Against all odds: How public schools of a 4th class city beat Metro Manila

MANILA, Philippines — Two public schools from a small city in Nueva Ecija have just schooled Metro Manila in a nationwide exam.

Despite operating on a shoestring budget, two public schools from the fourth-class Gapan City outperformed over 300 public and private schools in Metro Manila in the latest National Achievement Test.

The numbers tell the story. Both the Gapan East Integrated School and Kapalangan National High School beat over 90% of Metro Manila schools in problem-solving, information literacy and critical thinking.

Nationwide, the two schools achieved "above average" scores in all three test categories, the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) said. 

Gapan East's score of 64.2 and Kapalangan's score of 60.6 in problem-solving beat over 300 out of 342 Metro Manila schools. Both also soared above the national average of 44.1 in this category.

In information literacy, Gapan East scored 62 and Kapalangan 60.1— both well above the 42.8 national average. For critical thinking, Gapan East achieved 59.7 and Kapalangan 59.4, leaving the national average of 40.3 far behind.

Chart by Philstar.com / Cristina Chi

This rare win comes from a city operating on just around P9.6 million in local education funds as of 2021. This is 40% below the average for fourth-class cities and 92% less than the city with the lowest special education fund in Metro Manila (Navotas City, with P127 million).

For others, it's a rare success story in a country that has often attributed poor performance to schools' lack of funds. 

For experts at EDCOM 2, it’s a model of what can be achieved when local government, schools division officials and the community rally behind cash-strapped schools.

"If you look at the names of top-performing schools, it's usually the cities with large purses," Department of Education Secretary Sonny Angara said during EDCOM 2's visit to the two schools on Tuesday, October 29. 

"Yet Gapan is doing above average and showing good results with a fairly average budget among cities and local government units... That is an indicator of quality," Angara said in mixed Filipino and English in an EDCOM 2 press release.

Overcoming fund limitations

The achievement has drawn education experts to Gapan, with EDCOM 2 and UNICEF Philippines investigating how these schools managed to excel despite the limitations of their special education fund.

The special education fund is a fund for basic education that is collected from local governments' real property tax. It is a fund used by local government units to build new classrooms and procure new books and learning materials, among others. 

Gapan achieved its cityhood in August 2021. It is a 4th city income class with a poverty incidence of 12.26% as of 2021 data — slightly below Nueva Ecija's average poverty incidence at 13.9%. 

The city has 41 public schools. When all of its maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) budgets are combined with the city's special education fund, it shows that P1,599 in public funds is spent on each student on average, according to EDCOM 2. 

Gapan's experience highlights the need for strategic spending of limited funds and for DepEd to collaborate with local communities and local governments, according to the commission. 

"Complementing the national government’s School MOOE funding with partnerships, donations, and LGU support have enabled the school heads and teachers of Gapan East Integrated School and Kapalangan National High School to address resource gaps and foster conducive learning environments," EDCOM 2 said.

The visit — which included DepEd officials and representatives from UNICEF Philippines — also shows Gapan's success stems from resources being pooled together from private donors "with a focus on developing foundational skills in literacy and numeracy."

During the visit, officials found that both schools still face challenges in resources. Gapan East Integrated School Principal Julita Aguilar revealed that while they have computers, they lack internet connectivity. The school also has one building marked for condemnation.

While increasing schools' MOOE is the goal, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said, schools like Gapan that focus on direct learning and student development are already seeing clear gains.

"We need to review how we compute the School MOOE. It needs to truly reflect the needs on the ground and also a good spending strategy from the school leader," the senator added.

New formula

There may be relief on the horizon for schools like Gapan East and Kapalangan. 

For 2025, DepEd has adopted a modified funding formula that will increase School MOOE allocation by 32%, according to EDCOM 2.

The Department of Budget and Management has also committed to implementing the new formula in full for 2026. Based on EDCOM 2's estimates, this could result in an estimated 85% increase in schools' overall MOOE budget.

While EDCOM 2 welcomes the projected increase in schools' funds, it also "recommends that DepEd further review the minimum service standards to enable teachers to adopt learner-centered and inquiry-based approaches."

EDCOM 2 Executive Director Karol Mark Yee said: “For instance, what are the needs of schools implementing special curricular programs, like science elementary and secondary schools, on top of the usual operating costs of public schools?"

"What minimum service standards would support and foster learning as envisioned in recent curricular reforms?" he added.