Saturday, August 12, 2006
Cebu City pupils fall off Top 10
By Linette C. Ramos and Jeanette P. Malinao
CEBU CITY -- Despite the extensive training of teachers and improvements in the curriculum, the Cebu City Schools Division ranked only 11th in the National Achievement Test (NAT) given to first year high school students in Central Visayas.
It ranked fourth in the same test given to grade six students in math, English, science, Filipino and Hekasi.
Of the 52 public high schools in Cebu City, only the Cebu City National Science High School (CCNSHS) landed in the top 10 in the exam results for high school freshmen.
Not one elementary school in Cebu City made it to the top 10 in the NAT results for grade six, for school year 2005-2006.
The Cebu Province Schools Division ranked first place in the NAT results for elementary, followed by Toledo City, Tanjay City, Cebu City and Mandaue City.
In the results for first year high school students, Tanjay City Schools Division ranked first, followed by Toledo City, Siquijor, Bayawan City and Cebu Province.
7 of 10
Of the 10 high schools that got the highest scores, seven are from Cebu Province, including the top three, and one each from Negros Oriental, Cebu City and Mandaue City.
Eight of the top 10 performing schools, in terms of the grade six results, are from Cebu Province. The two others are from Lapu-Lapu City and Bohol.
In an interview Friday, Cebu City Schools Division Superintendent Leonilo Oliva said the results are still partial, since the Department of Education (DepEd) regional office still has to complete the results for all grade levels in elementary and high school.
According to the partial results, Cebu City ranked fourth and 11th in the grade six and first year high school tests, respectively, out of the 15 schools divisions in Central Visayas.
Cebu City's mean percentage scores in all five subjects in the exam for first year fell below the mean percentage score in Central Visayas.
"But that does not mean the schools failed," said Oliva.
Performance
"There's no such thing as passing or failing because the NAT is just a diagnostic test, just to see how the schools are performing. If the score is below the mean percentage score, it simply means the school did no perform so well," he explained.
In the grade six test, Cebu City schools slightly exceeded the mean percentage scores in math, English and science, but fell below the scores in Filipino and Hekasi.
In the NAT results for grade six in Cebu City, the highest score recorded is in Filipino, with a mean percentage score of 59.35, while the lowest is in science, with a score of 46.77.
As for the first year results, the highest recorded score is in English, with a score of 52.01, while the lowest is Filipino, with 36.72.
Oliva said their division already implemented measures that would help improve the performance of the students, such as the training of teachers and improvements in the curriculum, specifically in reading and comprehension.
Training
The City spent some P400,000 for the training of teaching personnel alone.
"But, of course, we won't see the results right away. It will take around four years before we see any results, especially because we focused on grades one and two and first and second year high school teachers," he said.
In Cebu Province, Acting Assistant Schools Provincial Superintendent Judiana Corriente attributed their performance in the NAT to the intense supervision they have been giving the schools, with more attention given to low performing students.
Aside from their regular classes, some schools also offer review and remedial lessons after class hours and on Saturdays.
The schools in the province were also given better instructional supervision and have been using updated instructional strategies, Corriente said.
The results also showed that high schools in Barangay Garing in Consolacion, Banban in Bogo and Calape in Daanbantayan performed better than the Cebu City National Science High School in the NAT.
Elementary schools in the mountain barangays in Tabogon, San Fernando and Malabuyoc also fared better than Cebu City's elementary schools. (Sun.Star Cebu)
(August 12, 2006 issue)
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