House panel chair backs proposed K-3 subject

MANILA, Philippines — Pasig Representative Roman Romulo has expressed his support for the Department of Education’s (DepEd) proposal to merge social studies, culture, history, and physical education under a new subject for kindergarten to Grade 3 students.

According to Romulo, this initiative will reduce the K-3 curriculum and prioritize functional literacy development.

“Agree ako fully doon. Matagal na nating sinasabi pagdating sa Grades 1 to 3, kailangan nating bawasan ang subject. Kailangan mag-focus tayo sa functional literacy,” he said in a public briefing when asked about his opinion on the proposed new subject.

(I agree with it entirely. We have been saying for a long time that for Grades 1 to 3, we need to lessen the subjects. We need to focus on functional literacy.)

Under the DepEd’s proposal, the new learning area is creatively named Sibika, Kultura, Kasaysayan at Kagalingang Pangkatawan (SIKaP).

READ: DepEd reports early steps to revise ‘congested’ K-12

The agency said the two learning areas were merged as they are both multidisciplinary subjects that “[ignite] the [students’] nationalistic pride and fervor as a Filipino.”

DepEd said merging the subjects would result in teachers and students “having ample time to strengthen functional literacy, which includes but is not limited to reading comprehension, which is one of the identified causes of low educational achievement among Filipino students.”

For his part, Romulo said merging the subjects would result in children’s “exponential growth” in their learning.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) earlier expressed alarm over the proposed K-3 subject, saying combining the two subjects could potentially affect a student’s development of nationalism, cultural identity, and critical thinking in the early grade levels.

 je/abc