Senior High School (SHS) graduates protested after the Department of Education (DepEd) announced that it will regulate two (2) assessment tests for Grade 12 completers this April and May which caused many cry of frustrations among the students as it impedes the summer vacation.
Many get-away plans have been cancelled for many Senior High graduates due to the administration of the National Achievement Test (NAT) and the Basic Education Exit Assessment (BEEA) which were initially scheduled before the end of school year 2017-2018.
Students are “devastated” upon hearing that the National Achievement Test (NAT) will be held after their graduation ceremony as it does not only ruin the long awaited summer experience but it also puts an extra burden for students who are looking forward to celebrate and relax after the graduation ceremony rather than burying their noses to books to review for the upcoming exams. DepEd data confirmed that 1,252,357 novices are expected to compromise the 1st batch of SHS completers. There are a total of 765,588 enrollees or 61.13 percent of students who took the Academic Track under the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Strand.
Lorna Dino, the Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction said that the NAT for Grade 12 passers will be on random sampling basis only. Furthermore, not all schools that offer SHS courses would be required to administer the NAT 12 among their students. She explained that if the learner’s school was chosen, he or she “will be required to take it.” The BEEA, on the other hand, will be “mandatory to all SHS graduates” in both public and private schools.
Undersecretary Dino also noted that the purpose of NAT is for “systems evaluation,” taking it “is not a requirement for graduation or admission to college”. She call upon SHS completers of the selected schools to take the achievement test as it will help them to know better and find out how to implement the SHS in the coming years.
The National Achievement Test is a set of examinations “designed to determine the academic levels, strength and weaknesses of students.” While the Basic Education Exit Assessment is an exam that helps “determine the learning progress and attainment of learning standards of the Grade 12 students.”
Source: Manila Bulletin
