Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 29) — A lawmaker on Tuesday urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to fully implement its revised K-10 curriculum as early as possible to address learning problems among Filipino students.
Citing a World Bank report, House Basic Education Committee Chair Rep. Roman Romulo told CNN Philippines’ The Source that around 90% of 10-year-old Filipino learners struggle to comprehend even simple texts.
The lawmaker commended the DepEd for decongesting the old program and focusing on key areas and urged its immediate full implementation.
“We should be alarmed. There should be some sense of urgency, if we can hasten the implementation and focus on reading, reading, reading and basic mathematics. We should do that at the soonest possible time,” he said.
DepEd launched the new “MATATAG” K-10 program early this month. Learning competencies were reduced to around 3,600 from over 11,000 in the latest curriculum to give more time for foundational skills for a better learning outcome.
The program will undergo pilot implementation during school year 2023-2024, but a two-week delay is expected as the DepEd has yet to finalize its list of 30 participating schools across six regions.
Romulo said it would be better to fully implement the program by the second or third grading period.
\”Since we’ve reduced, there should be materials there that are usable, we should be able to adjust immediately,\” Romulo said.
“If we don’t do anything different then why should we expect some reforms to have really a meaningful change?” he asked.
