MANILA — When it comes to proposals for schools to return to the pre-pandemic academic calendar, President Marcos has no preference on the issue of schedule, but he gave assurance that the government is determining the best setup for children, teachers and education sector workers.
Speaking to reporters during the start of the Brigada Eskwela yesterday in Manila, Marcos said the Department of Education (DepEd) is conducting a study to determine the best schedule of classes.
“Perhaps it is a big question. It’s not that simple because we changed the schedule because of the pandemic and now, we need to talk about climate change. It’s very hot and even children are passing out. So we have to consider that in our study on what should be done,” the President said in Filipino.
“So I do not have a preference… We will really determine what is the best for both the kids… the teachers and the administrative non-teaching staff. If we ask them to go to school even if it is very hot, they might not be able to perform their jobs and might even get sick,” he added.
Earlier, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) urged DepEd to revert the basic education school calendar to its pre-pandemic schedule, saying students and teachers were suffering from “unbearable heat.”
Citing an online poll it conducted last March, the ACT said 87 percent of 11,706 public school teachers nationwide had students who could not focus on their lessons because of the “intolerable” heat in classrooms. Many students and teachers have experienced headache, dizziness and nosebleeds, ACT added.
The group demanded that the pre-pandemic schedule, where the school break takes place during summer months, be restored.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic prodded DepEd to begin classes in October. Classes in public schools will begin on Aug. 29.
Brigada Eskwela
Marcos visited the Victorino Mapa High School in Barangay San Miguel in Manila yesterday as the DepEd started this year’s Brigada Eskwela, a program that encourages stakeholders to help prepare schools for the coming academic year.
Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte accompanied Marcos as he inspected a number of classrooms that were being readied for the opening of classes.
Marcos was also briefed by officials on the maintenance work being done in preparation for the beginning of the school year.
“Perhaps this is the first opening of classes that is somehow normal after the lockdown. It is normal but we changed some things. We fixed some things because of some complaints,” the President said.
Marcos donated P1 million to the school in addition to paint and cleaning materials that he has provided for the program. The Brigada Eskwela will run from Aug. 14 to 19.
Matatag
Marcos also expressed support for the DepEd’s MATATAG curriculum, saying it was intended to respond to the needs of students.
“This is very significant because…we are trying to fix the curriculum to make it more appropriate to the needs of Filipino children,” the Chief Executive said.
Marcos noted that the new curriculum seeks to improve the country’s international scores especially in science, technology, engineering and mathematics or STEM subjects.
The MATATAG curriculum also gives students an option to pursue vocational or technical training after finishing 10th grade, he added.
MATATAG stands for “Make the curriculum relevant to produce job-ready, Active and responsible citizens; Take steps to accelerate the delivery of basic education services and provision facilities; Take good care of learners by promoting learner well-being, inclusiveness learning, and positive learning environment; and Give support for teachers to teach better.”
It was intended to decongest the current K-12 curriculum, reduce the number of competencies and focus on the development of foundational skills like literacy, numeracy and socio-emotional skills for kindergarten to Grade 3.
The new curriculum also aims to intensify the formation of the students’ values and character development.
Duterte said MATATAG is the “legacy” of the Marcos administration in basic education. “All the problems raised by our international and local education experts were addressed in this new K-10 program,” the Vice President said.
According to Duterte, the number of learning competencies has been reduced from approximately 11,000 to about 3,000. The number subjects in Grades 1 to 3 was also reduced from seven to five.
Duterte said Marcos has instructed the DepEd to conduct a study on a long-term approach on how to increase teachers’ salaries, on top of the pay hikes they receive under the Salary Standardization Law. (philstar)
