THE Division of Taguig and Pateros bested all the other cities in Metro Manila when it ranked first in the National Capital Region (NCR) with its stellar performance in the 2015 National Achievement Test (NAT) administered every year to graduating elementary and secondary public-school students all over the country.
Also, for a second consecutive year, Taguig topped the list of cities under the Big Schools Cluster in Metro Manila.
“When we took the reins of the city in 2010, Taguig was a bottom dweller at No. 13 in the NAT rankings in NCR. We said we will invest heavily in education and try to improve our performance for the following year,” Mayor Lani Cayetano said, recalling that the rank of Taguig before was from No. 13 to No. 7 and to No. 3 in a very short span of time. No less than Department of Education (DepEd) NCR made a formal announcement of the 2015 NAT results and confirmed Taguig’s sky-high scores.
George Tizon, DepEd-Tapat administrator, said the scores for this year’s NAT were released by DepEd-NCR and Taguig has undisputedly come out on top of the heap.
NAT is the measure of students’ competencies in five key subjects administered to determine the quality of education attained by students. The cities’ performances are assessed based on Mean Percentage Score (MPS).
Taguig students achieved an overall MPS of 68.32 and 57.11, respectively in the elementary and secondary level, besting bigger cities such as Quezon, Manila, Pasig and Makati.
Although DepEd-NCR classifies cities according to population, Tizon said Taguig’s performance cut across categories and is the highest in Metro Manila.
“So now, it is indisputable. Taguig is really No. 1 in Metro Manila,” Tizon said.“This remarkable achievement is attributed to Mayor Lani’s passion and support for education, as she continues to inspire our teachers, students, principals and DepEd officials that provided them high morale and motivation to give their best.”
Ponciano Menguito, officer in charge of the Office of Schools Division Superintendent, confirmed Tizon’s statements on the 2015 NAT.
In a letter to Cayetano last month, Menguito said Taguig bested every city in Metro Manila in all three clusters.
“We are very proud that all your efforts for education through your programs and projects have resulted in a consistent Rank 1 for our city in two consecutive years,” he said.
Several of the programs on education under Cayetano that made its mark is the now P500-million Lifeline Assistance for Neighbors In Need Scholarship Program; the Taguig Learner’s Certificate Program, a project helping public school students transfer to private schools to lessen the problem of overpopulation and classroom shortage; and, the Computer Assisted Learning Program, a computer curriculum taught in the public schools to promote students’ level of knowledge in the field of information technology, among others.
Also, the local government is shouldering all of the students’ needs, which include free uniforms, shoes, bags and school supplies. Taguig is also funding the construction and maintenance of air-conditioned school buildings.