Teachers expressed concern over a module calling the Martial Law period the period of New Society and urged the Department of Education (DepED) to pull out the said learning material.
In a statement issued Thursday, Oct. 20, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines called out DepED following reports of the use of the said learning module in a Marinduque school as well as in other areas such as in Iloilo and Quezon City.
LOOK: @actph1982 demands the pull out of module calling Martial Law period as "New Society" (Photos from ACT Philippines) @manilabulletin pic.twitter.com/KNr3J8qWnS
— Merlina Hernando-Malipot (@MB_InaHernando) October 20, 2022
ACT was referring to the subject module for the Senior High School 21st Century Literature subject entitled “Geographic, Linguistic and Ethnic Dimensions of Philippine Literary History from Pre-Colonial to the Contemporary.”
ACT Spokesperson Rizza Bantillan also questioned the use of the said module and if this was “reviewed” by the DepED Central Office.
Bantillan pointed out that the said module has also typographical errors and an overall “problematic” periodization. For instance, it labeled the “Period of Enlightenment” from “1972-1898.”
The leadership of DepED, Bantillan said, has the responsibility of ensuring the quality of the modules.
“Sana ay hindi ang mga guro na nautusang sumulat ng modules ang maipit dito dahil sa totoo lang, sumalo lamang sila sa kakulangan ng DepEd at ni walang kompensasyon ang mga guro para sa gawaing iyan (We hope that the teachers who were ordered to write the modules will not blamed here because in truth, they only tried to make up for the lapses of DepED and the teachers are not even compensated for that work),” she explained.
ACT is urging the DepED to order the halting of the module’s use and its immediate pull out from online portals.
Aside from “honest mistakes” and typographical errors, Bantillan noted the urgent need to be vigilant for “conscious distortion of the truth and history” not only in teaching and learning materials but especially in the current revision of the curriculum.
Sought for reaction, DepED Spokesperson Michael Poa said that the agency is set to issue an official statement on the matter.
Meanwhile, a viral post claiming that DepED plans to rebrand “Batas Militar” (Martial Law) as “Bagong Lipunan” (New Society) in the ongoing curriculum review has also been circulating online in the past weeks.
Asked to comment on alleged rebranding as mentioned in the said post, DepED said: "it’s not true."
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2022/10/14/deped-to-change-martial-law-to-bagong-lipunan-spox-says-its-not-true/