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issue that goes against the integrity of our race. Prof. Patrocinio Villafuerte
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com
It made me realize that your mother tongue comes to you without any
effort on your part. It is a dowry that comes into your possession without
you noticing. It is then judged by another language that has been added
later and that comes from somewhere else. Your mother tongue feels as
direct and unconditional as your own skin, and it is just as vulnerable if
held in low esteem, treated with contempt, or even banned by others.
-Herta Mller
College and university professors in Filipino are up in arms against the
memorandum of the Commission on Higher Education/CHED Memorandum Order
(CMO) No. 20, Series of 2013. The said memorandum aims to remove Filipino as a
subject to be taught in college by 2016 as part of the new General Education
Curriculum (GEC).
De la Salle professor in Filipino David Michael San Juan said that while the
memorandum advocates the teaching of subjects in the Filipino language, the Ched
memorandum ensures that the study of Filipino as a language by itself will cease.
From the onset, this is a most unpatriotic action. The very idea of removing Filipino
as a subject in the higher levels of academic learning is unconscionable, he said.
San Juan explained that the memorandum goes against the Article XIV Sections 6
and 7 of the 1987 Constitution which state that the national language of the
Philippines is Filipino. As it evolves, it shall be further developed and enriched on the
basis of existing Philippine and other languages. Subject to provisions of law and as
the Congress may deem appropriate, the Government shall take steps to initiate and
sustain the use of Filipino as a medium of official communication and as language of
instruction in the educational system (Section 6). Section 7, on the other hand,
states that for purposes of communication and instruction, the official languages of
the Philippines are Filipino and, until otherwise provided by law, English.
Teaching Filipino in college is part of the implementation of Resolution No. 298-2011
of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) regarding the College Readiness
Standards of the Philippines. Covered by the same resolution are the minimum skills
that students need to learn or master so that they could be prepared for college. The
CHED has named 16 skills in Filipino. These will all be rendered useless if Filipino
as a subject is no longer sustained and expanded.
In many European countries, the United States and countries in Southeast Asia,
subjects that focus on the study of the national language are part of the General
Education Curriculum (GEC) or its equivalent. At the time when the so-called
The CHed should make Filipino as subject mandatory in the tertiary level because if
the issue if left to the whim of universities, they will either make it optional or not
include it at all in the curriculum, PSLLF president Aurora Batnag pointed out. It is
in the higher levels of education that the intellectualization of language takes place,
this is needed to ensure that the language is used in all levels and disciplines, she
said.
Batnag also said that the Ched memorandum and the K-12 program also serves to
negate the struggle of patriotic academics in the 1970s to ensure that six to nine
units of Filipino be taught in college.
Based on the results of the June 12 dialogue, the teachers will again write to the
CHed and call that it formally convene a Technical Panel/Technical Working Group
on Filipino and the General Education Committee. The dialogue, they said, should
include representatives of universities who assert the necessity of having Filipino
taught as a subject in the tertiary level.
On June 12, the Departamento ng Filipino of DLSU will hold a consultative forumassembly of all Filipino departments to prepare for the expected meeting with the
CHED. Teachers from the University of Sto. Tomas, Ateneo de Manila and the
University of the Philippines have already pledged their support to the activity. The
main aim of the upcoming activity, San Juan explained, was to form a concensus
among teachers regarding the design of Filipino subjects in college as will be
proposed to the CHed.
In a March 30 letter to the Ched, some 300 teachers from various universities signed
in protest against the removal of Filipino from the new curriculum. These included
teachers from DLSU-Manila, Unibersidad ng Santo Tomas (UST), Philippine Normal
University (PNU), DLSU-Dasmarias, Manila Tytana Colleges, UP Diliman,
Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Pasig, Malayan Colleges Laguna, Polytechnic
University of the Philippines (PUP), De La Salle-College of St. Benilde (DLS-CSB),
University of the East (UE), Colegio de San Juan de Letran, St. Marys Academy of
Caloocan City, Bagumbayan National High School, Signal Village National High
School, Iloilo State College of Fisheries, University of San Jose-Recoletos,
University of Perpetual Help-System, Bagong Silangan High School, Saint Joseph
College-Maasin City, Palawan State University, Elite International School-Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia, De La Salle Araneta University, Pasig Catholic College, City of Bogo
Science and Arts Academy, Gregorio del Pilar Elementary School, F. Benitez
Elementary School, R. Palma Elementary School, A. Regidor Elementary School,
Mambajog Elementary School, Bon-ot Big Elementary School, St. Paul CollegePasig, Justice Emilio Angeles Gancangco Memorial High School, Bataan Peninsula
State University, Mapua Institute of Technology, Assumption-Antipolo, St.
Scholasticas Academy-Marikina, Taguig City University, Colegio San Agustin-
regarding these courses which are said to be the main academic areas that produce
the workforce for sunrise industries important to the economys continued growth.
Graduate employment is a concern at a time when unemployment rates are rising in
the Philippines. The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said the
majority of the unemployed were high school graduates (31.7%), college graduates
(21.3%) and college undergraduates (14.6%). The issue of stimulating job creation
is of key concern to the current government, and efforts are being made to address
it within the P 2.268 trillion (nearly US $52 billion) 2014 spending plan.
In 2014, the government gave the education sector the lions share of the national
budget. Allocations for education are pegged at P 336.9 billion (over US $7.7 billion)
or nearly 15% of the total, which is 14% more than the amount allocated in 2013.
Most of this new funding will work to stimulate and develop the K-12 sector.
Total enrollment for business courses growing
The PBeD said that the number of those who enroll in courses within the four
disciplines form at least half of the total national enrollment in schools in recent
years. It said that the improvements in the system of higher education will make
institutions and their graduates more relevant to industry and make graduates more
employable. This will then create a stronger workforce for industries.
The Ched itself has also embarked on efforts to establish partnerships between
industry and the academe. Educational officials explained that all technical panels of
the CHed have industry representatives. Colleges and universities are also being
encouraged to become involved with industry by engaging in on-the-job training
schemes, apprenticeship and faculty immersion.
Still, much can still be improved by way of helping graduates secure immediate
employment. The CHed admitted that only 40 percent of the over 500,000 graduates
every year become employed one year after finishing college, and 18 percent of all
unemployed Filipinos are college graduates. On the other hand, the National
Statistics Office (NSO) said that 21.3 percent of all unemployed Filipinos are new
graduates.
The CheD reported that of all the graduates who responded to the want ads of the
Business Processing Association of the Philippines, only 5 to 8 percent were hired
because the rest did not possess the competencies required by the jobs offered.
Given this, there is reason to believe that the newly-established academe-industry
working relations can help bring desired result: that of producing the manpower
demanded by many industry vacancies. Policies, standards and guidelines will be
reviewed for the four aforementioned disciplines, and new requirements will be
implemented to make sure that the PSGs meet the needs of industries.
A moral issue of integrity