The Department of Education (DepEd) announced that it is mulling to implement a special program to improve the performance of Filipino students in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) next year.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara said Tuesday that the department is following the 2025 PISA Readiness Plan in accordance with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s directive.

“We intend to provide them with the resources, the nutrition to do better,” Angara said. “So it’s going to be like a bar exam.”

DepEd has identified 1.6 million 15-year-old public school learners from Grades 7 to 10 as potential PISA participants. In January 2025, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development will select over 150 schools and identify the 7,000 final participants.

Angara disclosed that the Philippines ranked sixth lowest among 81 countries and economies in the 2022 PISA, indicating significant gaps in mathematics, science and reading.

In response, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has directed DepEd to work on improving the country’s performance.

Angara said DepEd has developed short- and long-term interventions, with a specific focus on science, to help Filipino learners improve their PISA results. The agency will also monitor the learners’ progress to assess the effectiveness of these interventions.