DepEd's Densing suggests making English, Filipino as medium of instruction

Department of Education (DepEd) Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III on Wednesday said he suggested to Vice President Sara Duterte to make English and Filipino as medium of instruction in schools.

“I would want to say that we use the regular English and Filipino as medium of instruction and the mother tongue as an exception to the rule,” he said in an interview on ANC.

Currently, the mother tongue is required to be used as a medium of instruction from Kindergarten to Grade 3 under the K to12 law, Densing said.

He acknowledged that the adjustment would need legislation.

Densing said he had discussed his suggestion a few times with the vice president, who also serves as DepEd secretary.

“I have discussed this a few times to Vice President Sara—although this is not yet official because this has not come out, but this is more of a personal comment of mine that again I opened up for discussion with VP Sara... The mother tongue under the K to12 law they required ... from Kindergarten to, I think, Grade 3. And these are the opinions of the experts,” he said.

“But being practical about it, if this has been effective, then why have we failed in [Programme for International Student Assessment] evaluation?" the DepEd official said.

Meanwhile, Densing said the DepEd has finished its review of the programs for Kindergarten to Grade 10 levels. According to him, the DepEd came up with proposed revisions that will be presented soon.

“Even prior to the survey and the assumption of office of this administration, the DepEd has already made a review  of the K to 12 program,” he said.

“They started to review Kindergarten to Grade 10 and I believe that they are now finalizing the assessment and would be presenting their proposed revisions anytime soon,” he added.

Densing made the statement when asked if the DepEd will review the K to 12 program after a Pulse Asia survey showed that 44% of Filipinos were not satisfied with the program.

Last month, even before he was sworn in as president, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. called for a review on the implementation of the K to 12 program, Education Secretary Sara Duterte said. —KG, GMA News