HIGHLIGHTING THE drawbacks of Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) in the Philippines, it is clear that the effort to teach moral values in schools has some serious issues. DepEd Cavite's hesitant approval, citing adherence to Republic Act 11476 for GMRC subject comeback under the MATATAG curriculum, raises concerns about a potentially uninformed decision, lacking a thorough evaluation, and underscores the urgency for educational policies aligned with the evolving needs of students and educators. Even though the “culture” of respecting kabataan is fading, it is evident that the DepEd will tend to repeat its history, stuck in the same manner.

In her recent statement, Emily Quintos, the Education Program Supervisor (EPS) in Araling Panlipunan of DepEd in Cavite, remarked that they are ready to allot billions and billions of money for the learning resources of the MATATAG curriculum subject, one of which is the GMRC. With this, a subject that aims for a diverse values and customs present in a multicultural society like the Philippines will be needing numerous learning materials, taking a piece of the pie. Moreover, they are targeting to improve the Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao from the K-12 curriculum and make it more effective in shaping the behavior of the students.

Sure, their intentions are clear and the structure of GMRC is there, however, the principles taught in GMRC are already covered in other subjects, such as Values Education or Ethics, making it redundant and potentially overloading the curriculum. And the fact that they are trying to decongest the current curriculum when GMRC can potentially cause problems in the education system in the future. This is just a testament that the DepEd does not really think about the decisions they make, when the whole country is dependent on the education of the children.

Besides this, the effectiveness of the GMRC subject is still a big question mark as moral values are better learned through personal experiences, family upbringing, and societal interactions rather than in a formal classroom setting. It will be hard for students to bring up their personal experience and make this worthless band-aid, a one way to mess things up. Even Quintos agreed that the students do not engage in the classroom settings when personal things come into place, but DepEd is seemingly trying to force their students to open their mouths wide just for the fact that this is “helpful” for them and it is a subject.

In addition, there are more subjects under the MATATAG curriculum that need full attention as the results of national assessments of the Philippines are going rock bottom. Some may argue that the educational system should focus more on critical thinking, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects, or other practical skills rather than allocating time to a subject like GMRC. A pure mockery is what the DepEd’s circus is showcasing to us, proving that knowing their priorities is not their priority.

Undeniably, the need for a cultural reset with the GMRC subject as it is also evident that the students nowadays lack respect. But, when the country is falling and the economic standard of education is at its lowest, the DepEd seemingly tries to cover this with values and a fake smile. Well, the clock is ticking for DepEd and the implementation of the MATATAG curriculum will be in the schools as soon as possible.

With GMRC set to be implemented as one of the subjects in DepEd Cavite next year, it is crucial to note that the inclusion or exclusion of a subject like GMRC in the educational system is often a matter of educational philosophy, cultural values, and societal expectations. The DepEd should prioritize understanding their goals and formulate concrete plans to address the identified shortcomings. They should also consider that the time spent on GMRC could potentially be better utilized for other subjects perceived as more academically rigorous or directly relevant to students' future careers. This could be achieved if the DepEd listens to the lifeguard suggestions aiming to rescue them from getting stuck in the same manners.

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