DepEd: Removal of Mother Tongue as subject not yet final

The Department of Education (DepEd) on Tuesday clarified that the removal of Mother Tongue as a subject is not yet final, pending the release of the final curriculum for the Kinder to Grade 10 (K-10) program.

DepEd Spokesperson Michael Poa made the remark after Education Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said Monday that the department was set to get rid of the 50 minutes of Mother Tongue subject for Grades 1 to 3 to decongest the existing curriculum.

Poa, however, said that the DepEd was still in the process of consulting with stakeholders, the academe, and other government agencies over a review of the K-10 curriculum.

“‘Yung pagtatanggal sa Mother Tongue [as a subject], wala pa po namang final niyan,” he said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.

(The removal of the Mother Tongue as a subject is not yet final.)

“Hindi pa po talaga tapos ang ating review. Once magkaron na tayo ng final na curriculum, doon po tayo maglalabas ng anunsyo kung ano ‘yung mangyayari sa mga programa, hindi lang sa Mother Tongue, pero pati na rin sa ating learning competencies,” he added.

(Our review is not yet over. Once we have the final curriculum, that's when we will release an announcement about what will happen to the programs, not only Mother Tongue, but also in our learning competencies.)

Densing had said on Monday that there was no need for a Mother Tongue subject because it was students’ everyday language in school, in the community, and within the family. The Mother Tongue subject would instead be reallocated to DepEd’s national reading and national math programs, he added.

Densing said that without the Mother Tongue as a subject, the curriculum would be anchored on the following subjects: English, Filipino, Math, Araling Panlipunan, Good Manners and Right Conduct, Physical Education, Music, and Arts. — DVM, GMA News