Teachers coping with new curriculum containing fewer subjects, says DepEd

TESTING ‘MATATAG’ A teacher at Tinajeros National High School in Malabon city starts her Filipino subject lecture on Monday as Department of Education introduces the revised Kindergarten to Grade 10 (K-10) curriculum called ‘Matatag’ (Filipino for sturdy or stable) in select schools around the country. (Photo dated September 25, 2023 from LYN RILLON)

MANILA, Philippines — Department of Education (DepEd) reports teachers are adjusting to the new curriculum for students from Kindergarten to Grade 10.

DepEd deputy spokesperson Francis Cesar Bringas made the statement during Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing.

“Ang nakita lang natin, initially, may mga challenges ang mga teachers natin pagdating sa familiarization with the competencies na lubha ngang ibinaba natin iyong number ng competencies,” Bringas said.

(From what we saw, there were challenges initially for our teachers when it came to the familiarization with the different competencies, because we drastically lowered the number of competencies.)

“At siyempre, iyong pagpapa-produce natin ng ating mga appropriate learning materials na appropriate sa ating revised curriculum,” she mentioned.

(And, of course, our production of the appropriate learning materials that are appropriate for our revised curriculum.)

However, Bringas said the problems only lasted for the first few weeks.

She said the difficulties were hurdled because of the support from DepEd offices and feedbacks.

Bringas added collaborative sessions were held per week where teachers discussed their experiences and the interventions they needed.

Under the new ‘Matatag’ curriculum, lessons from Kindergarten to Grade 10 focus on five foundational skills.

These skills are Language, Reading and Literacy, Mathematics, Makabansa (nationalism), and Good Manners and Right Conduct.

These subjects are fewer compared to the seven areas covered in the past curriculum.

The previous subjects were Mother Tongue, Filipino, English, Mathematics, Araling Panlipunan (social studies), Mapeh (music, arts, physical education and health), and Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao (values education).