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'Zero tolerance': DepEd to issue disclaimer on 'poor' depiction of farmer in module

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Katrina Domingo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/life/11/19/20201119-depiction-of-farmer-in-module.jpg"/><figcaption>Screencap from Senate of the Philippines&#x27; livestream</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA - The Department of Education on Thursday said it will issue an explanation to clarify the &quot;poor&quot; depiction of farmers that was published in one of its learning modules.DepEd gave the commitment after Sen. Francis Pangilinan slammed the agency for stereotyping farmers as impoverished by depicting them as a family who wear ratty clothes.&quot;We understand that a vast majority of our farmers are poor but to stereotype them, ano magiging mensahe sa ating mga kabataan? Na hindi katanggap tanggap ang maging magsasaka?&quot; he said as the Senate tackled the DepEd&#x27;s budget in plenary.(What message will this send to our children? That it is unacceptable to become a farmer?)&quot;We don&#x27;t want to teach our children to look down upon farmers. &#x27;Pag nakita ng estudyante ito sasabihin hindi maganda ang maging magsasaka kaya ayoko na din maging farmer.&quot; he said.(When students see this, they might say that it is not nice to become a farmer so they will dislike being a farmer.)Sen. Pia Cayetano, who sponsored the DepEd&#x27;s budget in plenary, said the agency acknowledges the lapse and recognizes the problem.&quot;Everyone can agree that this is a wrongful and harmful depiction of our farmers who feed us,&quot; she said.&quot;DepEd has a zero tolerance policy against discrimination,&quot; she said, reading a message from Education Secretary Leonor Briones.&quot;The material is already out but they will issue an explanation that this is a wrongful depiction,&quot; she said.The DepEd will also conduct an investigation and assured senators that &quot;sanctions will be imposed,&quot; Cayetano said.The gaffe on the depiction of farmers is the latest controversy to hit learning materials distributed to students during the distance-learning scheme.The DepEd was earlier criticized for a series of wrong lessons, including grammatical errors on a televised English module, a wrong math solution, and labelling the picture of an owl as &quot;ostrich.&quot;<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/07/20/deped-tv-draws-flak-over-error-in-math-lesson">DepEd TV draws flak over error in math lesson</a></li></ul>Sen. Grace Poe also criticized several wrong and offensive lessons - including an example that body shamed actress Angel Locsin - was not flagged before it was released to students.&quot;These modules are instructional,&quot; she said.Teachers should also be given seminars on sensitivity to help them craft better examples in lessons, she said.The DepEd earlier admitted that not all modules screened for quality and that the agency welcomes volunteers to help spot mistakes in its learning materials<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/08/20/deped-says-not-all-modules-screened-for-quality-volunteer-error-spotters-welcome">DepEd says not all modules screened for quality; volunteer error spotters &#x27;welcome&#x27;</a></li></ul><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/slFbBSHKIMM?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

Sen. Pia Cayetano, who sponsored the DepEd's budget in plenary, said the agency acknowledges the lapse and recognizes the problem.

Sen. Pia Cayetano, who sponsored the DepEd's budget in plenary, said the agency acknowledges the lapse and recognizes the problem.

'Zero tolerance': DepEd to issue disclaimer on 'poor' depiction of farmer in module

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'Zero tolerance': DepEd to issue disclaimer on 'poor' depiction of farmer in module

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

Published November 20, 2020 05:38 AM PHT

Read More:

Department of Education 2021 budget

farmers

stereotype

Kiko Pangilinan

Pia Cayetano

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