Teachers told ‘sick book’ was just a draft–DepEd

The Department of Education (DepEd) stressed Tuesday that it had made clear to teachers who attended its training programs over the summer break that what they had was a draft copy of the Grade 10 English textbook “Celebrating Diversity through World Literature.”

Assistant Education Secretary Jesus Mateo on Tuesday said during the National Training of Trainers and Mass Training of Teachers held nationwide in April and May, the teachers were repeatedly reminded that the textbook being questioned now by a self-styled “sick books crusader” was only being used to give them an overview.

“We told them that the learning material was a draft. We even instructed them to tell us if they spot errors or omissions,” Mateo told the Inquirer in an interview.

He added that the material, which was printed in limited quantities, was “used to walk them through the lessons.”

Antonio Calipjo Go said the Grade 10 textbook he reviewed, originally titled “Diversity: Celebrating Multiculturism (sic) through World Literature,” was riddled with errors.

He dismissed DepEd’s assertion that the book was “a work in progress” and that it was “anomalous” for the department to use this during the training programs.

Letting the teachers use the draft material, Mateo said, allowed them to become engaged in the process of ensuring that the textbook was error-free.

1,300 errors

In fact, he said, after the training programs at least three revisions were undertaken, on top of the additional corrections made by the Undersecretary for Programs and Projects Dina Ocampo.

Go, the academic supervisor of Marian School of Quezon City who said he found 1,300 errors in the Grade 10 textbook, said on Monday that two public school teachers gave him the material because they weren’t “allowed to go against” the DepEd.

Mateo made clear on Tuesday that there was no truth to allegations that teachers can’t voice out their concerns to the department.

He said that during their training sessions the teachers were repeatedly told, “If you spot errors tell it [to us] because [in the end] you will be the one using [the material].”

UP experts help

Apart from inviting Go over the last few years to help the DepEd review its textbooks, Mateo said the department had also engaged “individual and institutional experts to help review” the materials, such as the University of the Philippines National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Institute.

He added that reviews on the textbooks conducted by the subject experts and the DepEd ranged from general to content and language reviews.

He said the Grade 10 English textbook that would be distributed to students would be a better version than the one reviewed by Go.

“Errors cannot be avoided in any book. That’s why the DepEd is open to [comments] if they spot errors” and that the department was taking “appropriate measures to address” the problem, he said.

Publicly acknowledge errors

Mateo said the department’s Instructional Materials Council Secretariat, which reviews textbooks, had yet to receive a copy of the 1,300 errors Go said he found in the textbook, which was updated at the end of May before going to the printer.

Go earlier said if the DepEd asked him for the corrections, he would be willing to sit down with the writers and discuss with them the errors he had uncovered.

But the department should “publicly acknowledge the errors and they’re asking for my help,” he added.

“If one is really open to help, why should there be a condition?” Mateo asked.

“DepEd’s doors have always been open to suggestions, recommendations to improve our service. [We] just hope that one would enter the open doors without any condition,” he said.

Nonexistent errors

Mateo said the DepEd’s only reference guide to the errors found by Go was the one published in the Inquirer on Monday. He added that most of the errors Go listed had already been corrected, while some were “nonexistent.”

One of the “nonexistent” errors that Go had purportedly found in the textbook, Mateo said, was: “Instant coffee is preferred to coffee that must be boiled yet.”

The education official said the DepEd had looked into the four modules of the textbook and did not find the said entry.

Asked if the DepEd would impose stricter measures on teachers ratting on the department following Go’s exposé, Mateo said the DepEd “has done everything it can to show that all of its processes [are] transparent. We told [the teachers] that it was a draft [copy].”

He added that clamping down would make it appear as if the department was hiding something.

A college dropout, Go has waged a lonely crusade against “sick books” used in public schools over the past two decades, even spending his own money in newspaper ads to publicize the mistakes and get the DepEd to correct them.

Instead, Go has been slapped with lawsuits by publishers and authors with a string of PhDs. He has also been the object of media ridicule.