ADVERTISEMENT
970x220
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Confusing' Mother Tongue subject removed; to remain as a medium of instruction --- DepEd

'Confusing' Mother Tongue subject removed; to remain as a medium of instruction --- DepEd

Published Aug 10, 2023 04:01 pm

At A Glance

  • Beginning School Year (SY) 2024-2025, mother tongue will no longer be a separate subject according to the DepEd.
  • DepEd removed the mother tongue as a subject in the newly-launched MATATAG K to 10 Curriculum to be pilot tested this year and will be implemented in phases starting SY 2024-2025.
  • Mother tongue, DepEd clarified, will remain as a medium of teaching and learning in schools. 

Mother tongue, as a learning area or a subject, has been removed from the adjusted K to 10 curriculum launched by the Department of Education (DepEd) on Thursday, Aug. 10.

Teacher DepEd MB Visual Content Group.jpg
DepEd / MB Visual Content Group 

“What we removed was mother tongue as a subject but not mother tongue as a medium of instruction pursuant to the K to 12 law,” said DepEd Undersecretary and Spokesperson Michael Poa in a press briefing after the formal launch of the new K to 10 curriculum.

READ:

https://mb.com.ph/2023/8/10/dep-ed-launches-matatag-k-to-10-curriculum

Bureau of Curriculum Development Director Joyce Andaya explained the mother tongue, as a subject is “actually something that can be explained also or taken up” in other learning areas.

DepEd noted that there were also “some issues” in the implementation of the mother tongue as a subject.

“Basically, yung (the) mother tongue as a subject has caused some confusion among teachers in the field especially in the Luzon area,” Undersecretary for Curriculum and Teaching Gina Gonong explained.

In the current curriculum, there is a Filipino subject then the Mother Tongue subject. “They [teachers] are asking what’s the difference of the two subjects,” she said.

This “confusion,” Gonong said, is among the reasons why DepEd decided to remove the mother tongue as a subject in the adjusted K to 10 curriculum.

Even before DepEd formally launched the revised K to 10 curriculum, teachers’ groups have been opposing the removal of Mother Tongue subject in the new curriculum.

For the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines, scrapping the Mother Tongue is “counter-productive to learning” because this serves as a subject that maximizes the home language as an effective language of instruction.

READ:

https://mb.com.ph/2022/10/17/group-hits-deped-for-abandoning-mother-tongue-as-subject/

Removing Mother Tongue as a subject, ACT added, will only “make learning recovery more difficult.”

For Teachers' Dignity Coalition (TDC), improving the implementation of the mother tongue as a subject is ideal instead of outright suspending it.

READ:

https://mb.com.ph/2023/7/15/teachers-urged-gov-t-to-support-not-suspend-mother-tongue-education

DepEd said the MATATAG K to 10 Curriculum will be pilot tested this year before its rollout next school year. 

Related Tags

MATATAG K TO 10 curriculum MATATAG K to 12 Basic Education Program DepEd MATATAG Curriculum
ADVERTISEMENT
300x250
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0 72px 0 12px; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } li:empty { display: none; } .hidden { display: none; }
function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // The two offset values // changed to 10 from 1 , 2 const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } function isNearBottom() { return window.innerHeight + window.scrollY >= document.documentElement.scrollHeight - 100; } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; // Skip if already loading if (isNearBottom()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; // Set flag to prevent multiple calls const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { loadCount++; // Increment only after successful execution }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; // Reset flag after execution }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); }); // Mutation Observer for Newly Loaded Articles const observer = new MutationObserver(() => { const articles = document.querySelectorAll(".articles-observe"); if (articles.length > 0) { observeArticles(articles); } }); observer.observe(document.body, { childList: true, subtree: true }); // Intersection Observer for Updating URL function observeArticles(articles) { const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); articles.forEach(article => intersectionObserver.observe(article)); }
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.