INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — There is no final decision yet on the removal of the mother tongue as a separate subject, the Department of Education (DepEd) said Wednesday.
Deped spokesman Michael Poa said Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte has yet to make a decision on the matter as consultations with experts and stakeholders are still ongoing.
“Hindi pa po final ‘yan, wala pa po nade-desisyonan ang ating Vice President–Secretary of Education dahil po ongoing pa ‘yung consultation ngayon sa ating mga stakeholders,” he said in a pressc briefing.
(That is not yet final. It is still not final, there is no decision yet from Our Vice Pres–Secretary of Education has no decision on that yet because consultations are still ongoing with stakeholders.)
Poe issued the remark in response to the statement of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) condemning the plan of DepEd to remove the mother tongue as a subject, saying it would make learning recovery more complicated.
“Hindi sasapat na gawin lamang medium of instruction ang mother tongue para sa ibang asignatura. Mahalaga ang literasiya mother tongue para maging mas epektibong medium of instruction ito sa ibang subject, at maging mas mabilis at epektibo ang pagtuturo ng pagsasalita, pagsulat, pagbasa at komprehensyon sa iba pang wika,” ACT spokesperson Roel Mape said.
(It is not enough to make the mother tongue a medium of instruction on other subjects. Mother tongue literacy is important to be an effective medium of instruction for other subjects and make teaching how to talk, write, read, and comprehend other languages faster and more effective.)
“After two years of failed distance learning wherein many students did not effectively learn how to read and write and there is learning retrogression, it is all the more appropriate to capitalize on the benefits that mother tongue can contribute in swiftly bridging learning gaps and recovering learning loss in the primary grades,” he added.
Removing mother tongue as a subject, Mape said, is also the first step in turning back on the mother tongue as the current administration is in favor of the English language.
“Pinatutunayan ng napakaraming pag-aaral at karanasan ng ibang bansa ang benepisyo ng Mother Tongue sa edukasyon. Hindi na ito dapat kwenstiyunin. Ang dapat kuwestiyunin ay ang kababawan ng pag-unawa ng ating mga opisyales dito, ang kapabayaan nila sa pagpapatupad ng programa, at ang layunin nila sa likod ng tulak na abandonahin ang Mother Tongue,” he asserted.
(Several studies and experiences from other countries prove the benefits of mother tongue in education. It should not be questioned. The question should be the lack of understanding of our officials, their neglect to implement the programs, and their purpose behind abandoning the mother tongue.)
In a Senate hearing on Tuesday, DepEd Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said the agency is looking to “abandon” the mother tongue as a subject but it would remain as a medium of instruction from Kindergarten to Grade 3.
He reasoned that there is no need for a formal mother tongue subject as it is already an “everyday language” used by students.
Abolishing the said subject would also free up more teaching time which can be used for national reading and math programs, Densing added. –Alyssa Joy Quevedo, INQUIRER.net trainee
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