As the country prepares for a new school year, a group of education workers has urged the government to suspend the implementation of the revised Kindergarten to Grade 10 curriculum, known as the MATATAG Curriculum.
“The new school year brings new burdens to our teachers and students, while old problems in our education system persist,” the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said in a statement.
The group also expressed “deep concern” over the opening of the new school year on July 29, where children, teachers, and parents will face “new burdens due to the government's failure to resolve fundamental problems in the education system."
Heavier workload for teachers
“The implementation of the MATATAG program will only add to the workload of teachers and students, instead of addressing the real issues in our education,” ACT said.
“The MATATAG curriculum will result in a heavier workload for teachers, with a 30 percent increase in their teaching load,” ACT said.
The group pointed out that from the previous six teaching loads, teachers will now have eight.
“This means more students and classes to focus on, more outputs to check, and more grades to compute,” ACT said.
Safety of students ‘compromised’
ACT claimed that implementing the MATATAG Curriculum also extends their stay in school.
“There are extended class hours for children, which may last until 8 p.m. or later in some schools,” ACT said. “This gambles with the well-being and safety of our students,” the group added.
Additional problem
In the aftermath of the typhoon-enhanced southwest monsoon which delayed the scheduled opening of over 900 schools on July 29, ACT said that the government should “implement immediate and concrete solutions” to provide appropriate learning spaces.
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https://mb.com.ph/2024/7/28/list-978-schools-with-postponed-opening-on-july-29
“Our education system, already battered by calamities and chronic neglect, will inevitably face a disastrous school opening due to the government's failure to address massive shortages and its rushed implementation of ill-conceived programs like the MATATAG curriculum,” ACT said.
The group also criticized the MATATAG Curriculum because it is “not evidence-based nor grounded in classroom realities.”
The MATATAG Curriculum, a revised curriculum for Kindergarten to Grade 10 under the K to 12 Program, was introduced under Vice President and former DepEd Secretary Sara Duterte.
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The curriculum, designed to focus on foundational skills, will be implemented in phases starting School Year (SY) 2024-2025 and will cover Kindergarten, Grades 1, 4, and 7.
Address education concerns
Aside from the immediate halt to implementing the MATATAG curriculum, ACT urged the government to conduct a comprehensive overhaul of the K to 12 program.
The group is also pushing for a significant increase in the education budget, equivalent to a percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to address the shortages in classrooms, teachers, and learning resources, among others.
ACT said the government should stop pushing blended learning as a “cure-all” for classroom shortages and climate change impacts because this only ignores the digital divide and lack of resources in many communities.
“Without urgent action to address these fundamental issues, we fear this school year will only deepen the learning crisis,” ACT said. “Our students deserve better than this perpetual state of educational emergency,” it added.
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