Congress ratifies bill incorporating GMRC subject into K-12

MANILA, Philippines — Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) might soon return in schools as Congress ratified on Wednesday the bill seeking to incorporate the subject in the curriculum after it was dissolved and assimilated in other classes upon the implementation of K-12 program in 2013.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, the principal author of the bill, stressed that GMRC is lacking in the current curriculum of K-12 in public and private institutions.

“Kita naman po sa news kung gaano na napariwara ang ating kabataan. Kulang sila sa guidance (You can see in the news how misled our youth are),” he said in a statement, citing a recent incident where teenagers set on fire the balloons being sold by a vendor in Manila.

“We need to teach GMRC in our kids’ formative years, so they can develop good habits at a young age. This is how they do it in Japan, and the kids there are unbelievably responsible,” he added.

According to Zubiri, the bill will institutionalize a comprehensive GMRC and Values Education program in the K-12 curriculum of the Department of Education, replacing the current Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao.

Under the bill, the subject will be integrated into daily activities at the kindergarten level, and will be taught as a separate subject from Grades 1 to 6.

Students from Grades 7 to 10, meanwhile, will be taught Values Education, into which GMRC will be incorporated.

For those in Grades 11 and 12, Values Education will be integrated into all subjects under the K-12 curriculum.

“Our kids are growing up in a period of great technological change. Technology can be a wonderful tool for learning, but it can also stunt their moral development. ‘Di sila matututo maging magalang, responsable, at disiplinado online,” Zubiri said.

“Values education remains the domain of the family and the school. This is why we need a strengthened Values Education program, and why we need the return of GMRC in our schools,” he also said.