SOARING NAT SCORE! FALLING PUPIL'S FUTURE

Reviewing the skills learned from Grade Four to Grade Six, attending remedial sessions of the least learned skills and enrichment classes, answering test papers or review materials, doing piles of research and assignments, taking notes during class discussions and even asking permission from parents to attend Saturday classes bombarded the Grade Six pupils and teachers in preparation for the National Achievement Test (NAT).

NAT is an annual examination administered to Gared Six public school pupils throughout the country to determine their achievement level, strenght and weaknesses in English, Math, Science, Filipino and Heograpiya,Kasaysayan, at Sibika (HEKASI). Former Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said the 5 - percent increase from 59.94 percent to 64.81 percent is a very encouraging result that brought the agency closer to its target of 75% Mean Percentage Score (MPS) by 2010. " The key reforms and well-focused policy directions to improve basic education are slowly but surely bearing fruit," Lapus said.

As early as January in Region VIII , almost schools prepare for the said achievement test. In fact, teachers are almost done with the lessons throughout the year and this last quarter of the school year is devoted for review of the least learned skills of the previous quarters. Happy to note that with all the efforts exerted solely for the National Achievement Test, Regin VIII is consistently at the top throughout the country. There are even schools in the said region reached the MPS of more thatn 90% which toppled other regions of the Philippines.

Teachers of Region VIII have the best strategies to maintain the highest score in the national test. The country salute these teachers who have been religiously  devoted most of their time in school and even suuffered their  family time to release their tensions and pressures in order for them to be consistent in such achievement. It is not easy on the part of the teachers who sometimes become psychologically disturbed from the continued clear, express and distinct reminders of their heads to increase the latest performance. This scenario has become common among the lives of the teachers who become pathetic in thinking, finding and trying ways to realize such goal. However, this scenario does not only affect them, it also affects the future lives of those who will take the examination, the pupils.

Due to the fast pace of covering a number of lessons in each quarter, the pupils are loaded with the topics for them to master. Teachers will be more focused on the topics to be covered thereby making them subject-centered not learner-centered. Henceforth, mastery of the skills will be less likely experienced.

If teachers are pressured, they will pass this to their pupils thereby creating force of doing strategies, good or bad, in order for them to perform well in the test. Review sessions including Saturdays also fed the minds of the pupils making them inattentive to the extent that they do not anymore bother to take this up seriously.

NAT is only a 200-item test composed of five subjects which means that there are only 40 skills that will be included to be assessed to the pupils in every subject. This would not guarantee the pupils of the important skills, abilities and wisdom that they should learn for future use.

Improving the MPS of NAT is only a part of molding pupils, not a paramount importance. 

This should not be the focus of Elementary Education but  the teaching of skills that could improve the potentials or develop the whole being of the children forming them as productive, honest or God-fearing citizens of the country. 

NAT is not the life of the school but the productive, effective and life-giving experiences given to the pupils in school. A successful person is not measured on the score he got in the national test during his elementary years but rather on the experiences he learned not only on the test papers or test booklets but also the practical activities he participated inside or outside the classroom. 

Practical activities that are useful to develop such pupils should be given importance in schools.  Teachers must find ways how to integrate these useful activities in their lessons. They must not blame themselves if they scored low in the National Test as long as they are confident that their pupils, when they graduate, have learned the skills that are very useful for survival. 

The main focus of teachers is to make the future of  the pupils, a guarantee to make them successful. Not the NAT!