ACT to Marcos: Make Filipino medium of instruction, not English
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines Friday advised President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on the basics of learning, saying that students should be taught on the language that they best understand.
The progressive teachers group issued the statement as a reaction to a part of Marcos' inaugural address that English should be the medium of instruction in schools.
"While the neoliberal metrics of international assessments like the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study are questionable, language barrier is a basic reason why the Philippines lag behind and our students are at a disadvantage in these tests. Countries who usually take the top tier of these assessments are those whose main medium of instruction is their national language, that is why learning is well facilitated, and they perform better in the tests which were conducted in their own languages," said Vladimer Quetua, chairperson of ACT Philippines.
"In the Philippines, the assessment is done in English as it is the main medium of instruction. This is a big impediment to student learning because they have to master the English language first before they can learn science and math concepts. In the classroom, they also cannot freely express themselves because English is not their vernacular. This dilemma also clips their ability for critical thinking and in formulating arguments," said the progressive teacher.
"While there is the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB MLE) Law and the Bilingual Education Policy, the reality is that English remains to be the language predominantly used in our educational system," said Quetua.
"Ang Math at Science ay itinuturo sa English. Ang mga materyales sa pagtuturo at pag-aaral ay nasa English. Kulang na kulang ang suporta at pagsisikap para magkaroon ng mga materyales sa lokal na wika at pambansang wika. Kung gusto nating ma-facilitate at mapabilis ang pagkatuto at pag-intindi ng mga mag-aaral, dapat palakasin ang paggamit ng mga lokal na lenggwahe at ang ating pambansang wika na Filipino sa edukasyon. Dapat din itong iinstitusyonalisa at laanan ng karampatang pondo,” he added.
Quetua also reacted to Marcos’ push to ‘rethink the education curriculum so that students will get better jobs.’
"Ang misyon ng edukasyon ay hindi lamang para magkaroon ng magandang trabaho kundi para sa pambansang pag-unlad. Ito dapat ang pinagmumulan ng mga solusyon para sa problema ng lipunan. Para magampanan ito, ang mga mag-aaral ay dapat na may malalim na pag-unawa sa kalagayan ng lipunan nya, may malakas na damdaming makabayan at pagpapahalaga sa mga salalayan ng demokrasya. Kung kaya, kasinghalaga rin ng Math at Science ang Araling Panlipunan, Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao, pag-aaral sa kultura at panitikan, at sa pambansang wika na siyang simbolo ng ating pambansang identidad" said Quetua. ACT Philippines
