MANILA — The Department of Education (DepEd) has been called out again for an error in a module used by students for distance learning.
In a House hearing on Monday, educator Antonio Calipjo Go showed a copy of the module, which tackled Filipino mythological creatures such as the aswang, duwende, kapre and tikbalang.
The module described the aswang as, "Siya rin ay isang diyos pero ang Aswang ay pinaniniwalaan na ito'y tao na kumakain ng kapwa tao. Kung minsan ang mga ito ay pinapaniwalaan na may mga pakpak at sila raw ay gising kung gabi para maghanap ng makak*nt*t o maaswang."
(The Aswang is a god but it is also believed that it's a human that eats other human beings. It is often believed to have wings and are awake at night, looking for people to f*ck.)
Screengrab from a livestream at the House of Representatives' official Facebook page.
"Imagine? 'Yong bata pinababasa natin ng ganyang kasamang salita," Go said during the hearing.
(Imagine? We're letting our kids reach such bad words.)
"The module itself contains a word na hindi ko pa nakikita anywhere, kahit sa Tiktik," he said, referring to a local tabloid.
(The module itself contains a word that I have not seen anywhere, even in Tiktik.)
The learning material was used by Grade 10 students in Central Luzon for their Filipino subject during the second grading period.
Education Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio said the department recalled the module last February and issued an errata.
Tonisito Umali, also a DepEd undersecretary, said the agency would hold those responsible for the module accountable.
"Talagang hindi katanggap-tanggap itong materyal na ito," Umali said.
(This material is really unacceptable.)
Last year, the DepEd also drew flak after a self-learning module went viral on social media for containing names that served as puns alluding to lewd acts.
The module was produced by a private Catholic school in Zambales, according to the DepEd's investigation.
During the House hearing, San Antonio also reported that the DepEd recorded 155 errors in its learning materials from October 2020 to June 2021.
Of the total, 104 errors were from learning materials developed by field units, 25 were from materials reviewed by the DepEd Central Office, 19 were from unknown sources, 5 were from DepEd TV, 1 from a "privately-developed" material, and 1 from a DepEd textbook.
"Kapag na-determine namin at na-validate na mali ito, we immediately issue [an] errata so that teachers... would be able to make use of them (learning materials)," San Antonio said.
(Once we determine and validate that there is an error, we immediately issue an errata so that teachers... would be able to make use of the learning materials.)
In October, the DepEd launched formal channels where the public can report errors in its learning materials.
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Department of Education, DepEd, learning module, learning module error, House of Representatives, House hearing, distance learning, remote learning, blended learning