(Eagle News) — The World Bank has apologized to the Philippines following its report that indicated that 80% of Filipino schoolchildren fell below the minimum proficiency levels.
The international financial institution issued the statement after Education Secretary Leonor Briones demanded the apology, pointing out that the report was based on old Programme for International Student Assessment or PISA data, which was published in 2019, or two years ago.
She said this was admitted by no less than the World Bank’s senior economist in a note to an Education undersecretary.
She also said the report lacked historical context and did not mention current initiatives, thereby giving the “impression that it is the present administration that is to blame,” and that “we are not doing anything about it.”
“We deeply regret that the report on education was inadvertently published earlier than scheduled and before the Department of Education had enough chance to provide inputs. This was an oversight on our part, and we conveyed our personal apologies in our communication with the government,” the World Bank said.
The World Bank also shared Briones’ stand that “the issue of quality has a long historical context” and said it supports the DepEd’s “demonstrated commitment to resolve it decisively.”
According to the institution, it “look(s) forward to continuing our dialogue with the (DepEd) on the opportunities and challenges in the education sector.”
“Recognizing the inadvertent release of the report, we have taken steps to temporarily remove it from the website,” it said.
Briones demanded the apology in a strongly-worded statement on July 5, days after the report was released.
She had said the financial institution should apologize even if the mistake was committed inadvertently as the DepEd and the Philippine government in general were “subjected to public censure and criticism” because of the report.
“It is public knowledge that governments of member nations own and direct the World Bank. The function of the World Bank is to serve the development interests of its members, not to inflict harm. If DepEd is to continue to regard the World Bank as a true development partner in education, I believe DepEd deserves a public apology. No less,” Briones had said.