Filling the Gaps

he beginning of every school year always brings forth the perennial issue of quality of Philippine education. But every year, the conclusion stays the same – that while latest statistics shows high levels of enrolment in both elementary and high school, the low quality of output and poor performance of students mar this record. Current trends in the public education system indicate grave deterioration in elementary and high school students’ basic subject competencies.

In a move to arrest this downward spiral in academic performance particularly of incoming high school students, the Department of Education (DepEd), after thorough planning and numerous deliberations, came up with the “Bridge Program.” This program extends high school education to five years for students who lack sufficient mastery of basic subjects in elementary education. First meant as an additional compulsory program that will last for a year, DepEd gave in to the massive opposition of parents, students, and civil society groups, and has made it optional, instead.

Old idea, new system

The Bridge Program is not really a whole new high school curriculum that will be added to the current four-year high school education program. While it adds one ‘bridge year’ before the formal first year high school education, it will be devoted only to the review of three subjects: English, Science, and Math.

Public high school students will be required to take the High School Readiness Test (HSRT), a diagnostic exam that will determine the level of the students’ comprehension of the subjects they have taken in elementary. Originally, DepEd said that those who fail the 30 percent passing margin in the HSRT will go through the Bridge Program.

The results of the HSRT conducted in May this year confirmed the speculations on the languishing performance of the students. Out of about 1.4 million incoming high school students who took the exam, 93 percent got, at best, only 45 of the 90 test items correct. According to DepEd Secretary Edilberto de Jesus, if the normal passing grade, which is 75 percent, will be followed to determine who will take the Bridge Program, then 99.5 percent of the students who failed the HSRT should, strictly speaking, undergo the Bridge Program.

How it will go

Classes under the program will be divided into a two-hour session per subject, with each subject covering three phases: the pre-teaching, the independent or guided learning, and the post teaching. The pre-teaching stage allows a specific subject teacher (i.e. English teacher) to give out instructions to students before they proceed with the activities assigned for that day. The independent or guided learning stage is the part where students will execute the activities assigned to them by their instructors and their MAKABAYAN teachers will assist them during that period. The post teaching stage is the evaluation part wherein the mentor or the teacher provides comments, criticisms, or approval of the output of students.

Since the Bridge Program is a special type of ‘remedial’ class that will tackle only three subjects, students will make use of modules designed by the Department of Education instead of conventional books, which will be used as aides for further learning.

The Department of Education is optimistic that through the Bridge Program, the government can finally address the dismal performance of incoming public high school students in their mastery of basic skills. But it fails to adequately address issues regarding the program’s implementation, which is just as important as the program content itself.