Taguig outclasses Metro Manila cities in 2015

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 as an appraisal of academic acumen.

And for a second consecutive year, Taguig topped the list of cities under the Big Schools Cluster in Metro Manila.

Mayor Lani Cayetano said she is very happy to hear the good news, which she said was an “answered prayer,” one that was made during her very first year in office.

“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 recalled.

“I distinctly remember that Taguig improved rank from No. 13 to No. 7 and to No. 3 in a very short span of time. And I distinctly remember saying that we will aim for No. 1. Last year, we were No. 1 in the Big Schools Cluster. And this year, I am very glad we made it as the overall No. 1 in NCR, both in the Grade 6 and 4th-year levels. This is an answered prayer for us.”

No less than 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 City, Manila, Pasig City, 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,” Tizon said.

Ponciano Menguito, officer-in-charge of the Ofice of Schools Division Superintendent, confirmed Tizon’s statements on the 2015 NAT.

In a letter to Mayor Lani last month, Menguito clearly 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. Mayor Lani stated this good news gives her administration an emotional high knowing that all their hard work paid off.

“As I have always said, we choose to invest in our people, in their education, and in their health. They are our most precious resources. And this feat is  proof that  we are doing the right thing,” she said.

Several of the programs on education under Mayor Lani that made its mark is the now P500-million Lifeline Assistance for Neighbors In-Need (LANI) Scholarship Program; the Taguig Learner’s Certificate (TLC) 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 (CAL) 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.