DepEd says 99.13% of students passed in the 1st quarter

DepEd says 99.13% of students passed in the 1st quarter

The Department of Education (DepEd) reported that 99.13% of more than 14.6 million students, except those in the National Capital Region (NCR), Region 7, Region 1 and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao passed in the first quarter of the current school year 2020-2021 .

DepEd Undersecretary for curriculum and instruction Diosdado San Antonio said the agency collated reports from the its regional offices, division offices and schools  the number of students who received passing grades during the first quarter of School Year 2020-2021.

"Even if this is a high percentage, we feel that the number of those who had failing grades is also significant-more than 100,000," Education Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio said during the Senate hearing on the face-to-face proposal.

Academic Status of Learners
Regions	Total no. of Divisions	No. of Divisions with Submissions	No of Learners who Passed 1st Quarter	No of Learners who Failed 1st Quarter	Passing Rate
I	14
II	9	9	807,553	1,075	99.87 %
III	20	20	1,871,215	16,724	99.11 %
IV-A	21	21	2.986.354	38,941	98.70 %
IV-B	7	5	449,195	4,680	98.96 %
V	13	9	786,198	2,326	99.70 %
VI	20	20	1,828,375	1,127	99.94 %
VII	19
VIII	13	11	994,620	19,169	98.07 %
IX	8	8	954,277	12,025	98.74 %
X	14	14	869,698	3,970	99.54 %
XI	11	11	907,505	9,531	98.95 %
XII	9	9	982,732	3,800	99.23 %
XIII	12	12	757,011	1,951	99.74 %
NCR	16
CAR	8	8	368,591	11,355	96.92 %
BARMM	9
TOTAL	223	156	14,563,324	126,674	99.13 %

Data from the DepEd on Learners’ Academic Status presented during the Senate Basic Education Committee hearing on Wednesday, March 3, 2021.

According to San Antonio, they failed to get a report from the schools division offices of DepEd in the National Capital Region (NCR), Region 7, Region 1 and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

However, Usec. San Antonio said they later on gathered reports from NCR and Region 7, which showed a 95% and 99.17 % passing rate, respectively but these were not included in the table presented during the hearing.

Senate committee on Basic Education, Arts, and Culture chairman Sherwin Gatchalian seemed surprised that almost all students passed especially since they are studying only in their homes.

Gatchalian asked San Antonio: "Does this mean they are learning and in fact absorbing all the lessons?"

"If we base the interpretation on the grades that were given by the teachers, the learners seem to be learning," the official replied.

Gatchalian replied: "You don't sound convinced yourself."

San Antonio denied this and explained that the high percentage was possibly due to measures implemented in relation to academic ease, such as allowing students who failed to submit their academic requirements to do only make-up activities.

According to San Antonio, grades are based on performance tasks and written outputs.

Sen. Nancy Binay opened the reports that there are parents who are already answering the children's learning materials.

San Antonio replied that this type of fraud was one of their "apprehensions" before implementing distance learning this school year, but admitted that they no longer had control over it.

“We were very clear that this school year, since home-based siya, is the best time to teach honesty to children. This is something beyond the control of the Department of Education. If the parents want to develop cheats, hindi na po natin iyon maso-solusyunan, ”said the education official.