PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday said the Matatag Curriculum, which has been described as his administration’s legacy in basic education, seeks to address decades-long concerns on the quality of learning in the country and strengthen the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
The President, on the sidelines of the launch of the Brigada Eskwela 2023 program at the Victorino Mapa High School in Manila, said the Matatag curriculum is “very significant” as it addresses the needs of young Filipino students to help them prepare for their future and corrects what needs to be corrected in the current curriculum to make it more at par with globally accepted standards.
Marcos said it also aims to prepare and help Grade 10 students decide if they would pursue technical-vocational courses or go to college after they finish their high school studies.
“We are trying to amend the curriculum to make it more responsive to the needs of a Filipino child. The Matatag Program includes all our efforts to improve our international scores, especially when it comes to STEM, the STEM subjects,” he said.
Vice President and concurrent Education Secretary Sara Duterte said the Matatag Curriculum will address the problems cited by international and local education experts in the K to 10 program or the first 10 years of the K to 12 curriculum. The DepEd is still reviewing the two-year senior high school program and has only completed the K to 10 level.
Duterte said it cuts down some 11,000 learning competencies that need to be addressed down to 3,000 and also decongests the current K to 12 curriculum.
She said that under the Matatag program, the previous seven subjects that were taught in Grades I to III have been reduced to five, with a focus on Math and Reading, while Science will be taught starting Grade IV.
Duterte said the Matatag program also focuses on literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional skills for kindergarten to Grade III learners; intensifies the formation of learners’ values and character development in adherence to the Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) and Values Education Act as well as the articulation of 21st Century Skills.
DepEd launched the Matatag Curriculum last week and will pilot test it in select schools nationwide starting this school year. Class in public schools starts on August 29.
PREPPING UP
Marcos and Duterte joined public school teachers and volunteers in prepping public schools, under the Brigada Eskwela 2023 program, for the start of school year 2023-2024.
Marcos said the presence of the parents, teachers, and other volunteers during the Brigada Eskwela launch shows the importance that is being given to the children, their education, and their future.
“We have finally returned; this is the first resumption of classes that is quite normal after the lockdown. Normal but there are some changes and solutions, some complaints that have been resolved, and that is what is being patiently addressed by our DepEd Secretary and Vice President Sara Duterte,” he said.
During the event, the President was also briefed by officials on the maintenance works being done in preparation for the opening of classes.
Marcos also gave a P1 million donation to the school in addition to the paint and cleaning materials that he provided for the Brigada Eskwela program event.
The Brigada Eskwela, an annual nationwide school maintenance program aimed to prepare schools for the opening of classes, started last August 1 and will run up to the 19th. In some provinces, the program started as early as August 7.
The DepEd said it received about P44 million in donations from partners for the implementation of the Brigada Eskwela in public schools nationwide.
At least 28.4 million learners attended the resumption of full in-person classes and extracurricular activities in 2022 and 2023 and a similar number is expected to return this school year.
Asked about the classrooms and school buildings that were damaged during the onslaught of typhoons Egay and Falcon, Marcos said the School Building program of the government is continuously being implemented and will cover the repairs and rehabilitation.
Duterte said if the repairs are not completed by August 29, the concerned schools will implement a blended learning mode to prevent the disruption of classes.
“Lagi pong blended learning or in-person classes. So tutuloy-tuloy ang pag-aaral kahit mayroong problema sa classroom (it’s always blended learning or in-person classes. So, the education will continue even if there is a problem in classrooms,” she said.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), in partnership with the Ateneo Center for Educational Development (ACED), started yesterday the implementation of the reading sessions and tutorials for struggling and non-reader Grade 1 beneficiaries under the Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program.
Each student tutor teaches 10 elementary learners for every session.
The program, which will run for 20 days in Metro Manila, aims to prepare the young learners for the school opening later this month.
Marcos said concerned agencies led by the DepEd are carefully studying the proposal to return the school calendar to the pre-pandemic schedule or between June to March.
Marcos said there is no preference at the moment, but they have to consider everything, including the weather and climate change, and balance it with the welfare of the students.
He acknowledged that some sectors are calling for the return to the pre-pandemic school calendar given the impact of the summer months on the students, teachers, and non-teaching personnel.
“We were talking about it. We were talking with the teaching staff here. I asked them what their preference is. We are studying it. The DepEd is in the process — at present, they are doing a study on what will be good,” he said.
SALARY HIKE
Duterte said the DepEd is also studying how it could provide a long-term solution to the scant salaries of public school teachers, on top of the regular wage hike that they receive under the Salary Standardization Law.
She said the President, during the start of his administration, had ordered the DepEd to conduct a study on a long-term outlook on how to provide salary increases for teachers and non-teaching personnel aside from what they annually receive under the SSL.
“So, we are waiting for the result of that study on the increases and it will include the impact of the inflation and the economic indicators, forecast of for the coming years,” Duterte said.
One of the campaign promises of Marcos, when he ran for president, was to increase the salary of teachers.
