DepEd urged to integrate foreign languages in K-12 curricula

MANILA, Philippines - A Quezon City councilor has proposed a resolution urging the Department of Education (DepEd) to integrate foreign languages as an elective in the K-12 curricula for public and private schools in the city.

“The students learning foreign languages such as French, Italian, Korean, Japanese, and languages from countries that are common (for) Filipinos who are currently working abroad, could be a great investment for those students who wish to work overseas in the near future,” second district Councilor Precious Hipolito-Castelo said in her proposed resolution.

She cited DepEd reports that the K-12 program is expected to be in full swing by 2015 and more than a million students are anticipated to be in senior high school by 2016.

She noted that Spanish is spoken by over 450 million people in 22 countries, while Mandarin is spoken by some 1 billion people worldwide.

The councilor added that Spanish and Mandarin-speaking countries are huge markets for Filipino services, skills and talents.

The proposal is pending before the city council’s committee on laws.