A “DIRTY” word has been discovered in one of the Department of Education’s distance learning modules used by students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Tagalog word, which means “sex” or “intercourse,” was found in a module for students in Pampanga, resource person Antonio Calipjo-Go told the House committee on public accounts yesterday.
He said four parents approached him about the word in the module that tackles Philippine mythical creatures like “aswang,” “kapre” and “maligno.”
Go, an educator, showed the panel a copy of the module which has this description of the “aswang” — “siya ay isang diyos pero ang Aswang ay pinaniniwalaan na ito’y tao na kumakain ng kapwa tao, kung minsan ang mga ito ay pinapaniwalaan na may mga pakpak at sila raw ay gising kung gabi para maghanap ng maka*ant*t or maaswang (An aswang is believed to eat humans and are sometimes winged, prowling in the night to look for someone to have sexual intercourse with).”
“The module itself contains a word na hindi ko pa nakikita anywhere, kahit sa Tiktik (The module contains a word that I have not seen anywhere, even in the [tabloid] Tiktik,” Go told the panel.
The DepEd has long been been receiving a barrage of complaints for errors found in learning materials, including text books.
Just last October, the Education Department launched the “ErrorWatch Initiative” in response to numerous reports of errors in distance learning materials being used by public school students, which has made the DepEd the laughing stock of netizens. But just a month later, the DepEd had to publicly apologize again after one of its physical education worksheets called actress Angel Locsin an “obese person.”
With face-to-face education banned until a vaccine is found for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the DepEd has adopted distance learning for students.
Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio said the issue has been addressed after the module was recalled as early as February.
San Antonio said the department has so far found 155 errors, 100 of which were in locally-developed materials.
He also said the Dep Ed’s division office level is responsible for the issuance of errata while the department also directs teachers to address these mistakes.
