DepEd apologizes for error, says to implement stricter quality assurance

MANILA (UPDATE)— The Department of Education's television channel again drew flak from social media users after it aired the wrong solution to a math problem.

In the lesson that aired on Tuesday, the problem sought to determine the value of "x" in "2x=0."

"We divide both sides by zero to obtain the value of x, which is zero," the teacher-broadcaster said.

But netizens, such as Jemima Manansala, pointed out that the solution was incorrect.

Manansala, whose Facebook post of the math lesson has so far received thousands of reactions and shares, said she spotted the error while checking DepEd TV episodes out of curiosity.

"It was very easy for me to see the error. Favorite subject ko kasi ang Math (My favorite subject is Math)," she said.

"Honestly, I was disappointed noong nakita ko 'yong error. Maraming bata ang nagre-rely sa... program ng DepEd. Kawawa 'yong kids na ganoon ang matutunan na way ng pag-solve ng value for a variable," said Manansala, who has 2 children in school this year.

(Honestly, I was disappointed when I saw the error. Many kids rely on... the programs of DepEd. I feel bad for the kids who would learn to solve for the value of a variable that way.)

A public school math teacher interviewed by ABS-CBN News, who requested not to be identified, explained that to get the value of "x" or arrive at "x=0," both sides of the equation should have been divided by 2 instead of 0.

The result of a number divided by zero is undefined while zero divided by itself is indeterminate, said the teacher, who has been in the profession for over a decade.

In a Facebook post, Education Undersecretary Alain Pascua apologized over the error, adding that the department would implement stricter quality assurance to avoid mistakes in future DepEd TV episodes.

"Humihingi po kami ng paumanhin sa ating mga mag-aaral, sa mga magulang at teachers sa pagkakamaling ito. Hihigpitan po natin ang pag-QA (quality assurance) para maging perpekto ang ating mga episodes sa DepEd TV," he said.

(We apologize to our students, parents and teachers for this mistake. We will tighten our quality assurance so our DepEd TV episodes will be perfect.)

A version of the episode with the correct solution will be uploaded on the DepEd Commons and the agency's YouTube channel, Pascua added.

"May maganda ring naidulot ang pagkakamali na ito at ang pag-critique sa maling ito. Ipinapaalam sa atin lahat na mahalaga ang pag-QA sa mga episodes at paulit-ulit na pag-review ng mga episodes kahit pagod at puyat na ang mga teams ng DepEd TV," he said.

(Something good came out from this mistake. It tells us that quality assurance of the episodes is important as well as the repeated review of the episodes even if the teams behind DepEd TV are already tired and sleep-deprived.)

In August, several social media users also criticized DepEd TV for airing grammatically-incorrect sentences during its test broadcast.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones said the department has set up control measures to avoid errors in their programs.

TV-based instruction is one of the components of distance learning, which is the DepEd's answer to the prohibition of in-person classes due to the continued threat of COVID-19.

Some 22.5 million students in public schools in the Philippines resumed their studies on Monday.

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• Public school learners resume studies through distance learning