In an assessment called the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Filipino students are among those who rank the lowest when it comes to making sense of what one is reading, or simply put: reading comprehension.
In the said exams, Filipino students were only able to get a score of 340 points for the category—which falls well below the global average of 487 points. Majority of those who took the exam were Grade 9 students. Based on the results, they find difficulty in grasping the main idea and making logical connections among literature pieces that they consume. The results also suggest that Filipino students are better at locating information than actually understanding them.Â
Aside from reading comprehension, the Philippines also ranked second to the lowest in mathematics and science.
This is the first time that the Philippines took part in the survey by OECD. About 600,000 students from 79 different countries, all aged 15, participated in the said survey.