Bulacan school finds way to teach Filipino

CITY OF MALOLOS — The Bulacan State University (Bulsu) will continue teaching Filipino subjects, this time as part of classroom discussions on society and economy to avoid violating a directive to remove general subjects that are now being taught in senior high school.

Bulsu had introduced “Araling Pilipino,” “Panitikan at Lipunan” and “Pagsasaling Wika” for freshmen students during the first semester this year, with the approval of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd), according to university president Cecilia Gascon.

Excluded

Gascon said the university had its own curriculum approved by its board of regents, noting that Filipino subjects were not repetitions of “Filipino” and “Panitikan.”

In a CHEd memorandum, the two subjects were ordered excluded from general subjects offered in college.

The K-12 program added a two-year senior high school program that introduced college-level subjects like “Panitikan,” to prepare students for college or if they decided to seek employment after completing high school.

Protest

The Supreme Court has affirmed the constitutionality of the K-12 program.

Gascon said their new versions of general Filipino subjects also justified keeping the university’s Filipino department, whose faculty members trooped on Nov. 14 to the university president’s office wearing black to dramatize their objections to the CHEd order.

“Araling Pilipino” is a course on Filipino language, culture and society. “Panitikan at Lipunan” introduces students to works with insights into the thinking and behavior of young Filipinos.

“Pagsasaling Wika” helps students learn foreign languages, and modern concepts in other fields of knowledge, using Filipino. It also serves as guide for freshmen taking up various fields of study by explaining words and concepts about medicine, engineering and other disciplines using Filipino. —Carmela Reyes-Estrope