Tutoring sessions were held from 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM on Tuesdays and Fridays from February 22, 2022 to March 18, 2022. We organized our sessions in such a way that a broad topic, divided into two or more subtopics, were discussed per week, as shown below. We also divided the pupils into four classes, so that we may simultaneously teach them along with the other subject subgroups of the tutoring program. We also prepared practice tests which we gave to the students on a weekly basis.

The test results show an increase from 2.90 to 3.61 correct answers out of the 8 questions given in each test, corresponding to 24% increase in scores overall. However, there is an unequal number of respondents for each test, where only 27 of the pre-test takers answered the post-test. If taking into consideration of comparison only the scores of the 27 pre-test responses, the average score of 3.48 still found a small increase of 4% in average score to 3.63, where 12 respondents, or 44%, saw an increase in their individual scores, 8 students retained their scores and the rest saw a decrease in their scores.

The survey results for the questions given in the middle of and after the implementation were similar to each other, with most of the responses being positive. According to the responses, most of the students found our performance as teachers satisfactory and the materials we have prepared, like practice tests and the presentations, were helpful in their learning. There is also a comment which suggested that we talk slower with a better pace and we noted this down so the students could comprehend the lessons better. Fortunately, the students found that the quality of the program improved after our review of the responses from the mid-implementation survey. It was also noticeable that the trend of the responses for the difficulty of the topics formed a bell curve, which is good since the purpose of the program is to enrich on topics they are already familiar with or lessons on which they could apply their prior learnings in grade school.

The Tutoring Program, particularly our subgroup, helped the students fortify their knowledge in Mathematics. According to the students, most of the lessons we discussed were topics they already knew about but we approached them in different ways than usual, which allowed them to understand how things came to be in the subject often seen as formidable in any level of education. By doing this, we could inspire them to learn more about the subject both inside the classroom, together with their teachers and instructors, and outside the school, by studying on their own or taking the initiative to converse on these matters with others. With this, they would be motivated to get into science high schools and pursue STEM courses to become the future scientists of the country.

The class lectures were held on time, and modules were delivered to the students properly through Google Classroom. Despite some technical problems, particularly with regards to Zoom, lecture videos were recorded and shared with the students. Overall, the planned events were pulled off, and the first and third objectives stated above, which are the honing of knowledge of students on high school topics and simulating the preparation for NCE, have been achieved. In addition, pre-tests and post-tests were held successfully at the beginning and the end of the tutoring program, respectively, indicating that the second objective, gauging the abilities of the students, was achieved.

An issue encountered at one point during the tutoring program was the loss of access to a premium Zoom account, which was vital for the designed set-up of the tutoring program. In order to compensate for this problem, the tutoring team decided to temporarily switch to Google Meet. This meant that the recording of lectures were done asynchronously, unlike when using the recording feature of Zoom during the synchronous tutoring sessions. Another problem that the tutoring team encountered was the balancing of tutoring session preparations and academic life outside the tutoring program, such as handling the other subjects' requirements and other non-academic school requirements. 

Tutoring and mentorship organizations are common within the country. However, despite their number, they could not handle all of the schools in the Philippines which need help in their academics. By doing this project, some progress could be made to a future where every student could be able to learn without the fear of being left behind, since they could rest assured that there would be a helping hand to guide them in their studies outside the classroom. Mitsa also holds the hope to inspire other students to join the initiative to use the privilege of knowledge that they have to help those who are struggling with their studies. Although this is only a small step towards a huge and ambitious goal, every single step counts and the country’s students need all the assistance they can get. Moreover, the succeeding batches of Mitsa, or other tutoring organizations, could continue tutoring the next graduating batches of MLQES to prepare them for their journey towards entering science high schools.

At the moment, Philippine education is still mostly modular and done online because of the pandemic. Hence, a lot of students are still struggling to understand the lessons that they are given because of the lack of teacher supervision. The supervision of teachers is essential as it enables the grounding and reinforcing of their lessons, and it allows the students to ask questions and clarify misconceptions. Aside from that, student inequality remains a problem as not everyone has access to the the same resources, be it the internet connection, books, personal computers, phones, and a lot more. In an educational system marred by many issues, more and more people are needing help to alleviate this systemic problem.

The MITSA Math Tutoring has helped in bridging this gap by offering supplemental Math lessons through online review classes and distributing open-access modules. By doing this, the students receive a more hands-on and more thorough discussion on select topics pertinent to high school Mathematics. In this manner, we hope that we have inspired these students in pursuing a future in STEM and paying it forward by extending what they've learned to their respective communities.

Another issue, which was not directly resolved by the project, was the fact that the students, when asked about it, were not entirely briefed on applying to or entering science high schools. This allows them to only be confined to advancing in their respective communities without having the chance to explore other options. Fortunately, this is an issue also connected to Mitsa, particularly its mentorship program, and this issue common with students looking to move onto the next stage of their education is being addressed, one step at a time.