BARELY a month after taking office, the new education secretary has decided to take the bull by the horns. Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara has signed an agreement with an online education nonprofit to help improve our students' scores in the 2025 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) examinations. Our students landed at the bottom of this assessment, an embarrassment for what was once a leader of education in Asia.

Khan Academy will provide learning materials to an estimated 1,000 public schools in the country. It is a US-based nonprofit that was founded by educator Salman Khan. Secretary Angara said the project would boost the competencies of Filipino students.