Teachers’ group seeks mother tongue subject review

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

A teachers’ group has called on the government not to suspend the use of the mother tongue in early-grade education because its good intentions are still workable.

In a statement on Wednesday, Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) conceded that the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) incorporated in Republic Act No. 10533, or the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, does have flaws and limitations, but a review could address the problems.

The TDC recommended that relevant authorities evaluate the implementation of the MTB-MLE by the Department of Education (DepEd) over the past 10 years and fund the production of resources, publications, modules, and comprehensive teacher training and preparation of the MTB-MLE.

READ: Mother tongue as medium of instruction

They also sought the assistance of linguists, anthropologists, historians and sociologists, and other experts for the program.

In February, the House of Representatives approved House Bill No. 6717, halting the use of the first language to teach kindergarten to Grade 3 students until the DepEd has addressed the scarcity of learning materials in the mother tongue, but it has not passed in the Senate.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chair of the committee on basic education, arts, and culture, earlier in June sought a national evaluation of the MTB-MLE and urged the DepEd to instead listen to the teachers’ input on the fate of the MTB-MLE.

Only 19 languages are recognized as mediums of instruction under the MTB-MLE, but the 2020 Philippine Statistics Authority’s Census of Population records as many as 245 languages are used nationwide. —DEXTER CABALZA

READ: Mother tongue-based learning still facing countrywide obstacles – Gatchalian