Sen. Grace Poe urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to give more attention to the quality of educational materials it releases to students and re-examine the department’s sensitivity training and protocols in a bid to ensure the highest welfare of students.
“The task of educating children cannot be compromised. How we nurture them will determine how well the country will evolve in the future. Beyond grammar, the values we instill in them are crucial,” Poe said.
Earlier, DepEd examination materials from Occidental Mindoro circulated online with deficient grammar that body shamed a celebrity.
That a substandard examination material saw print and was distributed to students highlighted the lack of quality control which is required of the system.
“Parang napakahirap isipin na mayroong makakalusot na ganitong klaseng halimbawa. May binanggit na personalidad na sinasabing ‘obese’. May malisya man o wala, hindi tama para sa pangkaraniwang tao. Paano nakalusot ang gano’n?,” lamented Poe at the Senate deliberations of the DepEd budget.
The senator suggested that teachers be provided sensitivity training and urged the DepEd not to allow prejudices or lapses in educational or examination materials that violate basic rights and overstep the boundaries of decency.
“It’s not so much to simply punish an individual but also to evaluate how we are giving seminars to our teachers on sensitivity,” Poe explained.
“The department has a system of approvals on materials given to students. Officials who sign on them are expected to exercise utmost caution,” Poe said.
The senator also said it is good that public school students can be provided one module each, which is the case during the first quarter.
“Attention should be given to the quality of educational materials, not only the quantity,” the senator said.
“If we want a kinder society, any form of discrimination should be shunned in our schools,” Poe added.(30)
