MANILA - Senator Sherwin Gatchalian called on the Department of Education (DepEd) to craft a strategic plan in the implementation of the Mother Tongue-Based-Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE), as the agency admitted it has not conducted any study in over 10 years since the policy has been implemented.

In a Senate hearing Monday, Gatchalian asked the DepEd on its vision for the implementation of mother tongue, which is being taught as a subject from Grades 1 to 3 and is also used as a medium of instruction.

Dr. Rosalina Villaneza, Chief Education Program Specialist of the DepEd-Bureau of Learning Delivery, said they want to be able to teach all languages that learners need.

"To be able to achieve all those languages that are needed for K to 3. In fact po, if you look at the previous presentation, meron na po tayong 20, 70, and 40 (languages) na nasa different stages na po. Iyong 20 is for final na actually siya, then 70 for review. We're working on that po. Our vision is really to address because no child should be left behind," she explained.

Villaneza shared they are looking at 172 languages, as there are only 19 languages that have books being used in schools nationwide.

"Dati po is 172, when we were starting. Pero we're looking at it po talaga sa 172 kung feasible ba siya. Kasi lalong-lalo na doon sa mga far-flung areas na talagang walang access ang mga bata especially po with IPED and those remote schools," she said.

The official also stressed there is a "mismatch" between the concept and teaching of MTB-MLE.

"Mismatch iyon po... Ang konteksto noon po is misunderstanding of the concept of bilingual. Kasi ang bilingual po sa other countries is referring to the national - the minority and the majority. Pero dito po sa atin, iba pa iyong meaning ng bilingual. Kasi sa atin po, when we implemented bilingual education, we talk about Filipino - which is the national (language) - and English," Villaneza said.

"Mismatch po ng mother tongue ng teachers, iyon po ang konteksto... Totoo pong wala (research/study). Kaya nga po the UNESCO is really saluting DepEd for spearheading the implementation of the mother tongue and coming up with a law such as this. I think, para sa akin lang po, hindi po tama na balewalain natin iyong theories na nagsasabi na this is how our learners learn. Dahil lang po multilingual tayo kasi iba po iyong konteksto ng pagiging multilingual mo na nakakapagsalita ka ng maraming lengguwahe, iba po iyong kesa sa cognitive na pinag-uusapan dito at sa importance ng reasoning skills and thinking skills... We proposed for a sectioning of class based on the results of the language map. Pwede naman po iyon... Meron po tayong policy noon na nagsasabi, use the language that is common to all," she added.

Meanwhile, Benjo Basas, chairperson of the Teacher's Dignity Coalition, recommended to exhaust alll available state policies and facilities, as he appealed for a creation of "some sort of technical working group" composed of language and child psychology experts.

Gatchalian assured careful study and recommendation on the implementation of MTB-MLE, as any decision on the policy will have a "sweeping reform" and "far reaching impact".

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