Marcos orders more focus on PH history education

(AFP FILE PHOTO)

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. said on Friday that he told incoming Education Secretary Senator Sonny Angara to include more subjects about Philippine history in the current education curriculum.

Marcos made the pronouncement after he was asked what changes Angara would make in the current K-12 curriculum.

“The one thing I asked of him was to please teach our children Philippine history. Because I have seen my children’s workbooks, and there’s very little said about the history of the Philippines,” said Marcos on the sidelines of an assistance distribution event in Sulu.

“And for me, that is so important,” he added, explaining that history could help further shape the identity of Filipinos.

The teaching of Philippine history stopped at Grade 6 during the time of former education secretary Leonor Briones.

It was replaced by the teaching of Asian history in Grade 7, World History in Grade 8, economics in Grade 9, and contemporary issues in Grade 10.

Other possible changes

The President also said that certain changes are being considered in the curriculum, including the introduction of “mini-courses,” improving teachers’ welfare, simplifying the curriculum, and “going back to the basics.”

Such changes are being considered after Marcos himself admitted that the K-12 curriculum failed to boost the employability of high school graduates—the very reason it was implemented in the first place.

“Kung titignan natin ang naging resulta, hindi tumaas, hindi gumanda ang employability nila. So we have to do something else,” said Marcos.

(If we look at the result, their employability did not increase or improve, so we have to do something else.)

Marcos said the government intends to coordinate with the private sector to determine and “guarantee the supply of skilled workers” needed in their respective industries.

Furthermore, Marcos said the Department of Education would also improve the quality of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) based on the results of international objective tests, which notes the country needs to catch up.

“We will also simplify the curriculum. We go back to make sure that everybody understands the basics,” he said.

Regarding teachers’ welfare, Marcos said he told Angara to ensure that the the teachers can concentrate on actual teaching.

He added that beef feeding programs are also being planned to address malnutrition and stunting among Filipino students.