All grade 12 students in public and private schools offering the senior high program in the city and province are set to take their assessment tests on February 13-14.
Grace Estefano, spokesperson of the Department of Education (DepEd) in Palawan, said they will administer the Basic Education Exit Assessment (BEEA) which will assess the progress and attainment of learning standards of senior high completers.
The individual results will then be given to the students to serve as their guidance in choosing their courses in college.
“For the grade 12 kasi ‘yong exit assessment examination. Merong mga individual result na ibibigay sa mga bata, bahala na Higher Education Institute (HEI) na mag-determine… iga-guide siya ni HEI kung anong course ang nararapat doon base sa result ng examination,” Estefano said.
(The exit assessment is for the grade 12 students. There will be individual results that will be given to them, and the HEI will help them determine… the HEI will guide them on the courses that are appropriate for them based on the result of their examination.)
She said the exit exam will cover English, Math, Filipino, Humanities, Philosophy, and Science.
Paterno S. Marquez, Jr., education program specialist II and division testing coordinator of the DepEd in the province, said the BEEA result will also help the department in the research it is presently conducting on the present curriculum.
He said DepEd wants to determine if it is still fit for the learners and to identify if their capabilities can be classified as “21st-century learning.”
“Ang unang inaalam ay kung ang curriculum ay sakto ba sa tinatawag natin na kung ang mga learner natin ay 21st century learners based doon sa naibigay na curriculum pangkasalukuyan. Secondly, ‘yong exit assessment ay tinitignan ang capability ng ating mga students doon sa subject area na ibinibigay,” he said.
(The first thing is to determine if the present curriculum for the students is within the criteria of what is called 21st-century learning. Secondly, the exit assessment wants to look into the capabilities of the students based on the given subject area.)
He said the assessment will help too if there is a need to add or deduct courses in the curriculum.
Marquez added that the subjects covered by the BEEA are not yet specified per track and strand that the students are taking.
DepEd is yet to focus on general subject areas, he said.
Marquez stressed the BEEA will not affect the graduation and the admission of the student to college. It will even help the students to choose their courses.
The general average accumulated by the student during senior high is what will be the contributing factor to get the course.
He said the BEEA will not have a pass or fail standard.
This is the second BEEA to be conducted by the DepEd. In 2018, the department conducted the assessment twice for sample and non-sample schools nationwide.
The BEEA administration is also in response to the suggestion of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to establish a system of assessment for senior high students during the time when the free tuition law was implemented.
Two schools last year were unable to do the BEEA for failure to comply requirements, but Marquez stressed all the schools in the division of Palawan offering senior high programs are now enrolled to the Learner Information System (LIS) and Enhanced Basic Education Information System (EBEIS).
Marquez said schools which do not have permits to operate are not allowed to administer the BEEA.
The San Brendan College in Taytay and Palawan State University-Cuyo Campus failed to take the 2018 assessment under the division of Palawan but the two will now take the 2019 BEEA after their compliance.
