(FILE) READY TO LEARN Kindergarten to Grade 3 pupils of Aurora A. Quezon Elementary School in Manila wait for their turn to have their temperature checked before they enter their classrooms on Monday, as select schools in Metro Manila start in-person classes. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
MANILA, Philippines — English and Filipino should be used as the media of instruction in schools as early as kindergarten, an official of the Department of Education (DepEd) said Wednesday.
Under the K-12 law, the mother tongue should be used as the medium of instruction from kindergarten until Grade 3.
However, for DepEd Undersecretary Epimaco Densing, the mother tongue should only be used as an exception and English and Filipino should be used as media of instruction.
“Being practical about it, if this [mother tongue for kindergarten to Grade 3] has been effective, then why have we failed in the PISA evaluation?” he said in an interview over ABS CBN News Channel.
“Most probably, we reverse, but this requires legislation, we reverse the general rule right now, [which] is we use the mother tongue for K to 3,” he added.
Densing was referring to the 2018 ranking of the Philippines in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), where Filipino students fared worst among 79 countries in reading comprehension and second-lowest in both mathematical and scientific literacy.
He said the current scheme may only be applicable in remote areas int the country where English and Filipino languages are not introduced to residents, thus the mother tongue should be used as the language for the child’s initial learning.
“In major areas in the country, especially in the highly urbanized cities, we can start already with Filipino and English as medium of instruction, and use the mother tongue only as the exception, in case the people in the area are really not introduced to English and Filipino,” the DepEd official said.
Densing said he has already discussed his proposal with Education Secretary Vice President Sara Duterte but there’s no official order yet as to the matter.