"Our children will be the ones left long after we—and COVID-19—are long gone."
The revival of the Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) as a distinct course subject in the DepEd’s curriculum only means that it worked then and needs to be brought back.
GMRC is one of the salient aspects of the “old system” that have been either removed or diminished when the country’s basic education shifted to the elitist K-to-12 curriculum.
The time-tested GMRC had effectively inculcated the embodiment of genuine Filipino qualities and values of discipline, courteousness, respectfulness, godliness. It had for decades instilled social responsibility, cooperation, and compassion for one another.
After being watered down and incorporated into K-to-12’s social studies subjects, GMRC will now be taught as a distinct subject in Kindergarten through Grades 1-6, thanks to RA 11476, authored by Senator Migz Zubiri. The President has signed this into law.
It will be reinforced by Values Education in Grades 7-10, as well as blended in the Grades 11-12 subjects.
This is one bright side of the school scene that we look forward to, as the scheduled August class opening hangs in the face of continuous influx of COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila, Cebu City and elsewhere in the country.
The President is trying to figure out where to get money for DepEd’s proposed “blended learning” which requires the use different media formats, such as radio, television, personal computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and printed modules.
Manong Digong said the government may give out transistor radios for the benefit of the greater number of students who cannot afford laptops or PCs.
I sure hope this public health predicament will not reduce poor children’s education into a daily four-to- six-hour session of listening to transistor radio for math and science lessons.
Can anyone think of a more backward and pathetic scenario than that? I cannot imagine how agonizing listening to algebra and chemistry lessons over the radio is.
We cannot help, at times, questioning the government’s priorities and strategies while it looks at a blank wall for answers to the nation’s serious problems.
Come to think of it, we have allowed dine-in customers at restaurants at their 30-50 percent seating capacity without face masks, even as they observe physical distancing.
We have also opened Boracay island to tourism, unceremoniously inaugurated by a group Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) hooligans who violated quarantine rules. One of these turned out to be COVID-19 positive.
Now, why can we not permit face-to-face or in-person school classes at 30-50 percent of classroom seating-capacity groupings, with alternating class schedules (AM/PM classes or Mon-Tues-Wed/Thur-Fri-Sat).
If strictly supervised by school officials, teachers, and parents, I believe this is doable at least in regions, localities, or school districts where COVID-19 cases are low.
I trust that our teachers will be able to enforce health and safety protocols just as they do in other countries that have resumed face-to-face school classes.
I’m confident that teachers can make it work with the help of parents, and this is where GMRC comes in, to foster genuine Filipino qualities and values of discipline, courteousness, respectfulness, godliness and to nurture social responsibility, cooperation and compassion for one another.
And during the days that students don’t come to school, teachers should be able to lend a tablet to every student where he or she can do an interactive assignment that does not need the internet.
This is an opportune time for Education authorities and experts to review and assess the relevance of the elitist K-to-12 program which is designed to hinder students’ access to higher education, particularly the poor who are downgraded to vocational courses.
Unfortunately, K-to-12 which was haphazardly implemented seven years ago amid lack of specially trained teachers and lack of vocational training facilities. It has resulted in dismal performances in the National Achievement Test and the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).
DepEd’s K-to-12 program is patterned after the U.S. basic educational system which is not even listed as one of the world’s best, anyway.
Consistently rated as the best, Finland’s basic education offers the Upper Secondary (Grades 10-12) optional.
Senior High is also optional in most other top-rated countries that have invested heavily on basic education, including Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Denmark, Russia, Norway, Israel, Switzerland, Netherlands, Sweden, and Hong Kong.
With the P1.3 trillion economic stimulus package the Congress has passed, there is no reason why DepEd cannot at least provide a tablet to every poor student, which can make a hell of difference for an ailing nation.
Education should be a top priority because our children will be the ones left long after we and COVID-19 are long gone.
