MANILA — The Department of Education (DepEd) said there is a possibility of the Philippines achieving the same results in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2025 if the government decides not to invest more in improving the quality of education in the country.

• No improvement in learning? 2022 PISA results show Filipino learners still lagging behind in math, reading, science

The 2022 PISA results revealed that the Philippines lag behind in terms of student competencies in math, science, and reading when compared to other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.

Additionally, the data showed that the country spends an average of $11,030 or P611,062 per student, which is nine times lower than the $102,612 or approximately P5.6 million spent by other OECD countries on education.

“Kung sinasabi kasi natin na mababa ang spending natin at sinasabi ng PISA na medyo behind na tayo masyado then we don’t invest in education baka matatagalan bago tayo makaangat dito sa ating situation and siguro in the next three years kung magpi-PISA na uli tayo baka kagaya noong 2018 at 2022 baka hindi significantly different in terms of learning in these three learning areas,” DepEd Deputy Spokesperson Asec. Francis Bringas told ABS-CBN News.

“If we want to be at par with these OECD countries and even our Southeast Asian countries, baka mas magandang, we can go as high as 5 times lower given the economy that we have siguro, hindi naman natin pwede sabihin na pataasan ang spending ng highly developed countries,” Asec Bringas added.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, the Chair of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, previously stated that he intends to recommend an additional allocation of P10 billion to the Department of Education's (DepEd) budget for the national learning recovery program.

Currently, only P2.9 billion has been allocated for this program.

“Increasing the spending per learner in the country will have a very strong impact pagdating sa learning outcomes natin kasi kapag nag-spend tayo hindi lang naman iyan MOEE ang pinaguusapan. Pinaguusapan natin lahat ng basic education inputs natin on classrooms, learners materials, provisions for the qualified and competent teachers in our classroom. All together put into one ano. so napakaganda na madagdagan natin ang mga basic education inputs natin because this will really translate to better learning conditions and learning process inside our classrooms,” Bringas said.

DepEd also welcomed Gatchalian's suggestion of utilizing the Office of the President's contingent funds as another potential source of funding for the program.

“If there is legal basis to that we would also be open kasi based dito sa PISA sinasabi na iyong pag-improve ng quality of basic education system natin is not just a single agency responsibility kasi it requires collective action, kasi nga the PISA result is not just the cognitive result or assessment kundi pati iyong socio economic factors ay naka-embed kasi diyan, iyong investment natin sa education may mga findings din ang PISA,” Bringas said.