From 43 participating countries with 265,000 students participating in the inaugural Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2000, the latest PISA 2018 had 79 countries taking part with over 600,000 students. The increasing number of participating countries and students attests to the international recognition of PISA as a useful tool in comparing the educational outcome of 15-year-old, mostly grade 9 students.

In reading, the Philippines’s average score was 340, the lowest in the list of 77 countries tabulated. In terms of percentage, students at the lowest Level 1a, 1b,1c and below 1c, over 80 percent of Philippines students are in that area — the worst among the 68 countries taking the computer-based assessment in reading. And it is also the worst if the other eight countries taking the paper-based test are included. Level 2 is considered the minimum level of proficiency in reading and the fact that the country has one of the most significant shares of low performers amongst all PISA-participating countries is shocking.