Policy Implementation on Education Quality: A Case Study on Philippines’ Low Ranking in International and Local Assessment Programs

• Updated as of 7:14 am April 3, 2023

Louie Benedict R. Ignacio The Department of Political Science Faculty of Arts and Letters, University of Santo Tomas

Andrea Gaile A. Cristobal The Department of Political Science Faculty of Arts and Letters, University of Santo Tomas

Paul Christian David The Department of Political Science Faculty of Arts and Letters, University of Santo Tomas

Corresponding Author: Paul Christian David, The Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts and Letters, University of Santo Tomas, Espana, Manila Email :  [email protected]

Recommended Citation: Ignacio, L. B., Cristobal, A., David, P., (2022). Impact of Policy Implementation on Education Quality: A Case Study on Philippines’ Low Ranking in International and Local Assessment Programs. Asian Journal on Perspectives in Education, 3(1), 41-54

In the recent report released by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the Philippines was ranked as one of the lowest in Mathematics, Science, and Reading Comprehension among 79 participating countries. The country also ranked low in other assessment programs, including TIMSS, SEA-PLM, and NAT. Despite the educational reforms established to improve the Philippine Education System, the Philippines remains low and significantly below its neighboring countries regarding quality education. Therefore, this study (1) describes how the Department of Education has undertaken the objectives of R.A. 10533, (2) determines the effect of policy implementation on the ranking of Philippine education quality in local and international assessment programs through the perspective of education experts, and (3) identifies the importance of local and international assessment programs in analyzing the current condition of education quality in the Philippines. This research has employed a qualitative approach using thematic analysis on narratives coming from (1) DepEd-OUCI, (2) DepEd-BEA, and (3) Education Policy experts, as well as documents used by the Department of Education and the Curriculum Consultative Committee. This study concludes that there are still challenges plaguing the implementation process. Hence, the need for further improvement in certain aspects is enumerated in this research. Moreover, considerable discrepancies in the disorganized and incoherent implementation system amongst and within the Department of Education, administrators, and other stakeholders, as well as confounded policy interpretation due to system instability, were all deduced.

Curriculum, policy implementation, PISA, assessment, Enhanced Basic Education

Introduction

Due to the drastic changes in the educational system, online distance learning is one of the alternative modalities to sustain continuous educational programs during pandemics, which develops the new literacies in Information Communication Technology (ICT) necessary to improve 21st-century learning. The students practice 21st-century skills such as collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity in instructional technological tools (Bedir, 2019; Budiarti et al., 2021; Hendy, 2020; Pardede, 2020). In online learning, the learners collaborate with their classmates through virtual meetings, email, messenger, and google and Microsoft collaboration links in online applications. Internet access is used for communication between the teacher and students and students to their fellow students by using varied technological applications that exchange information between the messenger and the receiver. At the same time, the learners practice critical analysis on how to manipulate technical tools with the procedural steps on how to use the learning materials. Also, the students become independent learners who discover and search the lessons with creativity and productivity. Thus, the learners become creative in operating computer-based learning in the classes where the learner construct their learning designs. Therefore, reviewing the learners’ online education skills is crucial in new normal times.

The United Nations released its Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, which are set to be provided with a plan of action coordinated by all participating countries towards achieving it by 2030. One of its goals is to guarantee an inclusive and good quality of education that will instill lifelong learning applicable to one’s daily life (UN, 2015). In addition, the United Nations intends to solve the issue of the growing problem of maleducation due to the unclear reception of formal learning as a fundamental human right and the discrepancy between the standard of basic education from a local and global standpoint (Thaung, 2018). To combat this problem, states, through accountability, coordination, and regular monitoring, reviewing, and financing, must be able to resolve the low quality of primary education, inequitable access to higher and technical vocational education, and ingraining of skills that can be used for work, inequality in gender, and education on global citizenship.

The Philippines is no exemption among countries experiencing the effects of the growing global recession. According to the World Bank (2019), a growing learning crisis exists in relatively emerging economies like the Philippines, Kenya, Tanzania, South American countries, etc. Because of this, the World Bank posited that the lack of substantial and extensive monitoring in policy and curriculum implementation is the root cause of a persistent global learning crisis.

National agencies such as the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) continuously campaign towards awareness and resolving the issue (Roldan, 2018). The highlight of the government’s actions was the enactment of the Enhanced Basic Education Act, or Republic Act 10533 last 2013, which sought to reform and improve the existing curriculum by adjusting the standards and principles that educational institutions must uphold to improve the quality of education in the Philippines and compete in a global scale. The Department of Education, the central agency for implementing the enumerated standards, was mandated by the law to partner with agencies like Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and Technical Education for Skills Development Authority (TESDA). Different local and international assessment programs were adopted to gauge the necessary actions, such as Programme for International Student Assessment, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics, and National Achievement Test (Elliott, Stankov, Lee, & Beckmann, 2019).

However, despite the actions by the government and seven years of implementation of the law, there is minimal to no progress in terms of the quality of education manifested by the Philippines’ low ranking (Roman, 2019). It is for this reason that this study aims to know the impact of administrative negligence in terms of implementing Republic Act 10533 in the Philippines’ low ranking and why the Philippines is heading on a downward trajectory.

With the condition of the Philippine education system, it is evident that an aspect of the system needs to be checked to get into the cause of this issue. Hence, this study aims to determine the impact of implementing state education policy in the Philippines on international and local assessment programs. Specifically, this study intends to evaluate whether the objectives of R.A. 10533 are being emphasized by the Department of Education, determine the effect of policy implementation on the ranking of Philippine education quality in local and international assessment programs, and identify the importance of local and international assessment programs in analyzing the condition of education quality in the Philippines.

The study intends to provide an understanding of the importance of global consciousness in the decline of quality education in the country. Existing literature provided various approaches to factors that affect the student’s academic performance and determinants of quality education. However, these studies focus only on the environmental factors that affect the student’s academic performance and their linkage to the teachers’ quality of teaching. The lacking discussion led this study to focus on the Philippines joining PISA and SEA-PLM. Hence, the Top-Down Approach of the Implementation Process of Public Policy theory manifests an avenue for disseminating curricular data from the macro-institutions to its micro-counterparts (Marsh & Huberman, 1984). Also, the premise of this theory will aid in understanding that the interventions of the institutions and administrators play a considerable role in fulfilling the objectives of RA 10533 through standard monitoring and implementing procedures for education quality improvement. Furthermore, this research may be presented to the Department of Education to develop better policies for educational reforms since the study evaluates the government agencies’ compliance with curriculum implementation and its development based on the standards presented in Republic Act No. 10533.

This research has utilized the Top-Down Approach of Implementation, co-authored by Paul Sabatier and Daniel Mazmanian in 1979 in their journal article entitled, “The Conditions of Effective Implementations: A Guide to Accomplishing Policy Objective.” This theory considers policy framers as the principal element of the implementing process of a policy and takes policy implementation as an administrative and managerial process more than a politically motivated procedure (Sabatier & Mazmanian, 1979). This theory was created to respond to the growing dispersion of comprehension of the limited extent of applicable programs and types of policymaking and implementing institutions.

The Top-Down approach posits that decisions by government officials are the starting point of the policy implementation process (Sabatier, 1986). The framing of policies is succeeded by raising specific questions revolving around the process of implementation itself, such as the extent of the implementing action in achieving the goal, the extent of the impact of policy, aspects affecting the implementation, and the reformation of the policy based on responses that are given after undergoing a process of evaluation. This theory also argues that there are six (6) necessary conditions for a successful and efficacious implementation: (a) Obvious and stable provision of objectives; (b) Sufficient justification of causation; (c) Legalization of the implementing process to enhance the urgency for compliance of the officials and target groups; (d) Officials’ commitment to an effective and productive implementation; (e) Maintained political support from interest groups and constituencies; and (f) Socio-economic factors that may have an impact on the support of people to the policy. The discourse on its merit continues today since its publication (Bardach, 1978; Berman and McLaughlin, 1976; Elmore, 1978; Jones, 1975; Lance, Lautenschlager, Sloan, & Varca, 1989; Murphy, 1973; Pressman and Wildavsky, 1973). The applicative properties of the theory were already being tested in different fields to know the limits and boundaries of its capabilities, such as its application in disseminating curricular data from the macro-institutions to their micro-counterparts (Marsh & Huberman, 1984).

The premises of the Top-Down theory aided this study in arguing that the burden of advancing the policy and evaluation is on the educational institutions, i.e., the Department of Education and the whole Curriculum Consultative Committee, affirming that the knowledge in the national-scale curriculum implementation is the lead determinant of practical curriculum reformation. Using the approach, this study argues that enhancing the focus and attention of the national agencies in implementing the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 can increase the ranking and rating of the Philippines in both local and international assessment programs.

Literature Review

Curriculum and Policy Implementation

The curriculum is a prime factor in enhancing students’ academic participation and performance (Yu & Mocan, 2019). It is a chosen, arranged, unified, and evaluative provision of experiences among students that will help them attain different learning objectives, resulting from development and maturation for its application in real-life situations (Mulenga, 2018). Thus, the educational system of the Philippines is no different from its neighboring countries because it also passed through phases of improvement due to the dramatic changes brought by educational evolution (Guzman, 2003). However, despite numerous educational reformations, it is still clear that any systematic change in the education system should be accompanied by a high level of pro-activity, which defines the system’s quality. It is a process that involves focusing on exceeding expectations, continuous development, and sharing responsibilities (Schargel, as cited in Guzman, 2003). Therefore, if the education system will firmly contribute to the improvement of a proper social order to fight social ills, then there should be a sustained re-examination of its retooling since it has become clear that reforms introduced at both national and local levels are geared toward the achievement of effectiveness, quality, responsiveness, and excellence (Guzman, 2003). Also, students who experience an improved curriculum have seen a significant improvement in interest and engagement in learning. It also manifested positive student development, resulting in better performance (Yu & Mocan, 2019). Therefore, in order for the Philippines to be as progressive as it can be and be globally competitive, the education curriculum shall adhere on a specific set of standards that the Department of Education, with its cooperation with Commission on Higher Education and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, which includes the following: (a) Student-centered, inclusive and development-focused curriculum; (b) Curriculum shall always remain relevant, responsive to national issues and Research-based; (c) Curriculum shall be careful and sensitive to other culture; (d) Curriculum shall be based on the Philippine context but can compete with the global arena; (e) Curriculum shall apply constructivist, inquiry-based, reflective, collaborative and integrative form of pedagogies; (f) Curriculum shall impose a Mother-Tongue Based System of learning – starting from the language being used in their houses to a foreign language; (g) A spiral progression approach on the students mastery and skills of different lessons shall be applied in the curriculum; and (h) Different local areas shall be able to modify and bend the curriculum in accordance to their educational, social and cultural contexts (Enhance Basic Education Act of 2013). 

Policy implementation is a process of upholding the basic standards and principles of the curriculum and putting into practice a set of plans and programs that aims for a change to whom and where it will be applied (Fullan, 1982). Implementing the K to 12 program aims to improve the education system in the Philippines to advance and further the recognition of a globally competitive Filipino. In this goal, the students shall master the necessary skills to attain the demand of the global education system (Dizon et al., 2019). Under Rule II, Section 10 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, the Department of Education, in its purpose of developing the curriculum, shall be governed by the following:

10.1 The devising of the curriculum itself in fulfillment of Section 5 of the Act, the DepEd is responsible for the liaison with both the CHED and TESDA to make a coordinated educational curriculum concurrent with the basic, tertiary, and technical-vocational education in generating globally competitive Filipino students.

10.2 In developing the enhancement of the curriculum, the Department of Education shall be guided by the prescribed standards and principles listed under Section 5 of the law.

10.3 The production and development of materials, such as locally produced teaching and learning sources, shall be highly promoted to strengthen the learning resource development and distribution systems at the regional and divisional educational units.

10.5 The essentiality of stakeholder’s engagement and association, not directly on the implementation of the Enhanced Basic Education Act, but for the assessment of what is there to be addressed.

Furthermore, Rule II, Section 30 mandates the key role of the DepEd, CHED, and TESDA in creating a mechanism and tactical plans for the transition towards achieving an Enhanced Basic Education within a 10-year cycle that will end in 2021-2022; on the other hand, Rule VIII, Section 33 orders the establishment of a “Joint Congressional Oversight Committee for Enhanced Basic Education which serves as the evaluation and assessment committee of the reports, including budgetary, facilities and curricular summaries. It was also delegated the responsibility of evaluating the progress and deficiencies in aspects that greatly affects the performance of the students, teachers, and other stakeholders. The said law also imposes the necessity for establishing a “Curriculum Consultative Committee” that is delegated the power to oversee the implementation and evaluate whether the newly developed curriculum adheres to the provisions of the law.

In addition, curriculum development in enhancing basic education focuses on professional development since it is deemed necessary to improve the students. However, policies that aim to improve the teaching profession lack continuous follow-ups on reforms, making the changes look fragmented and insufficient (Miço, 2019).  Thus, in addressing such challenges, CHED coordinated with DepEd to establish a curriculum that is both research-based and globally competitive. TESDA also participates in the curriculum’s implementation by ensuring that students can apply the knowledge handed by the curriculum through work (Martin, Patacsil & Nieva, 2019). With the help of these macro-agencies, the evaluation of the effectiveness of policy implementation will be acquired. According to Swarnakar, Singh, & Tiwari (2019), assessing the effectiveness of the policy implementation is vital to the pursuit of improvement and contextualization by identifying the lacking and excess factors that impede the supposed positive contribution of the policy itself to take place. Furthermore, by assessing the implementation procedure, the government will also be able to put light on the current conditions of the subject and target groups which necessitates deeper and more contextual attention and response to better the relationship between the macro and micro agencies.

Assessment Programs

Assessment programs compare the educational attainment of students of different countries to provide a direct response to education reforms. It is one of the best ways to determine whether the Philippine education system, through engaging both locally and internationally, is improving (Balagtas et al., 2019; Martens, Niemann, & Teltemann, 2016). International assessments for education became a globally accepted standard because of their extensive and far-reaching inference and indication for reorganizing and restructuring national education systems. It establishes an international benchmark for the theoretical and applicable understanding which influenced and dominated the ideas of educational policymakers and even researchers since it provides two purposes: (1) the data gathered can be used to impact and influence policymakers; and (2) it focuses on a high-performing country to set as an example for other countries to understand and imitate its success (Schmidt & Burroughs, 2016).

According to Balagtas et al. (2019), one of the best ways to determine whether the Philippine education system is improving in the present is through its performance in Trends in Mathematics and Science Studies (TIMSS). Therefore, countries that performed well on the mathematics and science examinations given by TIMSS are most likely also performing well on the PISA assessment (i.e., Hong Kong-China, Singapore, and Japan).

The ​​Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics is another large-scale assessment program designed to fit the contextual problems in education within the region; that will provide an opportunity for each participating country to determine the growing issues and resolve these in a manner that will improve the country’s education system.

The results of large-scale international assessments are putting pressure on participating countries to reshape their curriculum to adhere to the standards imposed by the Program (Fischman, Topper, Goebel, & Holloway, 2019). However, the pressure being felt did not reflect nor manifest the reformation of education in all these countries; instead, it paved the way for large-scale comparisons from regional to global standards. The problem is that many countries are not deliberately qualifying education as a priority, which engenders their education security despite having adequate financial resources (Tatarinov, V. V., & Tatarinov, V. S., 2020).

Methodology

This qualitative and exploratory paper is a case study focused on the government agencies’ engagement and participation in policy implementation and their adherence to the standards provided by Republic Act 10533. It analyzed documents about the transition from the Basic Education Curriculum to the Enhanced Basic Education Curriculum, progress reports from agencies subjected to the same law to oversee the policy implementation, and narratives from the Department of Education and different Education Policy experts. These data cannot be quantified and calculated by mere numbers hence, requiring an in-depth understanding for the establishment of more conclusive interpretation, especially the statements gathered from interviews which necessitates a more composite, rich, and multi-faceted approach.

This research gathered data from the statements from educational policy experts in the Philippines and the Department of Education Bureau of Education Assessment and Office of the Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instructions. Furthermore, a semi-structured interview was applied to the department representatives and the experts. In addition, reports and documents from the Curriculum Consultative Committee, the transition report from the Basic Education Curriculum to the Enhanced Basic Education Program, the midterm report from the Joint Congressional Committee, and the government agencies comprising the Curriculum Consultative Committee were utilized. Furthermore, the study was conducted using documents from 2016 to 2020 only since these are the succeeding years after the mandatory midterm report of the Department of Education as presented in the Congress of the Philippines. The researchers have also gathered data from the latest results coming from international and local assessment programs, including the PISA, TIMSS, SEA-PLM, and NAT.

Experts on education policy and policy implementation have provided insights regarding the Philippines’ current education status and the Department of Education as the mandated spearhead for education policy implementation. The criteria for choosing the Department of Education as a respondent were embedded in Section 5 of RA 10533. As for the educational policy experts, they should at least attain a master’s degree in Educational Administration or Education Management and Leadership with 10-year experience in the field. In addition, the experts should also reach Level 7 or Level 8 of education following the Philippines Qualifications Framework, which is responsible for establishing the national standards for education and training outcomes (Resolution No. 2014-03, 2014).

Content analysis was used to simplify the data collected from statements and documents from government agencies and congressional committees. The researchers read through the documents collected from the various data sources to create a margin note in formulating initial codes using Microsoft Excel and a code book. This was applied for qualitative data analysis to help the researchers look for a thematic analysis of the study to have effective data management.

The data from the semi-structured interviews and document analysis were categorized according to variables. Hence, the data analysis concentrated on answering each research objective by focusing on the data collected from all methods of data collection.

The data gathered from the three education experts and the representatives of the Department of Education’s Bureau of Education Assessment and Office of the Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instructions have conveyed responses to the research objectives, classified as the following: (a) incoherent and disorganized system of implementations; (b) confound policy interpretation due to system instability; (c) assessment programs as performance indicators for policy improvement.

Incoherent and Disorganized System of Implementation

The experts have agreed upon the necessity of a holistic overview of implementing the education system, with Expert 1 mentioning that “It should be a chain. So, CHED’s teacher training should also be safeguarded there. The research skills, the critical analysis, should be focused and not memorization, the identification of frameworks, or memorization of valence or atomic number.” Expert 2 added, “My first issue is the language used for assessment. I think language plays a very vital role,” which emphasizes the factor of using the mother-tongue language in assessing the quality of education (Masaazi, Ssentanda, & Ngaka, 2018). While Expert 3 focused on the external factors that may have affected the student’s performance.

In response to the lack of a holistic education system, the Department of Education asserted its commitment to improving the implementation and the education system itself. The Office of the Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction (OUCI) stated that “…we are always mindful of the need to improve, so we have a very strong monitoring mechanism that allows us to continue to refine the existing programs and projects”, which is manifested on the “Sulong Edukalidad initiative which is our banner initiative to push for a higher attention to the need for quality education that is in the K to 12 program that was launched even before the release of the PISA results.”

The amount of emphasis that the Department of Education puts on the objectives of RA 10533 heavily affects the quality of education being imparted among students, resulting in difficulty maximizing capacity at the grassroots level (Barrot, 2018). Unfortunately, the Philippines is currently challenged by the disorganization and incoherence of the system of implementation of the Department of Education, manifested in many ways.

A gap between the intended curriculum and implementation of the national agencies based on their interpretation was raised by Expert 2, saying:

The curriculum is very beautiful. However, when it comes to the implementation, in the middle of the 3rd and 4th year, the expectation versus reality was far, that is one. I am saying that in that sense, there are quite some problems in terms of interpretation, even among regions and divisions; there are confusions in terms of interpretation, most especially in the classroom.

This has been seconded by Expert 3, who bureaucratized this interpretation system, pointing out the discretionary freedom of teachers within the classroom in interpreting the curriculum based on what they inferred as the best viable manner of teaching. 

The absence of an authentic assessment, as defined by Expert 2 as “the assessments that bring you into concretizing the knowledge into practical knowledge.” is also observable. This emphasizes the importance of veering away from the strictly theoretical focus of understanding into more applicative learning should be further enhanced by encouraging the students’ demonstration of higher-order thinking skills and better problem-solving skills (Koh, 2017).

However, amidst the vast agreement between the Department of Education and the Education experts, they have exhibited a certain level of a dispute regarding the cause and effect of frequent reformations in the education system. In defense of the DepEd, the OUCI has exclaimed the necessity of frequent reformations to cope with the dynamic system of education and cater to the rising needs of the department towards different aspects of education as time passes. They, therefore, see this as a necessity rather than an obstruction, with which Expert 1 disagreed. Expert 1 stated, “Because of so many reforms, is something happening? Yes, something is happening. However, I felt like it was just going to happen again and again that there will be a change once every six years.” This only means that the previous challenges were not used as a deterrent, causing the country to miss many opportunities. Expert 2 recommends having a road map to secure a more consistent and continuous implementation of the curriculum regardless of who is seated as the Department Secretary or the President. At large, the agreements still managed to outweigh the disagreements that occurred.

To further solidify the statements given, government documents have shown several points leading to the claims of the experts and the DepEd representatives regarding the aspects that need to be addressed. For example, the Transition Report on Enhanced Basic Education raised the need to strengthen the curriculum further regarding contextualization, learning opportunities, and inclusive participation. Moreover, the DepEd also ensures the actualization of the intended curriculum, as evident in the Curriculum Guides through a strong Curriculum Support System. Also, the Basic Education Monitoring and Evaluation Framework presented key education objectives with the learner’s characteristics as the leading indicators of success.

Confound Policy Interpretation Due to System Instability

The quality of education, as manifested in different assessment programs, has been compromised due to the impact caused by problems plaguing the implementation process of DepEd and other agencies regarding policy interpretation. As stated, it is likely to face challenges regarding ensuring consistency in its delivery at the subnational level (Norris et al., 2014).

The data gathered shows that there are significant disagreements in some critical respects between the Department of Education and the experts since, according to the Department of Education, liaising between agencies is not a problem but more of a challenge “in terms of unifying the focus of everyone on the more essential aspects that will help to develop high performing teachers, highly committed and highly competent teachers.” Also, for the DepEd, it is necessary to intensify capacity-building, and “there is still room for improvement in terms of current efforts at coordinating and harmonizing the priorities of CHED, TESDA, and even the PRC.” As for the experts, the coordination between DepEd and CHED was seen as both a challenge and a problem because, as Expert 3 stated, even if “the DepEd restructures the system, and they fix the governance system to make sure there is cooperation among agencies. The communication between DepEd and CHED should still be strengthened”. After all, the expected knowledge, skills, and competencies that should develop in the students’ basic education deemed necessary for higher education are not adequately achieved.

Furthermore, to be as impactful as possible, educational policies should move beyond mere “paper compliance,” which only aims to meet the minimal requirements. The Department of Education acknowledged a problem regarding policy implementation, stating that implementation is their weakest point that needs to be addressed immediately.

Although the DepEd acknowledges the effort to change its ways, Expert 2 reiterated the focus of DepEd on paper compliance, stating that:

The government agencies are paper champions. They produce reports, but it is not validated on the ground. The problem is, there is a report, they were able to submit the reports, we can read the reports, some are quite acceptable, some are not so good, but the gap is what is happening? In the context of the ground.

With, Expert 1 further explained that it is not enough that we only look at the structures alone or the policies. We should also look at the policy actors since, as agents of policies, there should be an enhancement of leadership development to move away from the culture of mere compliance towards a culture of excellence and accountability. Also, according to Expert 2, “the only flaw is in terms of implementation, and there are qualified and good educators in the Philippines, the problem is in the learning transfer,” which can be seen in the lack of training in terms of usage which is a part of leadership management. Therefore, to have an effective educational reform, a strategic policy that is holistic and long-term is needed (Miço, 2019).

One factor that the experts also mentioned hinders the progress of the Philippines in terms of monitoring is the lack of necessary mechanisms that will monitor and categorize the data on a much larger scale. Fortunately, both the Experts and DepEd agreed that the country has not yet reached its limit in terms of implementation, therefore manifesting opportunities that will improve the implementing system.

Lastly, although the Midterm Report of the Department of Education and the Evaluation Report of the Curriculum Consultative Committee lean more toward supporting DepEd’s agenda towards compliance with RA 10533, House Resolution No. 473 generally backs up the experts toward a confounded policy implementation.

Performance Indicators for Policy Improvement

The Philippines’ participation in different international assessment programs, and the facilitation of the local ones, play an essential part in gauging the performance to determine the current and immediate condition of Philippine education quality.

Identifying the importance of local and international assessment programs with the current condition of education quality shows that as performance indicators for policy improvement, assessment programs are vital since they provide evidence that should be a part of the decision-making process in the government. However, the problem lies in the resistance of those in position to the results. According to Expert 2, “if you were given feedback, it means you have something to do,” and “they should not be threatened by a low score or a low ranking because it does not entirely reflect that you have failed, but simply that there is something that you need to address right now.” Therefore, for Expert 3, “you cannot start the learning process if you do not own up to the mistake or failure.” Moreover, even the Department of Education agreed that:

We have to continue providing benchmarks to determine whether what we are doing is slowly delivering the impact or the results that we want to accomplish. Otherwise, we would not have the basis to say that improvements are being recorded, although we would still have the national assessments as a mechanism to measure on my part, although the secretary’s open to the idea of resting for a while in terms of taking part in the PISA but my take is we must continue because the benchmark has to be there.

Moreover, assessment programs as a problem indicator are essential for policymakers because the results of assessments are “a good measurement in determining the immediate condition of our system, and it is also a predictor” as Expert 2. In addition, indicators have a significant role in policy monitoring by producing unbiased and objective observations on the progress toward policy objectives. Assessment programs as problem indicators are a quantitative presentation of the conditions in a policy field that can be used as an instrument to inspect further and delve into the effects of policies and provide information for policymakers to determine the effectiveness of policies and to make any adjustments where it is required (Schumann, 2016). Hence, for Expert 3, “for a reasonable and logical policy maker, all evidence should be part of the decision-making process, what to do, what not to do” since it shows the problem in the educational system and assessment programs also provide straightforward suggestions. Also, the Department of Education (DepEd) stated that “if those flaws are eliminated, potentially, the quality of education that we have might also improve.”

Also, assessment programs are necessary for evidence-based policymaking because they generate policy recommendations. For Expert 3, “we need to emphasize that when we talk about curriculum implementation, assessment, especially third-party assessments, these are part of the evidence-based policymaking and being a responsible policy maker. You should not omit evidence simply because it does not sit well on you on a personal level”. Therefore, assessment programs empowered the education system by providing evidence-based analysis of students’ academic performance to improve the country’s educational policies, as evidence-based policymaking has seen significant advancements even at the local levels. Even the DepEd recognizes the importance of both international and local assessment programs because:

These assessments, their objective, are external to the learning delivery, and they are external to the department. Besides they follow high-quality protocols, like, following the line of testing and measurement, have protocols that we follow, and they are fair because of their objective. They want to improve SDG 4, or sustainable development goal 4, which is quality education.

This study concludes that there are still numerous challenges afflicting the implementation process, hence a hindrance to achieving the objectives of the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013. Despite the pieces of evidence provided by the documents, implying the commitment of the different agencies to achieving a good quality of education, the data coming from the experts have directed the root of the problems towards the misalignment and misinterpretation of the process of implementing and monitoring of the policies and not on the policy per se. The researchers have therefore navigated towards the role of the involved government agencies in the achievement of an enhanced basic education curriculum and a significant improvement of the Philippines in both international and local assessment programs since, per the premises of Top-Down theory, the weight of developing the policy and evaluation is on the educational institutions. Therefore, by enhancing the attention of national agencies in charge of the implementation process, the country’s ranking in assessment programs can significantly increase. This sheds light on a possible suggestion for the recalibration of the implementation and monitoring system to ensure that there is an existing universal understanding of the objectives and principles of both the Republic Act 10533 itself and other released orders from the Department of Education as an extension of their duty under the law. 

This study recommends that for subsequent research on educational policy, the gaps that the researchers identified in the literature should be addressed, which includes further research on the following: (1) the role of teachers in curriculum development and enhanced outcomes in assessment programs; (2) the gap between understanding the intended curriculum and implemented curriculum; (3) the detrimental effect of mere paper compliance about educational policies; and (4) future studies on other policies that focus on aspects that might affect the quality of education in the country. Also, as a recommendation to the Department of Education for the Improvement of the Policy Implementation Mechanisms, the following are being emphasized by the researchers: (a) creation of a roadmap for the implementation process of the Enhanced Basic Education Curriculum to ensure its continuity despite the inevitable change of administrators; (b) formation of leadership development training on structural leadership; (c) strengthening of the communication and cooperation of DepEd and CHED to achieve the goals of RA 10533; and (d) continuation of the Philippines’ participation in international assessment programs. Furthermore, to highlight the development of a more inclusive learning system, the following are also recommended: (a) establishment of different learning action cells; (b) adjustments in terms of the manner of training these teachers; and (c) refocusing and rechecking of Assessments Tasks to go beyond the traditional and theoretical forms of assessments, including Pen and Paper Tests, and adopt Authentic Assessments as a significant part of the curriculum.

Adopting the Amendments of the Philippine Qualifications Framework and Descriptors, Resolution No. 2014-03 (2014).

Balagtas, M., Garcia, D., & Ngo, D. (2019). Looking through Philippine’s K to 12 Curriculum in Mathematics and Science vis-a-vis TIMSS 2015 Assessment Framework. EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 15(12).

Bardach, E. (I978). The Implementation Game. Cambridge: MIT Press

Barrot, J. S. (2018). English Curriculum Reform in the Philippines: Issues and Challenges from a 21st Century Learning Perspective. Journal of Language, Identity and Education, 18(3), 145-160.

Berman, P. & McLaughlin, M. (1976). Implementation of ESEA Title I. Teacher College Record, 77, 397-4515.

Danilewicz W., & Lauwers G. (Eds.), Rethinking Teacher Education for the 21st Century: Trends, Challenges and New Directions (pp. 150-167). Opladen; Berlin; Toronto: Verlag Barbara Budrich.

Dizon, R., Calbi, J., Cuyos, J., & Miranda, M. (2019). Perspectives on the Implementation of the K to 12 Program in the Philippines: A Research Review. International Journal of Innovation and Research in Educational Sciences, 6(6), 2349-5219. 

Elliott, K. (2015). Teacher Performance Appraisal: More about Performance or Development?. Australian Journal of Teacher Education,40(9).

Elmore, R. (1978). Organizational Model of Social Program Implementation. Public Policy, 26, 185-228.

Fullan, M. (1982). Implementing Educational Change: Progress at Last.

Guzman, A. (2003). The Dynamics of Educational Reforms in the Philippine Basic and Higher Education Sectors. Asia Pacific Education Review, 4(1), 39-50.

Fischman, G., Topper, A., Goebel, J., & Holloway, J. (2019). Examining the influence of international large-scale assessments on national education politics, Journal of Education Policy, 34(4), 470-499.

Hermann, N. (1998). The theory behind the HBDI. Hermann International.

Jones, Charles (I975). Clean Air. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press

Julian Elliott, Lazar Stankov, Jihyun Lee & Jens F. Beckmann (2019) What did PISA and TIMSS ever do for us?: the potential of large-scale datasets for understanding and improving educational practice. Comparative Education, 55 (1), 133-155. DOI:  10.1080/03050068.2018.1545386 .

Koh, K. H. (2017). Authentic assessment. In Oxford research encyclopedia of education.

Lance, C..E., Lautenschlager, G. J., Sloan, C. E., & Varca, P. E. (1989). A Comparison Between Bottom-Up, Top-Down, and Bidirectional Models of Relationships Between Global and Life Facet Satisfaction. The Journal of Analytical Psychology, 57 (3), 601-624.

Marsh, C. & Huberman, M. (2006). Disseminating Curricula: A Look from the Top Down. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 16(1), 53-66.

Martens, K., Niemann, D., & Teltemann, J. (2016). Effects of international assessments in education – a multidisciplinary review. European Educational Research Journal, 15(5), 516–522.

Martin, N., Patacsil, D., & Nieva, J. (2019). Competency Assessment of The  Accountancy,  Business  and Management  Grade  12  Learners in The  Department of  Education for TESDA Bookkeeping NC III Qualification. Asian Journal of Business and Technology, 2(2).

Masaazi, F. M., Ssentanda, M. E., & Ngaka, W. (2018). On Uganda government’s commitment to the development and implementation of the mother tongue education policy in post-2015 era. Apples: Journal of Applied Language Studies, 12(2).

Miço, H. (2019). The Teaching Profession in Albania and the Continuous Need for Improvement through Teacher Training Reforms. In Kowalczuk-Walêdziak M., Korzeniecka-Bondar A

Mulenga, I. M. (2018). Conceptualization and Definition of a Curriculum. Journal of Lexicography and Terminology, 2(2), pp. 1-23.

Murphy, J. (1973). The Education Bureaucracies Implement Novel Policy: The Politics of Title I of ESEA, in Policy and Politics in America (Sindler, A., ed.). Little, Brown.

Norris, E., M. Kidson, P. Bouchal, and J. Rutter. (2014). Doing Them Justice: Lessons from Four Cases of Policy Implementation, 19. London: Institute for Government. 

Pressman, J., Wildavvsky, A.  (1973). Implementation. Univ. of California Press.

Roldan, M. D. G. Z. (2018). Towards Attaining the Sustainable Development Goals: The Philippines and the 2030 Agenda. In DLSU Research Congress 2018.

Roman, A. G. (2019). Curriculum Implementation and Performance of Mathematics Education Students in One State University in the Philippines. Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 2(2), 65-72.

Sabatier, P. & Mazmanian, D. (1979). The Conditions of Effective Implementation: A Guide to Accomplishing Policy Objectives. Policy Analysis, 5(4), 481-504.

Sabatier, P. A. (1986). Top-down and Bottom-up Approaches to Implementation Research: A Critical Analysis and Suggested Synthesis. Journal of Public Policy, 6(1), 21-48.

Schargel, F. P. (1991). Promoting quality in education. Vocational Educational Journal, 66(8), 34-35. 

Schmidt, W., & Burroughs, N. (2016). The Trade-Off between Excellence and Equality: What International Assessments Tell Us. Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 17(1), 103-109.

Schumann, A. (2016). “Using Outcome Indicators to Improve Policies: Methods, Design Strategies and Implementation,” OECD Regional Development Working Papers, No. 2016/02, OECD Publishing, Paris. 

Swarnakar, V., Singh, A. R., & Tiwari, A. K. (2019, September). Evaluating importance of critical success factors in successful implementation of Lean Six Sigma framework. In AIP Conference Proceedings, 2148(1), 030048-1- 030048-9.

Tatarinov, V. (2020). Higher Education Reform and Problems of its Implementation in Ukraine. Academic Review, 52(1). 

Thaung, N. (2018). Monitoring of SDG4: Global and Regional Level. UNICEF Bangkok

UN (2015) Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 2nd August 2015. New York: United Nations.

World Bank. (2019). The Education Crisis: Being in School is Not the Same as Learning.

Yu, H. & Mocan, N. (2019). The Impact of High School Curriculum on Confidence, Academic Success, and Mental and Physical Well-Being of University of Students. Journal of Labor Research. Vol. 40, pp. 428-462.

Author’s Bionote

Louie Benedict R. Ignacio, PhD is the Chair and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology, University of Santo Tomas. He also teaches in the Department of Political Science of the same University and is a former President of the Philippine Sociological Society.

Andrea Gaile A. Cristobal is currently taking the Juris Doctor program at the University of Santo Tomas with developing interests in the field of public law and educational policy. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the same University with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and was awarded the Best Thesis.

Paul Christian David is currently taking the Juris Doctor program at the University of Santo Tomas with developing interests in the field of public law, and environmental and educational policy. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from the same University with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and was awarded the Best Thesis.

ASIAN JOURNAL ON PERSPECTIVES IN EDUCATION

Far Eastern University Institute of Education FEU Campus, Nicanor Reyes Street, Sampaloc Manila, Philippines, 1015 Email:  [email protected]

Cookie Policy and Privacy Notice

We use cookies to analyze traffic and improve your overall experience.

School Dropouts in the Philippines: Causes, Changes and Statistics

Sapienza: International Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Vol. 4, No. 1, January 2023

Posted: 25 Jan 2023

Samuel John Parreño

University of Mindanao - University of Mindanao Digos College

Date Written: January 17, 2023

School dropout is a major problem as it has negative impacts that result in high social costs. A learner can be called a dropout when the learner fails to enroll in school despite having reached the mandatory school age. This paper aims to identify the root causes of school dropouts in the Philippines, specifically in all regions for the years 2008 and 2013. The secondary data on the proportion of population 6 to 24 years old who are not attending school from the website of the Philippine Statistics Authority were used. The data were analyzed using R version 4.2.1. This paper employed descriptive statistics, namely frequency and percentage to identify the root causes of dropping out in the Philippines when grouped according to region and year. Percentage change (increase and decrease) were explored to track changes in the causes of school dropouts. The findings indicated that the high cost of education, and student employment or when the student is seeking employment were the root causes of dropouts in the Philippines for the years 2008 and 2013, respectively. Based on the findings, it is recommended that the Philippine government, through the Department of Education, should prioritize programs that will address the root causes of the school dropouts with the goal of decreasing the dropout rate in general.

Keywords: School Dropouts, Education, Philippines

JEL Classification: I28

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Samuel John Parreño (Contact Author)

University of mindanao - university of mindanao digos college ( email ).

Roxas Extension, Zone II Digos City, Davao Del Sur 8008 Philippines

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics, related ejournals, social sciences education ejournal.

Subscribe to this fee journal for more curated articles on this topic

Political Economy: Government Expenditures & Related Policies eJournal

Sociology of education ejournal, educational administration & leadership ejournal, educational technology, media & library science ejournal, teacher education ejournal, educational impact & evaluation research ejournal.

Subscribe to this free journal for more curated articles on this topic

Education Research Negative Results eJournal

Advertisement

Students’ online learning challenges during the pandemic and how they cope with them: The case of the Philippines

• Published: 28 May 2021
• Volume 26 , pages 7321–7338, ( 2021 )

Cite this article

• Jessie S. Barrot   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8517-4058 1 ,
• Ian I. Llenares 1 &
• Leo S. del Rosario 1  

947k Accesses

278 Citations

4 Altmetric

Explore all metrics

Recently, the education system has faced an unprecedented health crisis that has shaken up its foundation. Given today’s uncertainties, it is vital to gain a nuanced understanding of students’ online learning experience in times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although many studies have investigated this area, limited information is available regarding the challenges and the specific strategies that students employ to overcome them. Thus, this study attempts to fill in the void. Using a mixed-methods approach, the findings revealed that the online learning challenges of college students varied in terms of type and extent. Their greatest challenge was linked to their learning environment at home, while their least challenge was technological literacy and competency. The findings further revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic had the greatest impact on the quality of the learning experience and students’ mental health. In terms of strategies employed by students, the most frequently used were resource management and utilization, help-seeking, technical aptitude enhancement, time management, and learning environment control. Implications for classroom practice, policy-making, and future research are discussed.

Explore related subjects

• Artificial Intelligence
• Digital Education and Educational Technology

Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.

1 Introduction

Since the 1990s, the world has seen significant changes in the landscape of education as a result of the ever-expanding influence of technology. One such development is the adoption of online learning across different learning contexts, whether formal or informal, academic and non-academic, and residential or remotely. We began to witness schools, teachers, and students increasingly adopt e-learning technologies that allow teachers to deliver instruction interactively, share resources seamlessly, and facilitate student collaboration and interaction (Elaish et al., 2019 ; Garcia et al., 2018 ). Although the efficacy of online learning has long been acknowledged by the education community (Barrot, 2020 , 2021 ; Cavanaugh et al., 2009 ; Kebritchi et al., 2017 ; Tallent-Runnels et al., 2006 ; Wallace, 2003 ), evidence on the challenges in its implementation continues to build up (e.g., Boelens et al., 2017 ; Rasheed et al., 2020 ).

Recently, the education system has faced an unprecedented health crisis (i.e., COVID-19 pandemic) that has shaken up its foundation. Thus, various governments across the globe have launched a crisis response to mitigate the adverse impact of the pandemic on education. This response includes, but is not limited to, curriculum revisions, provision for technological resources and infrastructure, shifts in the academic calendar, and policies on instructional delivery and assessment. Inevitably, these developments compelled educational institutions to migrate to full online learning until face-to-face instruction is allowed. The current circumstance is unique as it could aggravate the challenges experienced during online learning due to restrictions in movement and health protocols (Gonzales et al., 2020 ; Kapasia et al., 2020 ). Given today’s uncertainties, it is vital to gain a nuanced understanding of students’ online learning experience in times of the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, many studies have investigated this area with a focus on students’ mental health (Copeland et al., 2021 ; Fawaz et al., 2021 ), home learning (Suryaman et al., 2020 ), self-regulation (Carter et al., 2020 ), virtual learning environment (Almaiah et al., 2020 ; Hew et al., 2020 ; Tang et al., 2020 ), and students’ overall learning experience (e.g., Adarkwah, 2021 ; Day et al., 2021 ; Khalil et al., 2020 ; Singh et al., 2020 ). There are two key differences that set the current study apart from the previous studies. First, it sheds light on the direct impact of the pandemic on the challenges that students experience in an online learning space. Second, the current study explores students’ coping strategies in this new learning setup. Addressing these areas would shed light on the extent of challenges that students experience in a full online learning space, particularly within the context of the pandemic. Meanwhile, our nuanced understanding of the strategies that students use to overcome their challenges would provide relevant information to school administrators and teachers to better support the online learning needs of students. This information would also be critical in revisiting the typology of strategies in an online learning environment.

2 Literature review

2.1 education and the covid-19 pandemic.

In December 2019, an outbreak of a novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19, occurred in China and has spread rapidly across the globe within a few months. COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus that attacks the respiratory system (World Health Organization, 2020 ). As of January 2021, COVID-19 has infected 94 million people and has caused 2 million deaths in 191 countries and territories (John Hopkins University, 2021 ). This pandemic has created a massive disruption of the educational systems, affecting over 1.5 billion students. It has forced the government to cancel national examinations and the schools to temporarily close, cease face-to-face instruction, and strictly observe physical distancing. These events have sparked the digital transformation of higher education and challenged its ability to respond promptly and effectively. Schools adopted relevant technologies, prepared learning and staff resources, set systems and infrastructure, established new teaching protocols, and adjusted their curricula. However, the transition was smooth for some schools but rough for others, particularly those from developing countries with limited infrastructure (Pham & Nguyen, 2020 ; Simbulan, 2020 ).

Inevitably, schools and other learning spaces were forced to migrate to full online learning as the world continues the battle to control the vicious spread of the virus. Online learning refers to a learning environment that uses the Internet and other technological devices and tools for synchronous and asynchronous instructional delivery and management of academic programs (Usher & Barak, 2020 ; Huang, 2019 ). Synchronous online learning involves real-time interactions between the teacher and the students, while asynchronous online learning occurs without a strict schedule for different students (Singh & Thurman, 2019 ). Within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, online learning has taken the status of interim remote teaching that serves as a response to an exigency. However, the migration to a new learning space has faced several major concerns relating to policy, pedagogy, logistics, socioeconomic factors, technology, and psychosocial factors (Donitsa-Schmidt & Ramot, 2020 ; Khalil et al., 2020 ; Varea & González-Calvo, 2020 ). With reference to policies, government education agencies and schools scrambled to create fool-proof policies on governance structure, teacher management, and student management. Teachers, who were used to conventional teaching delivery, were also obliged to embrace technology despite their lack of technological literacy. To address this problem, online learning webinars and peer support systems were launched. On the part of the students, dropout rates increased due to economic, psychological, and academic reasons. Academically, although it is virtually possible for students to learn anything online, learning may perhaps be less than optimal, especially in courses that require face-to-face contact and direct interactions (Franchi, 2020 ).

2.2 Related studies

Recently, there has been an explosion of studies relating to the new normal in education. While many focused on national policies, professional development, and curriculum, others zeroed in on the specific learning experience of students during the pandemic. Among these are Copeland et al. ( 2021 ) and Fawaz et al. ( 2021 ) who examined the impact of COVID-19 on college students’ mental health and their coping mechanisms. Copeland et al. ( 2021 ) reported that the pandemic adversely affected students’ behavioral and emotional functioning, particularly attention and externalizing problems (i.e., mood and wellness behavior), which were caused by isolation, economic/health effects, and uncertainties. In Fawaz et al.’s ( 2021 ) study, students raised their concerns on learning and evaluation methods, overwhelming task load, technical difficulties, and confinement. To cope with these problems, students actively dealt with the situation by seeking help from their teachers and relatives and engaging in recreational activities. These active-oriented coping mechanisms of students were aligned with Carter et al.’s ( 2020 ), who explored students’ self-regulation strategies.

In another study, Tang et al. ( 2020 ) examined the efficacy of different online teaching modes among engineering students. Using a questionnaire, the results revealed that students were dissatisfied with online learning in general, particularly in the aspect of communication and question-and-answer modes. Nonetheless, the combined model of online teaching with flipped classrooms improved students’ attention, academic performance, and course evaluation. A parallel study was undertaken by Hew et al. ( 2020 ), who transformed conventional flipped classrooms into fully online flipped classes through a cloud-based video conferencing app. Their findings suggested that these two types of learning environments were equally effective. They also offered ways on how to effectively adopt videoconferencing-assisted online flipped classrooms. Unlike the two studies, Suryaman et al. ( 2020 ) looked into how learning occurred at home during the pandemic. Their findings showed that students faced many obstacles in a home learning environment, such as lack of mastery of technology, high Internet cost, and limited interaction/socialization between and among students. In a related study, Kapasia et al. ( 2020 ) investigated how lockdown impacts students’ learning performance. Their findings revealed that the lockdown made significant disruptions in students’ learning experience. The students also reported some challenges that they faced during their online classes. These include anxiety, depression, poor Internet service, and unfavorable home learning environment, which were aggravated when students are marginalized and from remote areas. Contrary to Kapasia et al.’s ( 2020 ) findings, Gonzales et al. ( 2020 ) found that confinement of students during the pandemic had significant positive effects on their performance. They attributed these results to students’ continuous use of learning strategies which, in turn, improved their learning efficiency.

Finally, there are those that focused on students’ overall online learning experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. One such study was that of Singh et al. ( 2020 ), who examined students’ experience during the COVID-19 pandemic using a quantitative descriptive approach. Their findings indicated that students appreciated the use of online learning during the pandemic. However, half of them believed that the traditional classroom setting was more effective than the online learning platform. Methodologically, the researchers acknowledge that the quantitative nature of their study restricts a deeper interpretation of the findings. Unlike the above study, Khalil et al. ( 2020 ) qualitatively explored the efficacy of synchronized online learning in a medical school in Saudi Arabia. The results indicated that students generally perceive synchronous online learning positively, particularly in terms of time management and efficacy. However, they also reported technical (internet connectivity and poor utility of tools), methodological (content delivery), and behavioral (individual personality) challenges. Their findings also highlighted the failure of the online learning environment to address the needs of courses that require hands-on practice despite efforts to adopt virtual laboratories. In a parallel study, Adarkwah ( 2021 ) examined students’ online learning experience during the pandemic using a narrative inquiry approach. The findings indicated that Ghanaian students considered online learning as ineffective due to several challenges that they encountered. Among these were lack of social interaction among students, poor communication, lack of ICT resources, and poor learning outcomes. More recently, Day et al. ( 2021 ) examined the immediate impact of COVID-19 on students’ learning experience. Evidence from six institutions across three countries revealed some positive experiences and pre-existing inequities. Among the reported challenges are lack of appropriate devices, poor learning space at home, stress among students, and lack of fieldwork and access to laboratories.

Although there are few studies that report the online learning challenges that higher education students experience during the pandemic, limited information is available regarding the specific strategies that they use to overcome them. It is in this context that the current study was undertaken. This mixed-methods study investigates students’ online learning experience in higher education. Specifically, the following research questions are addressed: (1) What is the extent of challenges that students experience in an online learning environment? (2) How did the COVID-19 pandemic impact the online learning challenges that students experience? (3) What strategies did students use to overcome the challenges?

2.3 Conceptual framework

The typology of challenges examined in this study is largely based on Rasheed et al.’s ( 2020 ) review of students’ experience in an online learning environment. These challenges are grouped into five general clusters, namely self-regulation (SRC), technological literacy and competency (TLCC), student isolation (SIC), technological sufficiency (TSC), and technological complexity (TCC) challenges (Rasheed et al., 2020 , p. 5). SRC refers to a set of behavior by which students exercise control over their emotions, actions, and thoughts to achieve learning objectives. TLCC relates to a set of challenges about students’ ability to effectively use technology for learning purposes. SIC relates to the emotional discomfort that students experience as a result of being lonely and secluded from their peers. TSC refers to a set of challenges that students experience when accessing available online technologies for learning. Finally, there is TCC which involves challenges that students experience when exposed to complex and over-sufficient technologies for online learning.

To extend Rasheed et al. ( 2020 ) categories and to cover other potential challenges during online classes, two more clusters were added, namely learning resource challenges (LRC) and learning environment challenges (LEC) (Buehler, 2004 ; Recker et al., 2004 ; Seplaki et al., 2014 ; Xue et al., 2020 ). LRC refers to a set of challenges that students face relating to their use of library resources and instructional materials, whereas LEC is a set of challenges that students experience related to the condition of their learning space that shapes their learning experiences, beliefs, and attitudes. Since learning environment at home and learning resources available to students has been reported to significantly impact the quality of learning and their achievement of learning outcomes (Drane et al., 2020 ; Suryaman et al., 2020 ), the inclusion of LRC and LEC would allow us to capture other important challenges that students experience during the pandemic, particularly those from developing regions. This comprehensive list would provide us a clearer and detailed picture of students’ experiences when engaged in online learning in an emergency. Given the restrictions in mobility at macro and micro levels during the pandemic, it is also expected that such conditions would aggravate these challenges. Therefore, this paper intends to understand these challenges from students’ perspectives since they are the ones that are ultimately impacted when the issue is about the learning experience. We also seek to explore areas that provide inconclusive findings, thereby setting the path for future research.

3 Material and methods

The present study adopted a descriptive, mixed-methods approach to address the research questions. This approach allowed the researchers to collect complex data about students’ experience in an online learning environment and to clearly understand the phenomena from their perspective.

3.1 Participants

This study involved 200 (66 male and 134 female) students from a private higher education institution in the Philippines. These participants were Psychology, Physical Education, and Sports Management majors whose ages ranged from 17 to 25 ( x̅  = 19.81; SD  = 1.80). The students have been engaged in online learning for at least two terms in both synchronous and asynchronous modes. The students belonged to low- and middle-income groups but were equipped with the basic online learning equipment (e.g., computer, headset, speakers) and computer skills necessary for their participation in online classes. Table 1 shows the primary and secondary platforms that students used during their online classes. The primary platforms are those that are formally adopted by teachers and students in a structured academic context, whereas the secondary platforms are those that are informally and spontaneously used by students and teachers for informal learning and to supplement instructional delivery. Note that almost all students identified MS Teams as their primary platform because it is the official learning management system of the university.

Informed consent was sought from the participants prior to their involvement. Before students signed the informed consent form, they were oriented about the objectives of the study and the extent of their involvement. They were also briefed about the confidentiality of information, their anonymity, and their right to refuse to participate in the investigation. Finally, the participants were informed that they would incur no additional cost from their participation.

3.2 Instrument and data collection

The data were collected using a retrospective self-report questionnaire and a focused group discussion (FGD). A self-report questionnaire was considered appropriate because the indicators relate to affective responses and attitude (Araujo et al., 2017 ; Barrot, 2016 ; Spector, 1994 ). Although the participants may tell more than what they know or do in a self-report survey (Matsumoto, 1994 ), this challenge was addressed by explaining to them in detail each of the indicators and using methodological triangulation through FGD. The questionnaire was divided into four sections: (1) participant’s personal information section, (2) the background information on the online learning environment, (3) the rating scale section for the online learning challenges, (4) the open-ended section. The personal information section asked about the students’ personal information (name, school, course, age, and sex), while the background information section explored the online learning mode and platforms (primary and secondary) used in class, and students’ length of engagement in online classes. The rating scale section contained 37 items that relate to SRC (6 items), TLCC (10 items), SIC (4 items), TSC (6 items), TCC (3 items), LRC (4 items), and LEC (4 items). The Likert scale uses six scores (i.e., 5– to a very great extent , 4– to a great extent , 3– to a moderate extent , 2– to some extent , 1– to a small extent , and 0 –not at all/negligible ) assigned to each of the 37 items. Finally, the open-ended questions asked about other challenges that students experienced, the impact of the pandemic on the intensity or extent of the challenges they experienced, and the strategies that the participants employed to overcome the eight different types of challenges during online learning. Two experienced educators and researchers reviewed the questionnaire for clarity, accuracy, and content and face validity. The piloting of the instrument revealed that the tool had good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.96).

The FGD protocol contains two major sections: the participants’ background information and the main questions. The background information section asked about the students’ names, age, courses being taken, online learning mode used in class. The items in the main questions section covered questions relating to the students’ overall attitude toward online learning during the pandemic, the reasons for the scores they assigned to each of the challenges they experienced, the impact of the pandemic on students’ challenges, and the strategies they employed to address the challenges. The same experts identified above validated the FGD protocol.

Both the questionnaire and the FGD were conducted online via Google survey and MS Teams, respectively. It took approximately 20 min to complete the questionnaire, while the FGD lasted for about 90 min. Students were allowed to ask for clarification and additional explanations relating to the questionnaire content, FGD, and procedure. Online surveys and interview were used because of the ongoing lockdown in the city. For the purpose of triangulation, 20 (10 from Psychology and 10 from Physical Education and Sports Management) randomly selected students were invited to participate in the FGD. Two separate FGDs were scheduled for each group and were facilitated by researcher 2 and researcher 3, respectively. The interviewers ensured that the participants were comfortable and open to talk freely during the FGD to avoid social desirability biases (Bergen & Labonté, 2020 ). These were done by informing the participants that there are no wrong responses and that their identity and responses would be handled with the utmost confidentiality. With the permission of the participants, the FGD was recorded to ensure that all relevant information was accurately captured for transcription and analysis.

3.3 Data analysis

To address the research questions, we used both quantitative and qualitative analyses. For the quantitative analysis, we entered all the data into an excel spreadsheet. Then, we computed the mean scores ( M ) and standard deviations ( SD ) to determine the level of challenges experienced by students during online learning. The mean score for each descriptor was interpreted using the following scheme: 4.18 to 5.00 ( to a very great extent ), 3.34 to 4.17 ( to a great extent ), 2.51 to 3.33 ( to a moderate extent ), 1.68 to 2.50 ( to some extent ), 0.84 to 1.67 ( to a small extent ), and 0 to 0.83 ( not at all/negligible ). The equal interval was adopted because it produces more reliable and valid information than other types of scales (Cicchetti et al., 2006 ).

For the qualitative data, we analyzed the students’ responses in the open-ended questions and the transcribed FGD using the predetermined categories in the conceptual framework. Specifically, we used multilevel coding in classifying the codes from the transcripts (Birks & Mills, 2011 ). To do this, we identified the relevant codes from the responses of the participants and categorized these codes based on the similarities or relatedness of their properties and dimensions. Then, we performed a constant comparative and progressive analysis of cases to allow the initially identified subcategories to emerge and take shape. To ensure the reliability of the analysis, two coders independently analyzed the qualitative data. Both coders familiarize themselves with the purpose, research questions, research method, and codes and coding scheme of the study. They also had a calibration session and discussed ways on how they could consistently analyze the qualitative data. Percent of agreement between the two coders was 86 percent. Any disagreements in the analysis were discussed by the coders until an agreement was achieved.

This study investigated students’ online learning experience in higher education within the context of the pandemic. Specifically, we identified the extent of challenges that students experienced, how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted their online learning experience, and the strategies that they used to confront these challenges.

4.1 The extent of students’ online learning challenges

Table 2 presents the mean scores and SD for the extent of challenges that students’ experienced during online learning. Overall, the students experienced the identified challenges to a moderate extent ( x̅  = 2.62, SD  = 1.03) with scores ranging from x̅  = 1.72 ( to some extent ) to x̅  = 3.58 ( to a great extent ). More specifically, the greatest challenge that students experienced was related to the learning environment ( x̅  = 3.49, SD  = 1.27), particularly on distractions at home, limitations in completing the requirements for certain subjects, and difficulties in selecting the learning areas and study schedule. It is, however, found that the least challenge was on technological literacy and competency ( x̅  = 2.10, SD  = 1.13), particularly on knowledge and training in the use of technology, technological intimidation, and resistance to learning technologies. Other areas that students experienced the least challenge are Internet access under TSC and procrastination under SRC. Nonetheless, nearly half of the students’ responses per indicator rated the challenges they experienced as moderate (14 of the 37 indicators), particularly in TCC ( x̅  = 2.51, SD  = 1.31), SIC ( x̅  = 2.77, SD  = 1.34), and LRC ( x̅  = 2.93, SD  = 1.31).

Out of 200 students, 181 responded to the question about other challenges that they experienced. Most of their responses were already covered by the seven predetermined categories, except for 18 responses related to physical discomfort ( N  = 5) and financial challenges ( N  = 13). For instance, S108 commented that “when it comes to eyes and head, my eyes and head get ache if the session of class was 3 h straight in front of my gadget.” In the same vein, S194 reported that “the long exposure to gadgets especially laptop, resulting in body pain & headaches.” With reference to physical financial challenges, S66 noted that “not all the time I have money to load”, while S121 claimed that “I don't know until when are we going to afford budgeting our money instead of buying essentials.”

4.2 Impact of the pandemic on students’ online learning challenges

Another objective of this study was to identify how COVID-19 influenced the online learning challenges that students experienced. As shown in Table 3 , most of the students’ responses were related to teaching and learning quality ( N  = 86) and anxiety and other mental health issues ( N  = 52). Regarding the adverse impact on teaching and learning quality, most of the comments relate to the lack of preparation for the transition to online platforms (e.g., S23, S64), limited infrastructure (e.g., S13, S65, S99, S117), and poor Internet service (e.g., S3, S9, S17, S41, S65, S99). For the anxiety and mental health issues, most students reported that the anxiety, boredom, sadness, and isolation they experienced had adversely impacted the way they learn (e.g., S11, S130), completing their tasks/activities (e.g., S56, S156), and their motivation to continue studying (e.g., S122, S192). The data also reveal that COVID-19 aggravated the financial difficulties experienced by some students ( N  = 16), consequently affecting their online learning experience. This financial impact mainly revolved around the lack of funding for their online classes as a result of their parents’ unemployment and the high cost of Internet data (e.g., S18, S113, S167). Meanwhile, few concerns were raised in relation to COVID-19’s impact on mobility ( N  = 7) and face-to-face interactions ( N  = 7). For instance, some commented that the lack of face-to-face interaction with her classmates had a detrimental effect on her learning (S46) and socialization skills (S36), while others reported that restrictions in mobility limited their learning experience (S78, S110). Very few comments were related to no effect ( N  = 4) and positive effect ( N  = 2). The above findings suggest the pandemic had additive adverse effects on students’ online learning experience.

4.3 Students’ strategies to overcome challenges in an online learning environment

The third objective of this study is to identify the strategies that students employed to overcome the different online learning challenges they experienced. Table 4 presents that the most commonly used strategies used by students were resource management and utilization ( N  = 181), help-seeking ( N  = 155), technical aptitude enhancement ( N  = 122), time management ( N  = 98), and learning environment control ( N  = 73). Not surprisingly, the top two strategies were also the most consistently used across different challenges. However, looking closely at each of the seven challenges, the frequency of using a particular strategy varies. For TSC and LRC, the most frequently used strategy was resource management and utilization ( N  = 52, N  = 89, respectively), whereas technical aptitude enhancement was the students’ most preferred strategy to address TLCC ( N  = 77) and TCC ( N  = 38). In the case of SRC, SIC, and LEC, the most frequently employed strategies were time management ( N  = 71), psychological support ( N  = 53), and learning environment control ( N  = 60). In terms of consistency, help-seeking appears to be the most consistent across the different challenges in an online learning environment. Table 4 further reveals that strategies used by students within a specific type of challenge vary.

5 Discussion and conclusions

The current study explores the challenges that students experienced in an online learning environment and how the pandemic impacted their online learning experience. The findings revealed that the online learning challenges of students varied in terms of type and extent. Their greatest challenge was linked to their learning environment at home, while their least challenge was technological literacy and competency. Based on the students’ responses, their challenges were also found to be aggravated by the pandemic, especially in terms of quality of learning experience, mental health, finances, interaction, and mobility. With reference to previous studies (i.e., Adarkwah, 2021 ; Copeland et al., 2021 ; Day et al., 2021 ; Fawaz et al., 2021 ; Kapasia et al., 2020 ; Khalil et al., 2020 ; Singh et al., 2020 ), the current study has complemented their findings on the pedagogical, logistical, socioeconomic, technological, and psychosocial online learning challenges that students experience within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, this study extended previous studies and our understanding of students’ online learning experience by identifying both the presence and extent of online learning challenges and by shedding light on the specific strategies they employed to overcome them.

Overall findings indicate that the extent of challenges and strategies varied from one student to another. Hence, they should be viewed as a consequence of interaction several many factors. Students’ responses suggest that their online learning challenges and strategies were mediated by the resources available to them, their interaction with their teachers and peers, and the school’s existing policies and guidelines for online learning. In the context of the pandemic, the imposed lockdowns and students’ socioeconomic condition aggravated the challenges that students experience.

While most studies revealed that technology use and competency were the most common challenges that students face during the online classes (see Rasheed et al., 2020 ), the case is a bit different in developing countries in times of pandemic. As the findings have shown, the learning environment is the greatest challenge that students needed to hurdle, particularly distractions at home (e.g., noise) and limitations in learning space and facilities. This data suggests that online learning challenges during the pandemic somehow vary from the typical challenges that students experience in a pre-pandemic online learning environment. One possible explanation for this result is that restriction in mobility may have aggravated this challenge since they could not go to the school or other learning spaces beyond the vicinity of their respective houses. As shown in the data, the imposition of lockdown restricted students’ learning experience (e.g., internship and laboratory experiments), limited their interaction with peers and teachers, caused depression, stress, and anxiety among students, and depleted the financial resources of those who belong to lower-income group. All of these adversely impacted students’ learning experience. This finding complemented earlier reports on the adverse impact of lockdown on students’ learning experience and the challenges posed by the home learning environment (e.g., Day et al., 2021 ; Kapasia et al., 2020 ). Nonetheless, further studies are required to validate the impact of restrictions on mobility on students’ online learning experience. The second reason that may explain the findings relates to students’ socioeconomic profile. Consistent with the findings of Adarkwah ( 2021 ) and Day et al. ( 2021 ), the current study reveals that the pandemic somehow exposed the many inequities in the educational systems within and across countries. In the case of a developing country, families from lower socioeconomic strata (as in the case of the students in this study) have limited learning space at home, access to quality Internet service, and online learning resources. This is the reason the learning environment and learning resources recorded the highest level of challenges. The socioeconomic profile of the students (i.e., low and middle-income group) is the same reason financial problems frequently surfaced from their responses. These students frequently linked the lack of financial resources to their access to the Internet, educational materials, and equipment necessary for online learning. Therefore, caution should be made when interpreting and extending the findings of this study to other contexts, particularly those from higher socioeconomic strata.

Among all the different online learning challenges, the students experienced the least challenge on technological literacy and competency. This is not surprising considering a plethora of research confirming Gen Z students’ (born since 1996) high technological and digital literacy (Barrot, 2018 ; Ng, 2012 ; Roblek et al., 2019 ). Regarding the impact of COVID-19 on students’ online learning experience, the findings reveal that teaching and learning quality and students’ mental health were the most affected. The anxiety that students experienced does not only come from the threats of COVID-19 itself but also from social and physical restrictions, unfamiliarity with new learning platforms, technical issues, and concerns about financial resources. These findings are consistent with that of Copeland et al. ( 2021 ) and Fawaz et al. ( 2021 ), who reported the adverse effects of the pandemic on students’ mental and emotional well-being. This data highlights the need to provide serious attention to the mediating effects of mental health, restrictions in mobility, and preparedness in delivering online learning.

Nonetheless, students employed a variety of strategies to overcome the challenges they faced during online learning. For instance, to address the home learning environment problems, students talked to their family (e.g., S12, S24), transferred to a quieter place (e.g., S7, S 26), studied at late night where all family members are sleeping already (e.g., S51), and consulted with their classmates and teachers (e.g., S3, S9, S156, S193). To overcome the challenges in learning resources, students used the Internet (e.g., S20, S27, S54, S91), joined Facebook groups that share free resources (e.g., S5), asked help from family members (e.g., S16), used resources available at home (e.g., S32), and consulted with the teachers (e.g., S124). The varying strategies of students confirmed earlier reports on the active orientation that students take when faced with academic- and non-academic-related issues in an online learning space (see Fawaz et al., 2021 ). The specific strategies that each student adopted may have been shaped by different factors surrounding him/her, such as available resources, student personality, family structure, relationship with peers and teacher, and aptitude. To expand this study, researchers may further investigate this area and explore how and why different factors shape their use of certain strategies.

Several implications can be drawn from the findings of this study. First, this study highlighted the importance of emergency response capability and readiness of higher education institutions in case another crisis strikes again. Critical areas that need utmost attention include (but not limited to) national and institutional policies, protocol and guidelines, technological infrastructure and resources, instructional delivery, staff development, potential inequalities, and collaboration among key stakeholders (i.e., parents, students, teachers, school leaders, industry, government education agencies, and community). Second, the findings have expanded our understanding of the different challenges that students might confront when we abruptly shift to full online learning, particularly those from countries with limited resources, poor Internet infrastructure, and poor home learning environment. Schools with a similar learning context could use the findings of this study in developing and enhancing their respective learning continuity plans to mitigate the adverse impact of the pandemic. This study would also provide students relevant information needed to reflect on the possible strategies that they may employ to overcome the challenges. These are critical information necessary for effective policymaking, decision-making, and future implementation of online learning. Third, teachers may find the results useful in providing proper interventions to address the reported challenges, particularly in the most critical areas. Finally, the findings provided us a nuanced understanding of the interdependence of learning tools, learners, and learning outcomes within an online learning environment; thus, giving us a multiperspective of hows and whys of a successful migration to full online learning.

Some limitations in this study need to be acknowledged and addressed in future studies. One limitation of this study is that it exclusively focused on students’ perspectives. Future studies may widen the sample by including all other actors taking part in the teaching–learning process. Researchers may go deeper by investigating teachers’ views and experience to have a complete view of the situation and how different elements interact between them or affect the others. Future studies may also identify some teacher-related factors that could influence students’ online learning experience. In the case of students, their age, sex, and degree programs may be examined in relation to the specific challenges and strategies they experience. Although the study involved a relatively large sample size, the participants were limited to college students from a Philippine university. To increase the robustness of the findings, future studies may expand the learning context to K-12 and several higher education institutions from different geographical regions. As a final note, this pandemic has undoubtedly reshaped and pushed the education system to its limits. However, this unprecedented event is the same thing that will make the education system stronger and survive future threats.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Adarkwah, M. A. (2021). “I’m not against online teaching, but what about us?”: ICT in Ghana post Covid-19. Education and Information Technologies, 26 (2), 1665–1685.

Article   Google Scholar  

Almaiah, M. A., Al-Khasawneh, A., & Althunibat, A. (2020). Exploring the critical challenges and factors influencing the E-learning system usage during COVID-19 pandemic. Education and Information Technologies, 25 , 5261–5280.

Araujo, T., Wonneberger, A., Neijens, P., & de Vreese, C. (2017). How much time do you spend online? Understanding and improving the accuracy of self-reported measures of Internet use. Communication Methods and Measures, 11 (3), 173–190.

Barrot, J. S. (2016). Using Facebook-based e-portfolio in ESL writing classrooms: Impact and challenges. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 29 (3), 286–301.

Barrot, J. S. (2018). Facebook as a learning environment for language teaching and learning: A critical analysis of the literature from 2010 to 2017. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 34 (6), 863–875.

Barrot, J. S. (2020). Scientific mapping of social media in education: A decade of exponential growth. Journal of Educational Computing Research .  https://doi.org/10.1177/0735633120972010 .

Barrot, J. S. (2021). Social media as a language learning environment: A systematic review of the literature (2008–2019). Computer Assisted Language Learning . https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2021.1883673 .

Bergen, N., & Labonté, R. (2020). “Everything is perfect, and we have no problems”: Detecting and limiting social desirability bias in qualitative research. Qualitative Health Research, 30 (5), 783–792.

Birks, M., & Mills, J. (2011). Grounded theory: A practical guide . Sage.

Boelens, R., De Wever, B., & Voet, M. (2017). Four key challenges to the design of blended learning: A systematic literature review. Educational Research Review, 22 , 1–18.

Buehler, M. A. (2004). Where is the library in course management software? Journal of Library Administration, 41 (1–2), 75–84.

Carter, R. A., Jr., Rice, M., Yang, S., & Jackson, H. A. (2020). Self-regulated learning in online learning environments: Strategies for remote learning. Information and Learning Sciences, 121 (5/6), 321–329.

Cavanaugh, C. S., Barbour, M. K., & Clark, T. (2009). Research and practice in K-12 online learning: A review of open access literature. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 10 (1), 1–22.

Cicchetti, D., Bronen, R., Spencer, S., Haut, S., Berg, A., Oliver, P., & Tyrer, P. (2006). Rating scales, scales of measurement, issues of reliability: Resolving some critical issues for clinicians and researchers. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 194 (8), 557–564.

Copeland, W. E., McGinnis, E., Bai, Y., Adams, Z., Nardone, H., Devadanam, V., & Hudziak, J. J. (2021). Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on college student mental health and wellness. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 60 (1), 134–141.

Day, T., Chang, I. C. C., Chung, C. K. L., Doolittle, W. E., Housel, J., & McDaniel, P. N. (2021). The immediate impact of COVID-19 on postsecondary teaching and learning. The Professional Geographer, 73 (1), 1–13.

Donitsa-Schmidt, S., & Ramot, R. (2020). Opportunities and challenges: Teacher education in Israel in the Covid-19 pandemic. Journal of Education for Teaching, 46 (4), 586–595.

Drane, C., Vernon, L., & O’Shea, S. (2020). The impact of ‘learning at home’on the educational outcomes of vulnerable children in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Literature Review Prepared by the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education. Curtin University, Australia.

Elaish, M., Shuib, L., Ghani, N., & Yadegaridehkordi, E. (2019). Mobile English language learning (MELL): A literature review. Educational Review, 71 (2), 257–276.

Fawaz, M., Al Nakhal, M., & Itani, M. (2021). COVID-19 quarantine stressors and management among Lebanese students: A qualitative study.  Current Psychology , 1–8.

Franchi, T. (2020). The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on current anatomy education and future careers: A student’s perspective. Anatomical Sciences Education, 13 (3), 312–315.

Garcia, R., Falkner, K., & Vivian, R. (2018). Systematic literature review: Self-regulated learning strategies using e-learning tools for computer science. Computers & Education, 123 , 150–163.

Gonzalez, T., De La Rubia, M. A., Hincz, K. P., Comas-Lopez, M., Subirats, L., Fort, S., & Sacha, G. M. (2020). Influence of COVID-19 confinement on students’ performance in higher education. PLoS One, 15 (10), e0239490.

Hew, K. F., Jia, C., Gonda, D. E., & Bai, S. (2020). Transitioning to the “new normal” of learning in unpredictable times: Pedagogical practices and learning performance in fully online flipped classrooms. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 17 (1), 1–22.

Huang, Q. (2019). Comparing teacher’s roles of F2F learning and online learning in a blended English course. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 32 (3), 190–209.

John Hopkins University. (2021). Global map . https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/

Kapasia, N., Paul, P., Roy, A., Saha, J., Zaveri, A., Mallick, R., & Chouhan, P. (2020). Impact of lockdown on learning status of undergraduate and postgraduate students during COVID-19 pandemic in West Bengal. India . Children and Youth Services Review, 116 , 105194.

Kebritchi, M., Lipschuetz, A., & Santiague, L. (2017). Issues and challenges for teaching successful online courses in higher education: A literature review. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 46 (1), 4–29.

Khalil, R., Mansour, A. E., Fadda, W. A., Almisnid, K., Aldamegh, M., Al-Nafeesah, A., & Al-Wutayd, O. (2020). The sudden transition to synchronized online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia: A qualitative study exploring medical students’ perspectives. BMC Medical Education, 20 (1), 1–10.

Matsumoto, K. (1994). Introspection, verbal reports and second language learning strategy research. Canadian Modern Language Review, 50 (2), 363–386.

Ng, W. (2012). Can we teach digital natives digital literacy? Computers & Education, 59 (3), 1065–1078.

Pham, T., & Nguyen, H. (2020). COVID-19: Challenges and opportunities for Vietnamese higher education. Higher Education in Southeast Asia and beyond, 8 , 22–24.

Google Scholar  

Rasheed, R. A., Kamsin, A., & Abdullah, N. A. (2020). Challenges in the online component of blended learning: A systematic review. Computers & Education, 144 , 103701.

Recker, M. M., Dorward, J., & Nelson, L. M. (2004). Discovery and use of online learning resources: Case study findings. Educational Technology & Society, 7 (2), 93–104.

Roblek, V., Mesko, M., Dimovski, V., & Peterlin, J. (2019). Smart technologies as social innovation and complex social issues of the Z generation. Kybernetes, 48 (1), 91–107.

Seplaki, C. L., Agree, E. M., Weiss, C. O., Szanton, S. L., Bandeen-Roche, K., & Fried, L. P. (2014). Assistive devices in context: Cross-sectional association between challenges in the home environment and use of assistive devices for mobility. The Gerontologist, 54 (4), 651–660.

Simbulan, N. (2020). COVID-19 and its impact on higher education in the Philippines. Higher Education in Southeast Asia and beyond, 8 , 15–18.

Singh, K., Srivastav, S., Bhardwaj, A., Dixit, A., & Misra, S. (2020). Medical education during the COVID-19 pandemic: a single institution experience. Indian Pediatrics, 57 (7), 678–679.

Singh, V., & Thurman, A. (2019). How many ways can we define online learning? A systematic literature review of definitions of online learning (1988–2018). American Journal of Distance Education, 33 (4), 289–306.

Spector, P. (1994). Using self-report questionnaires in OB research: A comment on the use of a controversial method. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 15 (5), 385–392.

Suryaman, M., Cahyono, Y., Muliansyah, D., Bustani, O., Suryani, P., Fahlevi, M., & Munthe, A. P. (2020). COVID-19 pandemic and home online learning system: Does it affect the quality of pharmacy school learning? Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy, 11 , 524–530.

Tallent-Runnels, M. K., Thomas, J. A., Lan, W. Y., Cooper, S., Ahern, T. C., Shaw, S. M., & Liu, X. (2006). Teaching courses online: A review of the research. Review of Educational Research, 76 (1), 93–135.

Tang, T., Abuhmaid, A. M., Olaimat, M., Oudat, D. M., Aldhaeebi, M., & Bamanger, E. (2020). Efficiency of flipped classroom with online-based teaching under COVID-19.  Interactive Learning Environments , 1–12.

Usher, M., & Barak, M. (2020). Team diversity as a predictor of innovation in team projects of face-to-face and online learners. Computers & Education, 144 , 103702.

Varea, V., & González-Calvo, G. (2020). Touchless classes and absent bodies: Teaching physical education in times of Covid-19.  Sport, Education and Society , 1–15.

Wallace, R. M. (2003). Online learning in higher education: A review of research on interactions among teachers and students. Education, Communication & Information, 3 (2), 241–280.

World Health Organization (2020). Coronavirus . https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_1

Xue, E., Li, J., Li, T., & Shang, W. (2020). China’s education response to COVID-19: A perspective of policy analysis.  Educational Philosophy and Theory , 1–13.

Download references

No funding was received in the conduct of this study.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

College of Education, Arts and Sciences, National University, Manila, Philippines

Jessie S. Barrot, Ian I. Llenares & Leo S. del Rosario

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

Jessie Barrot led the planning, prepared the instrument, wrote the report, and processed and analyzed data. Ian Llenares participated in the planning, fielded the instrument, processed and analyzed data, reviewed the instrument, and contributed to report writing. Leo del Rosario participated in the planning, fielded the instrument, processed and analyzed data, reviewed the instrument, and contributed to report writing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jessie S. Barrot .

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval.

The study has undergone appropriate ethics protocol.

Consent to participate

Informed consent was sought from the participants.

Consent for publication

Authors consented the publication. Participants consented to publication as long as confidentiality is observed.

Additional information

Publisher’s note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Barrot, J.S., Llenares, I.I. & del Rosario, L.S. Students’ online learning challenges during the pandemic and how they cope with them: The case of the Philippines. Educ Inf Technol 26 , 7321–7338 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10589-x

Download citation

Received : 22 January 2021

Accepted : 17 May 2021

Published : 28 May 2021

Issue Date : November 2021

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10589-x

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Remote learning
• Online learning
• Online learning strategies
• Higher education
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

ICT integration in the educational system of Philippines

• November 2018
• Journal of Governance and Public Policy 5(3)

• Griffith University

Abstract and Figures

Discover the world's research

• 25+ million members
• 160+ million publication pages
• 2.3+ billion citations
• Empir Stud Arts

• Jay Fie P. Luzano

• Missesabel L Uba

• Beenish Hameed
• Batool Ishaque
• Irfa Ahmer Paul
• Muhammad Abdullah Mahmood
• Dina Joana Ocampo
• Jerome Buenviaje
• Candice Faye L. Cabunoc

• Mat Soc Med
• Nafiseh Rafiei
• Fereshte Davari
• EDUC TECHNOL SOC

• Hiroshi Morioka
• Mark Raguindin Limon

• A Bonifacio
• Recruit researchers
• Join for free
• Login Email Tip: Most researchers use their institutional email address as their ResearchGate login Password Forgot password? Keep me logged in Log in or Continue with Google Welcome back! Please log in. Email · Hint Tip: Most researchers use their institutional email address as their ResearchGate login Password Forgot password? Keep me logged in Log in or Continue with Google No account? Sign up

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• We're Hiring!
• Help Center

Download Free PDF

Challenges in STEM Learning: A Case of Filipino High School Students

2021, Jurnal Penelitian dan Pembelajaran IPA

STEM education faces monumental challenges which are aggravated by the Industrial Revolution (IR) 4.0 and the current COVID-19 global contagion. These challenges also affect how students learn in the STEM discipline in the senior high school. This qualitative study employed a case research design which sought to investigate nature of the challenges in STEM learning among senior high school students in the Philippines. Semi-structured interview guide was used in gathering the qualitative data from the 20 STEM learners in a government-run secondary school in Zambales, Philippines. Findings showed that the students encountered challenges in the STEM program. Ten themes emerged based on the students' responses. These challenges encountered by the students revolved around three categories - course-related challenges, individual challenges and socio-cultural challenges. The study recommends that schools offering STEM academic strands may reframe and rethink their processes, practices ...

Related papers

Advances in Mobile Learning Educational Research, 2021

Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, abbreviated as STEM is a very promising field and its popularity is increasing due to its benefits in the modern world of globalization and modernization. Science and mathematics are basics of the technological developments going on in the world. In order to continue with these developments, the children should be motivated to learn STEM from early school days. The minds of small kids are like a sponge and they are able to grasp everything quickly. STEM education should be encouraged from the childhood so that children like it and continue with it for higher education. This chapter discusses some of the challenges observed while encouraging children to learn STEM at early age and also tries to list out some solutions for it.

Jurnal Inspirasi Pendidikan

STEM education has now become a concern for researcher of education to be considered as a highly demanding learning. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia is one of the largest countries that has a lot of human resources that need to be improved in skills and abilities. This study aims to examine whether the urgency of STEM learning in Indonesia by looking at 21st century skills, this study uses content analysis methods, including examining the best implementation of STEM education aimed at teachers by investigating technical design skills training for teachers and students and also reviewed the literature from previous research from 1990 to 2016 which focused on developing STEM learning education throughout the world. In this study it was found that STEM education showed very significant developments throughout the world and had a major impact in efforts to improve students' understanding of concepts, literacy and creativity. From various research sources have provided evidence that imp...

STEM is a highly regarded area internationally. Malaysia also does not want to miss out on developing the STEM field. We wants to develop local expertise in this field so that we are able to grow in line with other countries. Thus, Malaysia has implemented a 60:40 policy which targets 60 percent of students to be in the STEM field. In the early stages of this policy implementation, this policy was known as the 60:40 Science/technical:Literature. In line with current developments, 60:40 policy is changed to STEM:Non-STEM as stated in Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025. Various programs are implemented to achieve this policy objective. However, the target of 60 percent of students in the STEM field is still unreachable. Therefore, this study focuses on the exploration of critical factors that influence the implementation of this policy. This is a qualitative study in which the semistructured interview method involves eight respondents. The results of the interviews have been analy...

IOER International Multidisciplinary Research Journal, 2020

Despite reforms, policies, and initiatives implemented worldwide to increase STEM students' interest, attrition is a problem that beset Science education and STEM-related workforce. In the Philippines, the first K to 12 Senior High School (SHS) entrants in 2016-2017 who enrolled in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and graduated in April 2018 did not all continue to STEM-related courses in college. Henceforth, this qualitative study used a phenomenological approach purported to describe and give meaning to the lived experiences of the first K to 12 STEM graduates who opted for non-STEM field courses in college. The study employed a purposive selection of the 10 K to 12 STEM graduates for an in-depth interview. A model labeled Follow Through model describes the participants' narration of their experiences from the STEM strand to non-STEM field course. The model conceptualized under three emergent themes Going in (why the students chose STEM track/strand), Going out (coping mechanisms and reasons for leaving STEM), and Going On (students' life after leaving STEM). The study results showed that socioeconomic factors, personal goals, and interactions with people around them impact the K to 12 students' beliefs, behaviors, and experiences in choosing STEM. All-encompassing curriculum implementation policies must be clear and appropriately implemented to avoid wasting money, time, and effort.

STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education nowadays is considered priority. To implement it successfully, students must acquire not only STEM “hard” skills, but also “soft” skills, therefore the choice of teaching/learning methods is essential. Problem-based (PrBL) and projectbased learning (PjBL) aim both at the acquisition of science content using real life examples and the improvement of IT skills, critical thinking, decision-making, civil responsibility and cooperation skills. The aim of the research is to find out the use of PrBL and PjBL in the teaching/ learning of STEM in the context of national reform of Latvia. The design of mixed methods was used in the research. The correlative research was performed using QuestionPro e-platform and surveyed 128 STEM teachers and 257 secondary school students to collect quantitative data. As Latvia now is implementing the education reform, the case study for qualitative and quantitative analysis has been carried o...

Jurnal Pendidikan Progresif, 2020

Journal of Innovation in Educational and Cultural Research

STEM education in indonesia has become a commitment for all of stakeholders in the field of science education in the last several years. All education participants agree to increase the popularity of STEM education in various parties, especially teachers and students. The research has been conducted to see to what extent science teachers in the secondary school interpret and understand STEM education and how Students pertain toward STEM learning. The research was conducted with a descriptive method using a survey approach. A set of questionnaire which comprises open-ended and closed-ended questions about teachers’ and students’ perceptions and understanding regarding STEM education were developed and applied. Responses from science teachers as well as students were then analysed through interpretative methods in which the participants’ own meanings and points of view were sought. The result indicated that STEM education is quite well understood by science teachers. Most of teachers ...

Problems of Education in the 21st Century, 2020

The necessity of STEM knowledge is being more widely acknowledged as the priority in the development of education; however, students lack sufficient knowledge and interest in the acquisition of STEM subjects. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the teaching and learning methods that would correspond to the contemporary young generation and that would facilitate meaningful learning of modern students. Performing the survey of 256 students in Grades 10 – 12 of Latvia, students’ perceptions on how they understand and interpret their STEM learning and methods used by teachers have been explored. The questionnaire in the QuestionPro e-environment was designed according to the criteria describing meaningful learning considering the peculiarities of the young generation. Respondents’ answers were analyzed with the help of the SPSS program, using the methods of non-parametric statistics. Many representatives of the young generation tend to avoid difficulties which confirms a typical...

Conference paper, 2015

This paper explores STEM education (science-technology-engineering-mathematics) as the integration of the four disciplines, as well as its implementation in the form of STEM-based science learning. The paper in detail reveals the concepts and purpose of STEM education, STEM integration patterns, the compatibility of STEM education with the existing Curriculum in Indonesia, as well as the STEM-based science learning features that set it apart from conventional learning and assessment. STEM education development in Indonesia opens up educational research opportunities for postgraduate students, in particular the development of innovative models of STEM education-based science learning units as well as examinations of their effectiveness through classroom-based scientific research.

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.

Participatory Educational Research , 2020

Journal of Physics: Conference Series

EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 2014

VANOS Journal of Mechanical Engineering Education

Cypriot Journal of Educational Sciences, 2018

European Review

Acta Scientiae, 2019

AIP Conference Proceedings

Man in India

JOURNAL OF EDUCATION AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

IOER International Multidisciplinary Research Journal, 2021

E3S Web of Conferences

Latin-American Journal of Physics Education, 2018

IEEE International STEM Education Conference , 2021

International Journal of Scientific and Technology Research, 2018

Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2021, 2021

Related topics

•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024

Current Situation and Practices of Multigrade Schools in the Philippines: Case Studies

As an archipelago consisting of more than 7,000 islands, the delivery of government services, such as education, remains challenging and sparse. In remote locations, classrooms practice multigrade teaching—where one teacher instructs students from different grade levels—to address issues of accessibility and teacher availability.

With a call to enhancing the state of Philippine education, we evaluate the effectiveness of multigrade teaching and try to understand the problems encountered by multigrade teachers in the Philippines.

SEAMEO INNOTECH’s study on multigrade teaching in the Philippines PDF acknowledges that the practice is an innovative solution to a challenge unique to the various regions in the country. However, new approaches to education and technology may point to novel ways in enhancing access to education throughout the nation.

Multigrade Education in the Philippines: Challenges and Questions

Since 1993, the Philippine Department of Education (DepEd) has considered multigrade education as a practical solution to bring education to school-age children located in geographically isolated, disadvantaged, conflict-affected and sparsely populated communities.

That being said, the Philippine Multigrade program provides opportunities for community schools with low enrolments and limited number of teachers in remote areas the ability to offer a complete cycle of elementary education.

Although it was imperfect, multigrade education has served as a sufficient solution to the issue of accessibility to education in parts of the Philippines. However, as the country developed, the multigrade teaching situation failed to improve significantly, leaving generations of Filipinos in need of quality education.

The issues and problems about multigrade classes in the Philippines encompass both teachers and students. Teachers are faced with a complex classroom requiring teaching and management styles outside of the traditional paradigm. Meanwhile, the challenges faced by multigrade teachers impact the students’ education.

With decades of practice and support from their communities, educators have developed strategies that fit their multigrade teaching situation, allowing them to maximize the time and budget allotted for each classroom.

The creativity and resourcefulness of multigrade teachers have proved to be a strength in maintaining the sustainability of multigrade education. However, this prompts the question: are their efforts sufficient to be at par with national and global standards. Furthermore, to what extent should the national government standardize multigrade teaching practices and what types of support should be prioritized to help multigrade schools achieve global competitiveness.

The situation of multigrade education in the Philippines is, indeed, diverse and complex. We attempt to paint a clear picture of the current situation through 11 case studies.

Multigrade Education Situation: Case Studies

The efforts to improve the quality of education in the Philippines calls for an evaluation of the state of multigrade education.

This volume of eleven (11) case studies is part of a suite of knowledge products emerging from the Technical Support to Multigrade Program in Philippine Education (TS-MPPE), a tripartite project between the Philippine Department of Education (DepEd), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Center for Educational Innovation and Technology (SEAMEO INNOTECH) from 2017 to 2019.

The case studies illustrate the predominant problems encountered by multigrade teachers in the Philippines. They show the limitations of the Philippine education system uniquely experienced by communities in remote locations.

The case studies also highlight the strengths of the multigrade program, particularly the teachers, administrators, and the community. The combined efforts of educators and community members have prompted improvements in the multigrade program, but the fact remains that there is greater room for improvement.

Learn More About the Multigrade Education Situation

Countless communities have relied on multigrade teaching to educate their young, but it is not without its challenges. INNOTECH’s Current Situation and Practices of Multigrade Schools in the Philippines: Case Studies dives into the realities of education in remote areas of the nation.

Related Resources

Share us on social media!

Lead Your School to Success

Invest in your growth as an educator to bring better changes to your school. Learn and discuss with other educators dedicated to raising the standards of education in the country at SEAMEO INNOTECH’s School Leadership Training .

By continuing to browse our site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Read more about our Privacy Policy  here .

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy .

Education issues tackled in Inquirer ESG Edge talks

SHARED CHALLENGES The first Inquirer ESG Edge forum and meeting with program partners on Sept. 18 featured talks by four experts in education and gender sensitivity. —Eugene Araneta

MANILA, Philippines — Lack of funding and the continuing need for reforms in the education system are among the pressing concerns requiring an immediate, holistic response from the public and private sectors.

In a recent forum hosted by the Inquirer, the first under its ESG Edge initiative, one of the solutions proposed was for the government to further “decentralize” its functions and “delegate” more of them to private schools.

It can start with the expansion of the current voucher system of the Department of Education which, in the process, can help reduce perennial classroom shortage, according to Diane Fajardo, deputy executive director of the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd).

READ: Education’s fundamental issues

Many private schools, Fajardo noted, have classrooms and facilities that are actually more than enough for their students.

“You have so many [public] schools lacking classrooms, [or making do] with dilapidated classrooms, with not enough teachers. But you also have private schools with classrooms, many buildings, learning systems—with not so many enrollees,’’ she said.

“While there is a lack of classrooms [in public schools], why not allow the private schools to take over some of these tasks in the meantime?” Fajardo added.

At present, the Department of Education’s voucher system covers only senior high school students, allowing them to enroll in private schools.

There is a bill pending in Congress—and supported by PBEd—to include more students in lower levels down to kindergarten among the voucher recipients, she said.

While new classrooms have yet to be built, “why not let the private sector handle those students?’’ she said.

“It’s government money and basically you’re delegating the tasks on education to the private sector. [And] the government still has responsibility over private schools considering its mandate to ensure all children [exercise their] right to basic education.”

Investors’ yardstick

The Inquirer ESG Edge initiative seeks to promote ESG (which stands for “environmental, social and governance” principles).

ESG is considered a yardstick by which private companies can be evaluated by potential investors based on their adherence to sound business practices, transparency and sensitivity to their community.

The ESG Edge forum held on Sept. 18 also served as the paper’s first general meeting with its program partners from the business sector, academe and civil society.

“Our moral obligation is to educate the people,” said another speaker, Nico Candelaria, education and governance innovator for the Asian Institute of Management-Circularity Club 22.

“According to the Constitution, education gets the largest share of the pie, but the question is: How big is that portion of the pie in terms of our GDP (gross domestic product)?” he asked.

Challenge to media

At present, the national budget for education equals only 3.6 percent of the GDP, according to a study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, still lower than the standard set by the United Nations which is 4 to 6 percent.

In reality, Candelaria said, the defense sector always gets the largest share of the budget, along with public works.

Also speaking at the forum, Rebecca Padilla-Marquez of the Communication and Women’s Studies departments of St. Scholastica’s College called for deeper media coverage of education and health issues to encourage stronger stakeholder involvement.

“All issues of health and education should also be in the front pages. So there should be a shift to what we find important,” she also said.

Aurora Geotina-Garcia of the Management Association of the Philippines spoke of how poor access to education contributes to generational poverty.

Suiee Suarez, who joined the audience as vice president for corporate affairs of Aboitiz Power, the presentations made by the speakers during the forum about the dire status of Philippine education would still strike the business community as an “eye-opener.”

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

“For us to address the problem, I believe we have to understand what the problem is,” Suarez said in an interview. “To change these, all these have to be recognized as systemic.’’

Subscribe to our newsletter!

Disclaimer: Comments do not represent the views of INQUIRER.net. We reserve the right to exclude comments which are inconsistent with our editorial standards. FULL DISCLAIMER

© copyright 1997-2024 inquirer.net | all rights reserved.

This is an information message

We use cookies to enhance your experience. By continuing, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn more here.