Dropping of Filipino in college angers educators

MANILA, Philippines - Educators, experts and advocates of Filipino and Philippine literature have expressed anger over plans to drop the mandatory Filipino subjects in the revised general education (GE) curriculum released by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

“Hindi lang gulat. Galit,” National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera told The STAR following a forum at the University of the Philippines (UP) yesterday.

“That effectively shuts Filipino out of the cultural development,” he added, referring to the government decision that reduced the required general education subjects to a minimum of 32 units.

A primer on the K to 12 program released on the Official Gazette said that the new curriculum will have fewer units “with the removal of unnecessary remediation as K to 12 graduates adhere to the College Readiness Standards.”

The CHED memorandum order on the new curriculum noted that the integration of GE courses in senior high school (Grades 11 and 12) has created a window for the revision of the current curriculum in colleges.

The new curriculum, according to CHED, aims to develop the intellectual competencies, personal and civic competencies, and practical skills of students.

It included the following core courses, which “maybe (sic) taught in English or Filipino”: Understanding the Self; Readings in Philippine History; The Contemporary World; and Mathematics in the Modern World.

Also included are Purposive Communication; Art Appreciation; Science, Technology and Society; and Ethics.

The new curriculum requires three courses on the Arts & Humanities; Social Sciences & Philosophy; and Mathematics Science and Technology clusters. It also mandates the three-unit Life and Works of Rizal course.

David San Juan, professor of Filipino at the De La Salle University, said courses included in the CHED memorandum effectively removes Filipino from the college curriculum.

He said that while the memorandum stated that the optional provision for the teaching of the courses in Filipino dilutes its purpose as most universities in the country uses English as its default language.

Rosario Torres-Yu, chairperson of the UP Sentro ng Wikang Filipino, said the lack of implementing rules on the token provision may result in lay-off of Filipino teachers as administrators would rather let the subjects be taught in English.

She said Filipino should not be compared with English as it is declared the national language and its purpose is for it to be used as the official language, the language for communication, and the language for teaching.