Words by Reynan Dale Esquillo
Art by Jun Vince Dizon
A group of advocates urges the Department of Education (DepEd) to work hand-in-hand with experts in creating educational resource materials to avoid errors and misinformation, especially in Philippine history.
The High School Philippine History Movement (HSPHM) also calls for the deloading of teachers, and initiation of partnership programs with universities and field experts to review the K to 12 curriculum through a multi-sectoral approach.
“Sa palagay ko kasi nagtitipid yung DepEd. Nagtitipid sila kaya umaasa sila sa sarili nilang personnel. Sana madagdagan ng kaunti itong budget ng DepEd, para makakuha sila ng mga content experts,” said Jamaico Ignacio, HSPHM president.
Since the nationwide lockdown has been imposed, the education sector was forced to shift into remote learning. DepEd implemented online modality and modular setup to ensure ‘learning continuity’ among young Filipinos despite the pandemic.
In relation to this, DepEd has produced resource materials that received backlash from netizens for inaccuracies and erroneous contents.
The erroneous modules, according to Ignacio, reveal how teachers are ‘overworked’ and are ‘forced’ to carry additional burdens outside teaching duties.
Deloading teachers
“Yung mga teachers sila mismo gumagawa ng module. In real life, ang daming iniisip ni teacher lalo na sa public school. Nagtse-check, nagka-class adviser, nagbabahay-bahay, tambak ng trabaho si teacher,” Ignacio explained.
A teacher from a school in Cavite shared his experience not only as a module content creator for a subject area in their division, but also as editor, layout artist, and website encoder.
“Unlike other teachers, from start to finish, may role ako. Walang magagawa eh. Yung ibang mga kasama sa paggawa ng materials, hindi rin naman maalam sa ibang gawain tulad ng pagle-layout at paglalagay ng mga content sa website,” said Mark*.
According to him, they were not given any monetary compensation for their work as course creators.
“Hindi kasi pwedeng ire-allocate yung fund na ibinigay ng DepEd sa mga division office na specifically nakalaan para sa printing of modules. Nakaka-fulfill pa rin naman na naibabahagi ko ang skills ko sa mga estudyante lalo na ngayong may pandemya,” he expounded.
Teachers from their division, who served as course creators and those who are part of the quality assurance team, were recently given a tablet pc and a portable external hard drive by their division office as an incentive for their service. This is in addition to the certificates they receive for every quarter since the start of remote learning.
Upon checking the units online, the 8-inch LTE tablet costs around P5,000 to P6,000 while the 250GB portable hard drive costs around P2,000 to P3,000—both of which are less than the P15,000 unit price limit set by DepEd for purchase of capital outlay items such as equipment, gadgets, and software.
Based on a report by Philippine Star published on August 7 last year, DepEd allotted P9 billion for the printing of learning modules for S.Y. 2020-2021. There was no mention, however, of compensation for course creators which explains why division offices are not allowed to pay teachers like Mark, nor able to hire experts.
On the other hand, there is a need, according to Ignacio, for a common module for Philippine history that contains accurate information backed by experts, and at the same time, is easily comprehensible for young students.
“Gumawa tayo ng modules para mabawasan nang kaunti yung mga problema ng ating mga teachers. Pagod na pagod na sila kagagawa ng modules, yun pala mali yung nagawa. Tapos ipa-public, sila pa mapapahiya. Kawawa estudyante, kawawa si teacher, lahat problemado,” he stated.
Multi-sectoral approach
The HSPHM, in their petition, appealed to the National Historical Commission of the Philippines and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts to conduct a national dialogue with regards to bringing back Philippine history in the high school curriculum.
“Isa sa mga hinahangad namin sa petition namin, dapat may collaboration at may partnership dun sa mga history major, history experts, at education experts,” added Ignacio.
Joey Dela Cruz, HSPHM government engagement director, added that task particularization, especially in a pandemic, is needed in pushing forward educational solutions.
However, for Dela Cruz, there is another hindrance for the education system to move forward that the education sector must deal with.
“There’s also an aspect of politics within DepEd. Kaninong naratibo yung gustong pakinggan ng estado and that is also a challenge na kailangang harapin ng education sector as whole. Malaking isyu rin kung paano imo-move forward ang education system kung may resistant bureaucracy ka pero may enlightened at sometimes elitist na academe,” explained Dela Cruz.
“Paano sila magwo-work together as a functional, blended assembly line? Kasi iba yung generation of production of knowledge ng mga universities towards scholarly pursuits. Iba rin ang production line ng DepEd para sa pagbuo ng digestible and mas reproducible materials.”
The education sector, both private and public, according to Dela Cruz, should engage in a multilateral, multi-sectoral partnership where all the experts concerned must convene and work hand-in-hand.
“Una, deload teachers. Number 2, encourage our legislature to draft a law. We’re not asking for major curriculum change but rather pagsama-samahin itong experts at gumawa ng isang programa kung saan ang focus ng mga modules natin sa pag-aaral ng kasaysayan ng Pilipinas ay hindi nakatutok sa memorization,” clarified Ignacio.
*The name of the interviewee has been changed to protect his identity.
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