EDITORIAL – A good move, in more ways than one

If there will be no legal impediments, English will now be the medium of instruction in schools in Cebu effective next year. In pushing for such move, the Cebu Provincial School Board wants to depart from the current curriculum that requires pupils to be taught in Visayan from kindergarten to Grade 3 and Filipino from Grade 4 to Grade 6.

The resolution to this effect filed by Liloan Mayor Christina Frasco has been passed by the Provincial Board. Apparently, it had something to do with the recent report the Philippines placed last among 79 countries in Reading Comprehension, and second to the last in Mathematics and Science during the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment.

Now the province hopes taking this step will pave the way to addressing this problem.

Right off the bat, we can’t say for sure that this will eventually improve the performance of our students in Reading, Math, and Science.

However, we can safely say that the Filipino students of yesteryears were better in Reading, Math, and Science than the students of today. And it just happens that the Filipino students of yesteryears were instructed in English for most of the basic levels.

For those crying foul, or those who say that neglecting the mother tongue is being unnationalistic, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia is right in saying this move won’t dilute nationalism among students.

Being able to speak the mother tongue cannot even be considered an accurate measure of how nationalistic one is. There are so many patriotic people who can speak English very well, and people who always speak the common tongue but don’t give a damn about where this country is going.

Besides, there is no shortage of occasions where a student can speak the mother tongue. In all likelihood, the average pupil uses Cebuano to talk to parents, friends, neighbors, etc. Filipino? This can readily be learned from the nightly TV programs students watch.

Teaching English is also not residual colonial mentality. Let’s be honest here. There is no escaping English. Even in the labor force, the instruction manuals for tools, vehicles, or machinery will still be English, so there’s really no escaping it.

Getting pupils used to English while they are young will have advantages later on. If nothing else, that move by the school board will keep the medium of instruction consistent within a level, and that itself is already a good idea.

Considering the present setup, where a pupil has to deal with several mediums of instruction as he or she moves from kindergarten to the higher grades, this might actually add another layer of difficulty to a child already grappling with his or her lessons.

Keeping that medium of instruction constant from start to finish, at least for the basic level of education, may actually help them focus on what is being taught instead of how it is being taught.