Press Release - Gatchalian pushes stronger parental involvement in education to improve learner performance

As results of the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) showed that students in more supportive homes tend to perform better, Senator Win Gatchalian is seeking the full and effective implementation of the Parent Effectiveness Service (PES) Act or Republic Act No. 11908.

The latest round of PISA showed that compared to other Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development Countries (OECD) countries (0.00), the index of family support in the Philippines (-0.25) was negatively and significantly lower. According to the study, a one-unit increase in the index of family support in the Philippines was associated with a 13-point increase in the mathematics score of students after accounting for their socioeconomic profiles and that of their schools.

The study also revealed the changes in learners' mathematics performance when parents or members of their family did activities once or twice a week, every day or almost every day, to show support. When students reported that they eat the main meal together with their parents, they tend to score 44 points higher in mathematics. Spending time to talk, on the other hand, improved math scores by 33 points.

Other activities that helped improve math scores include encouraging students to get good marks (26 points), talking about the importance of completing upper secondary education (21 points), talking about future education (19 points), and discussing how well a learner is doing at school (19 points), among others.

According to Gatchalian, these results press the need to empower parents in supporting their child's development, which could be achieved through the implementation of the Parent Effectiveness Service Act. The law, which Gatchalian authored and co-sponsored, seeks to strengthen the knowledge and skills of parents and parent-substitutes in responding to their parental duties and responsibilities, protecting and promoting children's rights, fostering positive early childhood development, and advancing children's educational progress.

The law provides that the program shall be implemented in cities and municipalities, which will conduct parent effectiveness sessions through their respective