The Cebu Provincial Board is now pushing for the use of the Cebuano dialect in teaching English and Pilipino in the elementary and secondary level. In a resolution it passed recently, the PB urged the Department of Education to prescribe Cebuano as vital “bridge language” in teaching the two subjects.
The PB based its observation on the fact that the use of Filipino and English mediums of instruction in the country is blamed for the poor performance of Cebu’s students in the National Achievement Test, as these two languages may be too foreign for them.
However, we do not see any reason the PB’s move to use Cebuano in teaching Filipino and English in the province will help alleviate the poor situation of the education system in the province. It will only be a step backward in this time when everything under the sun is geared toward globalization.
Speaking of globalization, there can only be one language that can link the world as humanity tries to cope with the constantly changing times. And that is the English language.
While other countries have been ambitiously taking steps to embrace the English language to keep in step with the modern age, here comes some of the honorable board members trying to drag the younger generation back to the Stone Age.
These local lawmakers probably have not been taking note of the fact that tens of thousands of Koreans and other foreign nationals have been converging in the country to study the English language.
It’s strange that while the country has earned the distinction of being the third largest English-speaking country in the world, there are some who cannot seem able to grasp the importance of the universal language that Filipinos have been familiar with.
In this country where the educational system has long been suffering from different woes ranging from budgetary constraints to the growing lack of interest in the teaching profession, the government should instead find ways to improve the country’s advantage on the English language.