Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 26) — The Department of Education (DepEd) is proposing to include lessons on the West Philippine Sea and the Hague arbitral tribunal ruling in Grade 10 in the drafted K-12 curriculum guide.
Lessons on “Mga Isla ng (the islands of the) West Philippine Sea” will be taught under “isyung territorial at border conflicts” (territorial issues and border conflicts) of the proposed curriculum.
Based on the draft curriculum guide, students are expected to identify the implications of various labor problems and economic development in the country after taking the lesson.
Meanwhile, the lecture on the ruling of the tribunal in The Hague, the Netherlands that largely favored the Philippines in its maritime row with China will be under the ”mga pagtugon sa mga hamon pang-ekonomiya” (Responses to Economic Challenges).
With the lecture, students are expected to evaluate laws and policies in relation to globalization as well as the challenges and issues it caused.
In July 2016, the special tribunal constituted under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea affirmed the Philippine’s sovereign rights in areas of its exclusive economic zone that are being claimed by China.
The ruling also invalidated Beijing’s nine-dash line claim to nearly the entire South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea.
RELATED: Remembering the 2016 Hague ruling: What has happened since then?
The proposed new lessons are part of DepEd’s efforts to decongest classes and improve students’ literacy.
If the new K-12 curriculum will push through, it will be the first time that the two topics will be required lessons in school.
DepEd also proposed to teach sexual and reproductive health to students as early as Grade 4 in its drafted K-12 curriculum.
