‘Funding problem might hamper government’s English proficiency drive’

Lack of funds to hone the facility of public school teachers in the English language would hamper the implementation of Malacañang’s directive to use English as the medium of instruction, opposition Sen. Tessie Aquino Oreta said yesterday.

Oreta, former chairman of the Senate committee on education, cited past studies showing that the English comprehension skills of a sampling of elementary school teachers were only equivalent to those of a Grade 7 or first year high school student.

During the Senate hearing on the budget of the Department of Education the other day, DepEd Secretary Edilberto de Jesus admitted that the department has no budget to upgrade the capability of public school teachers in using English as medium of instruction.

De Jesus said that the need for additional budget would depend on an evaluation of the capabilities of present public school teachers to use English as medium of instruction.

He pointed out, however, that under the modified curriculum, DepEd is already using English as medium of instruction in English, science and math subjects.

Oreta said that English and Filipino should both be used as media of instruction in accordance with the Constitution.

"Filipino should be promoted in schools as a language of literacy and a source of national identity and unity, while English should be encouraged as the language of science and technology, regional commerce and international communication," Oreta explained.

She called on the Arroyo administration to focus on honing teachers’ skills in using both English and Filipino as media of instruction.

"The more serious problem hobbling basic education in the country is the lack of competent public school tutors who could teach effectively in both languages," she asserted.

During the budget hearing, presided over by Sen. Francis Pangilinan, De Jesus also stressed the need to hire 23,000 new teachers next school year. This would decongest many classrooms, ease the load of teachers, and make public education more accessible to the young.

"Unfortunately, our proposed budget does not contain any provision for the hiring of new teachers," De Jesus said.

He added that the education budget was prepared before he took over the department.

"We need about P4 billion to hire 23,000 new teachers," he said.

De Jesus said many legislators are sympathetic to the need to ease the shortage of teachers in public schools. He said they have already received commitment for P500 million more, enough to hire about 3,000 new teachers. – Efren Danao