MANILA, Philippines -- With 11 million public school textbooks destroyed by the recent typhoons, the Department of Education (DepEd) has an opportunity to correct the errors in them before coming out with reprints, according to textbook reform crusader Antonio Calipjo Go.

Go made the statement after the DepEd announced that it was considering an emergency purchase of textbooks worth P739 million in six regions heavily affected by the calamities.

“The DepEd should take this opportunity to correct the errors right in those books before they are reprinted. This is a good opportunity for the DepEd to make corrections instead of coming up with Band-aid solutions,” Go said.

“These reprints are not free. Of course, we’ll have to pay for them. But our students will continue to suffer if the errors are not corrected,” he added.

Go said the “Teaching Notes” the DepEd issued to correct more than 450 errors found in 10 English textbooks used from Grade 1 to Grade 6 was “not enough” since one of the textbooks had “as many as 750 errors.”

“That is not enough. I want to be happy with this (correction by the DepEd) but I can’t because in one textbook used in Grade 6, I found around 750 errors,” Go said.

“If they really wanted to correct the books, they should have gone all the way and corrected all the mistakes,” he added.

Go said he would be willing to sit down with DepEd officials to present his findings but added that he would request that the media be present to make sure his recommendations would not be for naught.

“I’m not trying to pick a fight with anyone but we have to make sure there is a proper procedure,” he said.

The DepEd released a 28-page “Teaching Notes” in September to correct 450 errors found in 10 English textbooks issued in 2008 for the public schools.

It also urged the country’s 500,000 public school teachers to be “critical” about the textbooks they use and be vigilant for textbook errors.

“Teaching Notes is the summary of (feedback) from concerned private individuals, DepEd reviewers, authors and editors, in cases where their inputs were necessary,” said the Undersecretary Vilma Labrador.

“This is provided as your guide in improving conceptual development and organization of the lessons and in correcting errors that may be (found) in the textbooks you are using,” she told teachers.

Go exposed the errors in the English textbooks when he wrote an article for the Philippine Daily Inquirer titled “English for Carabaos or Flip-glish” when the school year opened in June.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus admitted that there were errors in the English textbooks and promised to make the necessary corrections.