For children to better grasp their courses, the ACT Teachers partylist urged President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to make Filipino the language of instruction in classrooms.
Rep. France Castro of the ACT Teachers partylist stated that teaching pupils in the Filipino language would promote learning in Dano Tingcungco’s program on “24 Oras Weekend.”
“Kung yung bata ay hindi pamilyar or hindi niya gamay yung language na gagamitin niya at ipapagamit agad ang Ingles, at kung si teacher ay nag-Ingles at hindi maintindihan ng bata, ay walang learning na mangyayari. Kahit ano pa subject ang ituro,” Castro said.
Marcos stated in his inaugural address on June 30 that kids’ educational resources needed to be improved to prepare them for the workforce.
“What we teach in our schools, the materials used must be rethought. I am not talking about history. I am talking about the basics, the sciences. Sharpening theoretical aptitude and imparting vocational skills,” he said.
Additionally, Marcos promised to place an equal focus on the national tongue of the nation.
Filipinos’ opinions on using English as the only language for instruction in elementary school vary.
“Mas prefer ko po ‘yung English. Kasi as college student, para mas ma-enhance yung pagsasalita ng English lalo na sa mga kabataan ngayon… kasi lalo na kapag mag-work na rin sila,” a student said.
ACT Teachers partylist pushes Filipino as medium of instruction
“Tagalog pa rin po para sa akin, kung papipiliin po ako kasi Pilipino po tayo at mas pabor pa rin po sa atin ang wikang Filipino. Hindi naman po tayo Amerikano,” a parent added.
Except for Filipino and English, all courses from Kindergarten through Grade 3 were taught in the students’ mother tongues thanks to the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) initiative, which was incorporated into the K–12 curriculum.
After Grade 4 or at its beginning, English is the primary language of instruction.
Dr. Ricardo Ma Nolasco, a retired professor of linguistics at the University of the Philippines, emphasized the significance of maintaining the MTB-MLE because research indicated that students performed better academically when they first studied lessons in their language.
Visit our Facebook page for more news updates.