The Department of Education has decided not to conduct periodic examinations, at least for this year, as the education system shifts to distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Undersecretary for curriculum and instruction Diosdado San Antonio, the department would instead use written outputs and performance tasks to assess the learning of students.
“Ang periodic test, 20 percent ng grade eh. Ang i-a-administer mo, isang araw lang. Ang feeling namin, that’s very unfair to the learner, lalo na ang mga learner ngayon, iba’t iba ang situwasyon,” San Antonio said. (Periodic tests account for 20 percent of the grade. You’ll only administer it for a day. We feel that it’s very unfair for the learner, especially now that they’re in different situations.)
He added that students can write reflections of their readings, or record a speech explaining how they understand a lesson to show how much they have learned/
“Kapag ganyan, nilalagay sa portfolio, iniipon ang proof [of] what they can do and understand,” he said. (In this case, everything is compiled in a portfolio, as proof of what they can do and understand.)
The DepEd official said that the department is looking at changes in students’ learning assessment and doing away with periodic exams could minimize “distance cheating,” where parents or guardians answer the students’ activity sheets.
San Antonio also explained that private schools are “strongly encouraged” but not required to adopt the policy on periodical tests for the coming school year.
Last March, the DepEd stopped administering the final exams for the fourth quarter of the last school year after campuses were closed down due to the spread of COVID-19.
It also came up with a formula for teachers to compute the final grade of students.