An official from the Department of Education (DepEd) said Wednesday that English and Filipino should be used in schools as early as kindergarten.
The K-12 rule mandates that from kindergarten through grade three, students shall be taught in their native language.
According to Epimaco Densing, the use of the mother tongue should only be utilized as an exception to English and Filipino as the mediums of education.
“Being practical about it, if this [mother tongue for kindergarten to Grade 3] has been effective, then why have we failed in the PISA evaluation?”, he stated.
Additionally, he said, “Most probably, we reverse, but this requires legislation, we reverse the general rule right now, [which] is we use the mother tongue for K to 3,” he added.
Densing was alluding to the 2018 PISA rankings for the Philippines, where Filipino pupils were ranked the worst in reading comprehension and the second-worst in both mathematical and scientific literacy among 79 countries.
For the most part, he argued, the existing system is only relevant in locations where English and Filipino are not widely spoken, and so the child’s first language of instruction should be their native tongue.
A DepEd official said, “In major areas in the country, especially in the highly urbanized cities, we can start already with Filipino and English as medium of instruction, and use the mother tongue only as the exception, in case the people in the area are really not introduced to English and Filipino.”
Education Secretary Vice President Sara Duterte has already been consulted about Densing’s plan, although there is no official decree yet on the topic.
