MANILA, Philippines - It can be safely said that reading is the true backbone of most
learning. After all, everything starts with the written word — whether it’s math, science or even
home economics. As students go up the educational ladder, more reading is usually required as
subjects become denser and more challenging. The difficulty level simply increases — not the
other way around.
Hence, if a student’s reading comprehension is poor, chances are his/her performance in other
subjects will be compromised. Given that, just how do students in the country rate in reading? A
look at the National Achievement Tests (NAT) administered to public schools can shed some
light. The DepEd reports that there has been a 21.36 percent increase in NAT results from 2006
to 2009. The 2009 NAT revealed a rise in Mean Percentage Score (MPS) of only 66.33 percent
from 54.66 percent in 2006, which equates to an improvement of 11.67%. The percentage gains
were in all subject areas and pointed to a steady improvement in the primary education of the
country’s public school system.
So what does this progress say about the reading skills of the country’s students? It certainly
speaks of a forward movement but a 66.33 MPS (from 54.66 in 2006) is still a rather low score,
which, in fact, is only at the “near mastery level.” What’s more alarming is mastery is only at
14.4% among grade 6 students and 1.1% with 4th year high school students, which means below
mastery scores are a staggering 85.6% among the former and 98.1% among the latter.What could
be the reason for such “below mastery levels”? In a 2007 interview, Dr. Yolanda Quijano, head
of the DepEd’s Bureau of Elementary Education, attributed “reading problems as the main
culprit for the poor performance of some students in the NAT.”So, how does one increase his/her
reading skills to ensure their academic progress is not hampered? There are certainly many
methods but as any erudite and well-read person will recommend, nothing beats simply reading a
lot at the earliest possible age
Read more athttps://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/health-and-family/2010/03/02/553720/how-dofilipino-students-rate-reading#gv5pPYAcbzeG3xz4.99