Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian stated on Wednesday that students in grades one through three should take fewer subjects and spend more time learning English and Filipino.
The basic education committee chair, Gatchalian, stated that there are currently eight subjects offered to students in grades one through three.
Additionally, he claimed that classes in English and Filipino are only taught for 50 minutes each.
Gatchalian said in an interview, “It’s very difficult for teachers to teach eight subjects in a day. It’s very difficult for students to absorb three languages and study eight subjects in a day.”
He also mentioned a few situations that some students might be going through, like helping their parents support their families financially or going without electricity at night, that might make it hard for them to concentrate on their studies.
Furthermore, he said, “So there are bottlenecks to learning. So, I do agree to lessen the subjects for Grades 1 to 3 and then increase the number of hours for English and Filipino.”
Gatchalian suggested extending the time allotted for teaching English and Filipino from 50 minutes to two hours.
He added that grades one through three should be taught in students’ mother tongues.
“A student will have more time to learn English, more time to read in English, more time to learn Filipino, but the student will not lose his identity or his comprehension using the mother tongue,” he stated.
The first day of classes for 2022–2023 was Monday, August 22.
The Department of Education previously stated that it intended to switch back to using English and Filipino as the primary languages of instruction for students.
The mother tongue should be used as the primary language of instruction from kindergarten through grade three, according to K–12 law.
