Philippines Middle of the Pack in SEA Education Quality; Vietnam a Model for Reform

MANILA, Philippines — Education Secretary Sonny Angara on Monday described the Philippines as a middle-of-the-pack country among Southeast Asian (SEA) nations in terms of education quality, saying there is room for improvement. During a hearing of the House of Representatives’ committee on appropriations on the education sector’s proposed budget for 2027, Angara said the Department of Education (DepEd) is looking to Vietnam as a model for reforms, citing teacher training and budget discipline as priorities to improve the country’s education quality. “We are in the middle, but hopefully… we have the potential to do better,” he told lawmakers. His remarks come as stakeholders remain concerned over Filipino students’ performance, as they were among the world’s weakest in math, reading and science according to the 2022 Program for International Student Assessment. The Philippines ranked 77th out of 81 countries and performed worse than the global average in all categories. He said the Philippines is behind Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia in education quality, with Vietnam “moving ahead of us.” READ: DepEd can’t hire new teachers in 2027 due to budget cuts – Angara Angara said Vietnam had focused on “certain points” driving its education reforms, including earmarking at least 20 percent of its national budget for education. “They pay a particular focus on teachers and teacher training,” he added. “Those are two strong points that we can borrow from Vietnam,” the education secretary said. /mcm