Repeal mother tongue law, President Marcos asked

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos should repeal the measure stopping the use of mother tongue as the medium of instruction from Kindergarten to Grade 3, which lapsed into law without his signature last week, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said yesterday.

The ACT slammed Marcos’ inaction that led to the passage of the new law, which amends the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 that mandates the use of the mother tongue under the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) program.

Stressing that failing to undo the new law’s passage would mean another setback in the efforts to reverse the education crisis, the ACT said experts and the Department of Education (DepEd) have advocated for the mother tongue to be the priority language of instruction.

“The DepEd asserted before that mother tongue as the first language of instruction would allow students to develop a ‘strong foundation’ in their native languages before adding additional languages,” ACT chairman Vladimer Quetua said.

“EDCOM 2 (The Second Congressional Commission on Education) even pointed out that the key challenge in the implementation of the MTB-MLE is the bureaucratic structure within DepEd that struggles to accommodate the linguistic diversity of the country,” Quetua added.

The bill – now Republic Act 12027 – lapsed into law on Oct. 10 and has been opposed by advocacy groups in the education and cultural sector due to its potential to undo the progress made in teaching students in their first language under the K-12 curriculum.

“The development of foundational literacy skills should be ensured in the primary grades. However, the new law discontinuing the use of the mother tongue as medium of instruction from Kindergarten to Grade 3 runs counter to this objective,” Quetua said.

“The teaching of mother tongue as a subject is foundational in developing literacy skills as learners can learn to read and write the easiest with the language that they use and most understand. Mother tongue also enhances the awareness and appreciation of learners of their cultural identity, and preserves and nurtures our own culture,” he added.

During his first State of the Nation Address in 2022, Marcos said he wanted the education system to favor English to retain and improve the favorable perception of Filipinos in overseas employment markets.

“This step messes up with the logical transitory framework of mother tongue as the first language, Filipino as the second language and English as the third language in learning. The real agenda behind this is not really for our learners to have a mastery of the vital lessons that hey have to learn, but to make them marketable to foreign employers,” Quetua said.

“This legislation is in no way an acceptable response to the barriers in implementation such as inadequate funding and support to teachers and students,” he added. — Mayen Jaymalin