UST’S TWO high schools finished second and third among 82 Manila-based private schools in new examinations on subject proficiency given by the Department of Education last August 20.
UST Education High School, the University’s laboratory high school, landed next to topnotcher St. Jude Catholic School in the National Achievement Test (NAT) for second year high school students, followed by UST High School.
Among the five subjects included in the NAT, UST High School got its highest score of 75.51 percent in English, but got the lowest grade in Mathematics, with 42.67 percent. The sophomores averaged 62.53 percent in Filipino, 59.61 percent in Hekasi or Heograpiya, Kasaysayan, at Sibika, and 56.45 percent in Science.
UST High School Principal Eden Tolentino said fractions was the most difficult math topic for students. “Mathematics has been a waterloo not only to UST High School students but also to all high school students in the country. Administrators have been focusing on this subject as an area of improvement,” she said.
Others in the Top 10 of the Manila private schools division were Metropolitan International Academy (4th), St. Scholastica’s College (5th), Don Bosco High School (6th), UNO High school (7th), St. Peter the Apostle School (8th), Samantabhadra Institute (9th), and Emilio Aguinaldo College (10th).
The NAT was held for the first time to evaluate second-year students’ proficiency in English, Filipino, Science, Mathematics, and Social Science.
Meanwhile, the Education High School placed second in its Manila division in the yearly National Career Assessment Exam (NCAE) for high school seniors last August 27.
The yearly exam aims to assess career options based on students’ general scholastic abilities and in other test layers including technical-vocational aptitude, occupational interests, and entrepreneurial skills.
Other schools that entered the top 10 were Philippine Cultural School (3rd), St. Peter the Apostle School (4th), UNO High School (5th), Samantabhadra Institute (6th), UST High School (7th), Hope Christian School (8th), St. Scholastica’s Colege (9th), and Don Bosco High School (10th).
Other Dominican-run institutions Colegio de San Juan de Letran and Sta. Catalina College landed on the 27th and 30th places in the NCAE, and on the 35th and 34th places in the NAT, respectively. The Dominican School of Manila, which established its high school department last year, placed 28th in the NAT.
UST High School does not prepare for the exams “because it defies the purpose of an assessment examination,” Tolentino said.
A total of 495 Thomasian sophomores from the two high schools took the NAT, while 436 fourth-year students took the NCAE.
