DepEd exec apologizes for error in math lesson aired on TV

Image: Facebook/Alain Pascua

MANILA, Philippines — An official of the Department of Education (DepEd) on Wednesday apologized over an error in a math lesson aired over DepEd TV, which has since gone viral on social media.

“Humihingi po kami ng paumanhin sa ating mga mag-aaral, sa mga magulang at teachers sa pagkakamaling ito,” DepEd Undersecretary Alain Pascua said in a Facebook post.

(We are asking apology to our students, to the parents and to the teachers for this error.)

Pascua’s apology comes after an incorrect solution in an algebra equation was aired over DepEd TV on Tuesday drew flak from netizens.

The DepEd undersecretary, in his Facebook post, explained why the answer that popped up in the episode was incorrect.

https://www.facebook.com/UsecAlainPascua/posts/1031541530639094

“Sa linear (hindi quadratic) equation na 2x=0, dapat ang divisor ay 2 (hindi zero) para makuha ang value ng x. Kaya’t 2x/2 = 0/2, cancel 2, 0/2=0… Kaya’t x=0. Ang lessons dito ay hindi pwedeng gamiting ang 0 bilang divisor kasi magiging “undefined” ang sagot,” he said.

“In the linear (not quadratic) equation that is 2x=0, the divisor should be 2 (not zero) to get the value of x. That’s why 2x/2 = 0/2, cancel 2, 0/2=0… That’s why x=0.  The lesson here is you cannot use 0 as a divisor because the answer will be undefined.”

Despite the error, he then gave his gratitude to people for critiquing DepEd TV.

“Sana wag lang mali ang tinitignan ng bawat isa. Sana naman ay marecognize din ang galing at sakripisyo ng ating mga Teacher-Broadcasters, mga Production Team at buong DepEd TV, DepEd Commons, DepEd YouTube Channel Teams,” Pascua then said.

(I hope we do not only look at the faults of one another. I hope we recognize the hard work and sacrifices of our teacher-broadcasters, the production team, and the whole DepEd TV, DepEd Commons, DepEd YouTube Channel teams.)

“May maganda ring naidulot ang pagkakamali na ito at ang pagcritique sa maling ito. Ipinapaalam sa atin lahat na mahalaga ang pag-QA sa mga episodes sa at paulit-ulit na pagreview ng mga episodes kahit pagod at puyat na ang mga teams ng DepEd TV,” he later added.

(This error and critiquing also brought out something good. It shows that doing Q&A, as well as constant reviewing, is important in the episodes even though the teams in DepEd TV are already exhausted.)

This was not the first time, however, that DepEd TV was in hot water over an error broadcasted.  Back in August, netizens pointed out that there were typographical and grammatical error showed in a sample questionnaire for a Grade 8 level English course.

Addressing this, DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones said that the error was because of errors in encoding of learning materials to the digital form.

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