Formal statement on English proficiency sought

City officials are requesting the City Schools Division of Baguio City, and the Department of Education–Cordillera Administrative Region (DepEd-CAR) to immediately release a formal statement regarding the issue of alleged declining English proficiency among elementary and high school students in the city.

Under Resolution No. 098, series of 2023, local legislators stated that at the end of a recent meeting, the issues and concerns on the alleged declining English proficiency among high school and elementary students were raised, although this needs further verification as to their correctness and exact data is needed for these to be effectively and efficiently addressed. These were considered by the members of the body and resource persons as a challenge for all to continue working together for the improvement of quality education in the Summer Capital and the whole region.

Earlier, resource persons from the DepEd-CAR regional office, City Schools Division Office and the Federation of Parents Teachers Associations (FPTA) extensively discussed issues and concerns on the alleged declining English proficiency among high school and elementary students following published results of studies showing that 4 out of 10 school children in the city have difficulty in English reading comprehension.

The basis of the aforesaid discussions were information from the proposed resolution of Councilor Fred Bagbagen taken from the website of the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS) about learning issues, particularly in English proficiency among students in the elementary grade and secondary level in the country including the city and from certain published reports nationally and locally over the past several weeks.

In the said reports, only 4 out of every 10 kids aged 9 to 12 in the city can properly read and write in English based on a 2021-2022 performance survey by the education department in the city. – Dexter A. See