PhilEd 2025: Stronger SHS, Safer AI, Smarter Assessment
The final day of the Philippine Education Conference 2025 focused on two urgent mandates: strengthen Senior High School (SHS) and use artificial intelligence (AI) safely and effectively in schools. The sessions also pushed practical upgrades in teacher education, assessment, governance, and funding-clear signals for school leaders planning next year's priorities.
More than 3,500 educators and administrators gathered, with private school associations expressing support for ongoing reforms and the Department of Education's proposed P1.044-trillion budget for 2026. Education Secretary Sonny Angara emphasized the role of private schools in teacher preparation and student subsidy programs.
Strengthening Senior High School (SHS)
The call is clear: prepare schools for a strengthened SHS curriculum that leads to employability, higher education success, or entrepreneurship. This means tighter alignment between specializations, local demand, and assessment, plus stronger work immersion.
- Audit SHS tracks against local labor needs and higher education pathways. Align curricula, resources, and partnerships accordingly.
- Formalize work immersion with clear outcomes, employer feedback loops, and safety protocols.
- Map competencies to assessment evidence so students can demonstrate readiness beyond seat time.
- Upskill SHS teachers in industry-specific tools and classroom assessment techniques.
Teacher Education and Quality Assurance
Improving teacher education is a non-negotiable. Expect more emphasis on curriculum coherence, practice-based training, and quality assurance tied to measurable outcomes.
- Run a gap analysis of teacher preparation versus classroom demands-assessment literacy, inclusive education, and tech integration.
- Use accreditation and program review to ensure practice hours, mentoring, and feedback are embedded, not optional.
- Invest in ongoing professional development that is modular, competency-based, and aligned with school improvement goals.
Modernizing Assessment and Accountability
DepEd's Bureau of Education Assessment is set for modernization-expect better testing systems, tighter accountability, and actionable data. Schools are encouraged to use international large-scale assessments to guide improvement, not as an afterthought.
- Transition to secure, computer-based testing where feasible; build item banks and diagnostics that inform instruction.
- Develop simple dashboards for teachers and principals-turn test results into plans within one week of release.
- Train teams to interpret data from international benchmarks (e.g., PISA) and convert insights into concrete instructional moves.
AI in Learning: Safe, Effective, Aligned to Outcomes
The message on AI was pragmatic: use it to extend teacher capacity and accelerate learning, while protecting students and academic integrity. Safety, clarity, and alignment come first.
- Publish a simple AI-use policy: permitted uses, violations, data privacy, citation rules, and parental communication.
- Create an approved tools list with risk ratings; prioritize tools with privacy controls and clear audit trails.
- Offer PD on prompt writing, bias checking, and lesson planning with AI-follow with classroom coaching.
- Redesign assessments to include process evidence (drafts, orals, live tasks) to reduce plagiarism and ghostwriting.
- Set age-appropriate guardrails for generative tools; log usage where possible.
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Funding, Governance, and Partnerships
Private education groups backed the proposed education budget and broader reforms, while calls to decentralize governance gained traction. The direction: move decisions closer to schools, tighten subsidy program targeting, and modernize systems that support accountability.
- Strengthen data-sharing and procurement collaboration with LGUs and industry partners.
- Tighten grant/subsidy targeting using clear eligibility, auditing, and outcome reporting.
- Pilot decentralization efforts with performance contracts and transparent metrics.
Department of Education (DepEd)
What School Leaders Can Do Next
- Next 30 days: Form a cross-functional task force for SHS, AI, and assessment; draft an AI-use policy; select pilot departments.
- Next 60 days: Run teacher PD sprints on assessment literacy and AI integration; set up employer partnerships for SHS immersion.
- Next 90 days: Launch computer-based diagnostics; implement SHS curriculum refinements; publish a school-level data dashboard.
The takeaway from PhilEd 2025 is straightforward: upgrade SHS for real outcomes, bring AI under clear rules, and make assessment data useful at the classroom level. Do the simple things well, measure progress, and iterate. That's how reforms stick.
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