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Planned removal of mother tongue as subject still under review - DepEd

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Vivienne Gulla, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/10/19/20220802-brigada-eskwela-manila-gc-3.jpg"/><figcaption>Volunteer parents and teachers clean up classrooms inside the Aurora A. Quezon Elementary School in Manila on August 2, 2022. The Department of Education officially commenced its nationwide Brigada Eskwela, where volunteers clean, repaint and do necessary repairs in public schools, in preparation for the reopening of in-person classes on August 22. <em>George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA - The planned removal of the subject teaching the mother tongue to Grades 1 to 3 students is still being reviewed, the Department of Education said Wednesday.</p><p>“Yung pagtatanggal ng Mother Tongue as a subject, wala pa naman po tayong final diyan, dahil sa ngayon on-going [ang] consultation with experts and stakeholders across the country in line doon sa ating K-10 review na isinasagawa,” DepEd spokesman Michael Poa said during the Laging Handa briefing.</p><p>(We have not reached a decision on the removal of teaching the mother tongue as a subject yet. Consultations with experts and stakeholders are ongoing as we do the K-10 review.)</p><p>Last Monday, Education Undersecretary Epimaco Densing said during a Senate hearing that the 50-minute mother tongue language subject would be replaced by reading and math programs, but mother tongue languages will continue to be used as a medium of instruction in classrooms. </p><p>Densing said the matter was still being finalized but discussed on a &quot;consensual basis.&quot;</p><p>ACT Teachers Party List Rep. France Castro had expressed opposition to the plan, saying it is a step backward from providing better quality education to the youth, and promoting genuine nationalism.</p><p>The DepEd said it is reviewing the curriculum to improve the quality of basic education in the Philippines, and partly to address observations that English proficiency in the country is declining.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2297724" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

DepEd clarified that no decision has been made yet on the planned removal of teaching mother tongue as a subject to Grades 1-3 students.

Planned removal of mother tongue as subject still under review - DepEd

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Planned removal of mother tongue as subject still under review - DepEd

Vivienne Gulla,

ABS-CBN News

Published Oct 19, 2022 05:56 PM PHT

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DepEd

mother tongue

english proficiency

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local language

Michael Poa

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