Teachers from Geronimo Santiago Elementary Santiago sort out mathematics modules to be used by elementary pupils. Danny Pata, ABS-CBN News/File
MANILA – Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to conduct an assessment of all learning materials produced by the agency to correct those with errors following reports about some modules that contained discriminatory language against Igorots.
“I am strongly urging the Department of Education's Bureau of Learning Resources to conduct a nationwide assessment of all learning materials produced by divisions to identify and correct erroneous materials before they are even distributed,” Gatchalian, chair of the Senate basic education committee, said Sunday in a statement.
Gatchalian said the discriminatory language toward the Igorots “shows the urgent need” for the DepEd to “revamp its quality assurance process to ensure that it does not tolerate all indications of discrimination.”
Reports of errors in DepEd learning materials since the school year started last October “exposes the weaknesses in the department’s quality assurance process,” the lawmaker said.
“DepEd has found itself in a cycle of printing and distributing erroneous modules that end up drawing criticisms and being recalled,” he noted.
The DepEd has not commented on Gatchalian’s statement.
Last month, the department issued guidelines in evaluating self-learning modules that would be used by students for the last 2 grading periods to ensure the quality of these materials.
The DepEd earlier admitted that not all of the modules used during the first grading period underwent quality assurance, following several social media posts pointing out errors or confusing questions on the learning materials.
The agency earlier launched formal channels where the public could report errors in its learning materials.
– With a report from Robert Mano, ABS-CBN News
RELATED VIDEO:
education, Sherwin Gatchalian, Department of Education, learning modules, modules, learning materials, quality assurance, discrimination, Igorots