DepEd’s MATATAG foundation

 Emily Repondo

Quinto

DepEd Cavite - Program Supervisor of  Araling Panlipunan

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THERE WAS a slight hint of irritation and dissatisfaction in the tone of the Araling Panlinpunan Education Program Supervisor (EPS) in the Department of Education (DepEd) in Cavite as she shared the current incompetence prevalent in the K-12 curriculum. She was disappointed not in the students necessarily, but in the structure of the syllabus itself—for the learners were competent on their own, but could not take the sheer amount of learning competencies they were taught. That is why, she vouched for change just like every other syllabus in her advocacy to create globally competent students and harness their potential by changing and revising the curriculum for a better tomorrow.

Through this, she endorsed the enforcement of the MATATAG curriculum which sought to revise the first K-10, with the two years of Senior High School (SHS) of to follow. This specific program for the learners were to enable them to breathe freely due to the past curriculum which suffocated them with congestion in the first place. In this way, she knew that if this was freely implemented, then it would finally have her advocacy come to reality with one step closer to its fruition.

“Notably weak and very weak ang ating K-12 curriculum which replaced the Enhanced Basic Education Curriculum (EBEC) in the first place. Kaya the from kindergarten hanggang the end of Junior High School (JHS), ire-revise naming ito, with the last two years of SHS [to follow],” said Quintos as she underscored the solution that the DepEd proposed to answer the woes of its learners with her backing the notion.

[Our K-12 curriculum is notably weak and very weak which replaced the EBEC in the first place. That is why from kindergarten up until the end of JHS, we are going to revise this, with the last two years of SHS to follow.]

Standing Resilient

Furthermore, she not only saw the students suffering from comprehending insurmountable amounts of learning competencies which equated to a total of 11,378 from kindergarten up until to the end of their high school journey. Not only this but Emily also had experienced firsthand being overworked from the tasks bestowed upon the teaches and supervisors like herself in checking the thousands of lessons to be educated to the learners of Cavite. With this she saw a common ground between her and the students she was supervising alongside the subject of Araling Panlipunan, thus standing resilient amidst these challenges.

“Alam niyo actually, mula sa curriculum na ‘yan hindi lang kayong mga estudiyante [ang] overworked, kung hindi pati na rin kaming mga teachers na nagha-handle ng bawat lesson na tinuturo [sic],” the EPS denoted as she explained the fact that the K-12 iteration of the department was a burden not only to the students themselves, but the educators who were on the government payroll.

[Did you know actually, from that curriculum not only are students overworked, but also the teachers who handle every lesson taught.]

Additionally, by this, Quintos was also disappointed in the fact that the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) results were subpar, with the country placing in the bottom for the past seven or so years as students were lacking in the categories of reading comprehension, science, and mathematics. Not only this, but she believed that students were just lacking the necessary support they sought for, because they themselves had promise and potential from the very start which was something she saw with her very own eyes. Thus, this made the EPS dedicated to her mission in answering the problems of learners, with the MATATAG curriculum just being an additional blessing in completing her advocacy.

Reinforced Vigor

With this in line, the DepEd official then added that the curriculum will be addressing problems by reducing the sheer amount of the learning competencies that were established during 2013 which was the time that the K-12 had been implemented. Moreover, the seven subjects in kindergarten will be reduced to five by combining multiple subjects into one, not only reducing the burden of students but for education workers like herself who had also encountered snags in the past 11 years. Having this, it will be made easier for students to learn subjects which are a testament to the execution of Quintos and DepEd itself in fixing congested curriculums in an effort to have reinforced vigor.

To give further explanation, the EPS also shared the “real” meaning of MATATAG, which was to make the curriculum relevant, take steps to accelerate the delivery of basic educational facilities and services, take good care of learners by promoting learners’ wellbeing, and give support to teachers to teach better. This will ensure the learners to have contextualized learning who will localize the subjects, assuring that the environment of a learner will not affect the course of their several hours learning in classrooms, assuring their mental health thus making them not susceptible to any mental issues that may affect their educational performance, and finally let teachers have the necessary means to educate their students because they are vital in answering the problems of the curriculum with teaching which is currently overworked in the past syllabus.

“Dati, mula sa 13 subjects na aaralin mo mula K-12 na 11,738 [learning competencies in total], now with the new curriculum, magiging 3,668 na lang,” Emily remarked as she clarified that from around 3,000 competencies in a specific subject like English, it was reduced to the hundreds to ensure that learners can keep up with the lessons.

[Before, from the 13 subjects that you will be studying from K-12 which amount to 11,738 learning competencies in total, now with the new curriculum, it will be only reduced to 3,668].

Ironclad Expectations 

In addition to this, the EPS official also added that the current curriculum is undergoing multiple pilot testing having seven regions implementing the new syllabus with 35 schools spread out from these parts of the country. With this, she notes that while it showed success in the early recalibration stage, the department had also conducted a survey with 4,000 respondents who have showed a 96 percent approval rate for the cause and the curriculum. 

This will then ensure that it will undergo multiple assessments before it will be introduced to the millions of students in the country which will seek to answer the problem that the K-12 curriculum introduced in the first place. Aside from this, the adjustments supported by Quintos were not necessarily catering to all subjects having reduced competencies, as for instance, science will have more learning goals to achieve compared to the K-12. This was due to the fact that not only are students going to be having a lesser burden from curriculums, but also improved knowledge with subjects like science which were a problem in PISA results which the country has been in the bottom fifth consistently—thus making the advocacy of Emily which is globally competitive students closer to fruition.

“Isipin mo lang: simula grade seven, kailangan mo nang aralin ang buong Philippine history sa loob lang ng 10 months, kaya ba ‘yun ng mga bata simula sinaunang panahon hanggang sa current regime [i-memorize]? Masiyadong overwhelming ito para sa kanila with due to the excessive demands in [limited] time frames like this [time allotted for a school year],” the Araling Panlipunan supervisor pronounced as she was disappointed from the high demands of the sector which are not achievable and realistic for the current state of Filipino learners.

[Just think of this: from grade seven, you need to learn the whole Philippine history in just 10 months, can students memorize the start of archaic times up until the current regime? It is too overwhelming for them due to the excessive demands in limited time frames like this.]

In the end, she wanted to share that although there was this evident disappointment and irritation in her mannerisms, she was hopeful that from the acceptance rates and pilot testing that the MATATAG curriculum will work with Emily’s full support backing it. As the EPS for Araling Panlipunan—one which handles the social, economic, and political status she wanted to harness the potential of students of Cavite she was handling by catering to their needs by giving supporting educational programs like the MATATAG curriculum. Thus, this proves that this is just a testament to Emily Quintos’ efforts and full support in creating resilient and globally competent students with the MATATAG curriculum as its foundation.

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