Gatchalian, Villanueva push for ‘good manners and right conduct’ as core subject in elem, HS

At least two senators are pushing for the bill institutionalizing the teaching of Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) as one of the core subjects in elementary and high school.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the basic education committee, said GMRC should be a stand-alone core subject for the students to fully benefit from it.

“Ang batas na ito ay magbibigay ng institutionalization, ibig sabihin, kahit sino man na nakaupo diyan, magiging core fundamental na ang values education,” he told reporters after the hearing on the bill.

“Magiging stand-alone subject siya, one hour per day for elementary at sa high school,” he added.

He said teaching Values Education and GMRC should be emphasized now as much as the government gives emphasis to Mathematics, Science, and English.

“So importante na bigyan natin ito ng emphasis dahil ang nabibigyan lang ngayon ng emphasis ay ang traditional subjects—Math, Science, English. So ang gusto natin ngayon ay bigyang emphasis naman ang Values Education dahil ito ang magbibigay ng tamang pag-asal ng ating mga kabataan at sila ang susunod na henerasyon na magdadala ng tamang asal na ito,” he said.

He added under the proposed measure, those who will be teaching GMRC and Values Education should have certification.

“Ngayon ang mga nagtuturo ay hindi sila certified sa Values Education. Kailangang certified din sila para ang pagtuturo ay maayos,” he said.

“Kung binibigyan natin ng emphasis ay Math, math experts yung nilalagay. Yung values, dahil hindi nabibigyan ng importance, kung sino-sino na lang ang nilalagay. ‘Yun ang lumabas sa hearing at nakita ko na mali dahil we have to treat Values Education the same as Math, Science, and other subjects."

At present, students have a subject on Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao which is only taught for 30 minutes.

“Thirty minutes is very short. Kasi ‘yung other 30 minutes, ikakalat sa ibang subjects. Kapag nagtuturo ka ng Math, ang hirap na rin ipasok doon ang values. So nakita natin na lumabnaw ‘yung pagtuturo ng Values Education so we want to make it whole and to strengthen it,” Gatchalian said.

Senator Joel Villanueva, chairman of committee on higher, technical, and vocational education, said it is important to institutionalize GMRC and include character-building activities in the curriculum of the K-12 program.

“We can’t discount the fact that Values Education or Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao (ESP) is already included in the DepEd curriculum, yet, there is a clamor for the revival of  Good Manners and Right Conduct in the curriculum, and this clamor is indeed proper given realities that we observe in our manner of conducting the affairs of the various aspects of our daily lives as Filipinos,” he said during the hearing.

He said Senate Bill 860 seeks to teach students the practical and acceptable manners of conducting daily affairs according to universal norms of ethics and morality.

“Let me state that character building activities are necessary components of the Comprehensive Values Education curriculum where students are given actual opportunities to practice, experience, test, and deepen whatever is taught and caught in the other aspects of learning,” he said.

He said activities may include immersions, exposures, outreach activities, and community service.

During the hearing various stake holders have echoed their support for the passage of the bill including the National Youth Commission, the Department of Education, and the Philippine National University. — BM, GMA News