K-12 Curriculum Summary

A Critique on the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education in the Philippines’

K to 12 Curriculum

Introduction

The Philippines is one of the most promising nations in Asia. With a fast growing and stable economy, besting other nations in Asia, we possess a lot of potentials that should not be wasted. We are moving forward and we are slowly recovering from the previous heartaches that our nation has seen. Progress knows advancement, growth, improvement, and being at par with the world standard. In line with this, the previous Aquino administration spearheaded a colossal change in the Philippine education system, which is called the K to 12 Curriculum.

The new curriculum, which is also known as the K to 12 curriculum, delivers a lot of

The Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education is a big innovation to the Philippine education system. There is an important reason why the Department of Education has decided to include this as one of the main parts of the new curriculum. A number of studies have already explicated the relevance of using the mother tongue in the early grades to enhance the learner’s ability to learn better compared to the use of a second or foreign language (UNESCO, 2003; Skutnabb-Kangas, 2003 as cited by Rai, et al.,2011). In a study in Nepal, those children who were taught in languages different from their home language or mother tongue, are reported to have higher drop-out rates and have lower academic performances (Yadava, 2007; Awasthi, 2004 as cited by Rai, et al.,2011). Chilren who master their first language before any other languages become less problematic in the habits of speech, listening, reading, and writing (Maclaughlin, 1987; Krashen, 195; Ndamba

Those who are concerned with the implementation of the MTB-MLE complain about the deficiencies that the government has shown in the implementation of MTB-MLE. In a study conducted by Lisa Ann Burton in 2013 that was conducted in Bicol, she found out that teachers learned that they would be implementing MTB-MLE only one week prior to the start of the school year. Those teachers did not receive government materials right away. Two weeks after the start of the school year, they were given curriculum guides that listed core competencies. This is very disturbing knowing that the school year had started without having their hands on the necessary materials for their region/locality. Instructional materials are vital to teaching-learning process (Sunday & Joshua, 2010), and teaching can only be effective when adequate and relevantinstructional materials are used (Afolabi, Adeyanju, Adedapo & Falade, 2006 as cited by Sunday & Joshua, 2010). The same case can be seen in Baguio City where it is considered as a melting pot of different language and culture in the Northern Philippines. Students in Baguio City have different backgrounds in terms of language and culture. Majority in Baguio City speaks the Ilokano language, but in a study by Lartec et al., in 2014, they found out that the teachers in participating schools had to use books written in English and translate the content to the pupils’