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'Inappropriate' module content prompts DepEd to apologize, again
'Inappropriate' module content prompts DepEd to apologize, again
After drawing criticism on social media over a learning material involving former senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, the Department of Education (DepEd) issued an apology and vowed to “take full responsibility and accountability” toward the said lapse.
In an official statement signed by Assistant Schools Division Superintendent and Officer-in-Charge Joel Torrecampo dated March 29, the Schools Division Office (SDO) in Las Piñas addressed the incident involving a Grade 6, 2nd Quarter Self-Learning Module for Filipino.
While Torrecampo mentioned the post circulating on social media relative to an "inappropriate content" on one of the activities included in the said module, there was no actual mention of Roxas’ name.
“Based on the results of our investigation, we confirm that such content was indeed part of the said module,” Torrecampo said in the statement. He added that while all SLMs of the SDO-Las Piñas are being validated for quality assurance, this “particular content was identified and was advised to be corrected.”
“Unfortunately, the one that was printed was not the approved and final version of the SLM and with this, we take full responsibility and accountability toward these lapses,” Torrecampo said.
The DepEd SDO-Las Piñas also expressed its “sincerest apology to the concerned individuals which may have been offended or harmed in any way by this incident” and noted the office is “taking appropriate remedial and preventive measures to rectify the same.”
Photos of said Grade 6 Filipino module which contained the sentences: "Pakitang-tao ang ginawa ni Mar Roxas" and "Mistulang basang-sisiw si Mar Roxas sa bidyo" went viral. Netizens also called out the DepEd for the inappropriate content and urged the agency to look into it.
Since the school year 2020-2021 started, DepEd has been called out by various quarters for its modules and learning materials that were reportedly filled with errors.
Some of these lapses were acknowledged by the agency. In several instances, apologies were also issued by DepEd. However, DepEd maintained that the majority of these “erroneous learning materials” - especially those that went viral - were not quality assured or produced by the Central Office.