A crucial appointment for DepEd’s new leader

The resignation of Vice President Sara Duterte Carpio as secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd) has been welcomed by many who saw her as a square peg in a round hole in that department.

While she has administrative experience as a former local government head, analysts cite her lack of relevant experience and expertise in the complex area of education and educational policies, especially given that DepEd is one of the largest, if not the largest, departments of government. The perception has been that her appointment to this position might have been a political accommodation.

While President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has not distinguished his administration by consistently making merit-based appointments, in fairness, he has paved the way for the return of seasoned technocrats in most vital government departments. By technocrats I mean “professionals, such as economists, engineers, scientists, or industry experts, who are brought into government roles to apply their specialized knowledge to policy-making and administration.”

Last week's news stated that President Marcos would select the new education secretary before the end of June. However, as of this writing, no replacement for Vice President Carpio at DepEd has been announced yet. Marcos earlier told reporters that the education department should not be left without a head, as it is “possibly—and arguably—the most important department.”

He is right about the DepEd being arguably the most important government department. Since the vice president's resignation from DepEd will not take effect until July 19, President Marcos should use this first week of July to carefully consider his choice to lead the education department. He should not rush but instead thoroughly vet his appointment, given the bleak context and daunting challenges the next DepEd secretary will face.

For one, grade inflation is peaking. Attend any graduation ceremony from kindergarten to college these days, and you’ll see what I mean --a long list of students graduating “with honors”, “with high or highest honors”, and Latin honors. In some ceremonies, the list of honorees is even longer than the non-existent list of those who did not graduate with honors. Perhaps the students deserve these awards, or perhaps not.

I may be harsh in making such a statement, but consider this: our educational standards are falling behind those of our international peers. There are increasing expectations for students to receive high marks and a readiness among teachers to award them, all while our poor performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) suggests that actual learning outcomes are deteriorating. It’s like we’re deceiving our youth and children, setting them up for challenges they may not be prepared to face.

Take a look at the results of the Civil Service Exam, for example. It is a “general ability test designed to measure an individual's preparedness to enter government service.” In other words, it is not a specialized exam and does not require thorough preparation, as it tests stock knowledge. Yet, the Civil Service Commission announced last June that only 17.2% of the 335,385 examinees passed the exam held on March 3, with a pass rate of 17.22% for the professional level and 17.02% for the sub-professional level.

In the PISA 2022 report released last month, our country recorded a mean score of 14 in the creative thinking performance of 15-year-old students, the second-lowest among 64 ranked countries and statistically significantly below the average of OECD countries.

Indeed, the next secretary of DepEd faces a tough and complex job ahead to reform our primary and secondary education --the cornerstone of our educational system.