Manila, May 7 -- The Department of Education (DepEd) on Wednesday maintained that there is no "auto-pass" policy being imposed in public schools.

DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara, however, emphasized the need to reform some systems to address actual learning gaps and ensure literacy among public school learners.

"Wala pong policy ang DepEd na automatic na pagpasa sa mga estudyante (There's no policy in the DepEd to automatically pass the students)," he said in a statement.

"Mass promotion isn't a written rule, but it's become a silent norm in some places. We want to change that."

The DepEd said these include practices, like incentive structures, which prompt the trend of mass promotion.

"We have to admit, some features of our system we i...