Beyond the minimum

The word often ignored in the phrase “Minimum Learning Competencies” is “minimum.” In fact, in the latest curriculum guides, the word is even dropped in favor of the shorter “Learning Competencies.” The word “competencies” competes with more fashionable words such as “outcomes” and “standards.” These terms do not all mean the same thing, but the word “minimum” always means only one thing – minimum, not maximum.

Public schools may be content with meeting minimum competencies or outcomes or standards, but parents pay for more than the minimum when they enrol their children in private schools. This is one of the key differences between public and private schools. Private schools do not or should not offer only the bare minimum of anything. As much as possible, they should offer maximum competencies, outcomes, or standards.

Let us take a specific but typical example to make the point clearer.

In the current mathematics curriculum used by Grade 2 in public schools, students are expected to be able to count money. This is outlined in curriculum design terms in this way:

“CONTENT: Numbers and Number Sense.

“CONTENT STANDARDS: The learner demonstrates an understanding of halves and fourths.

“PERFORMANCE STANDARDS: The learner is able to apply number concepts in problem situations solving money.

“LEARNING COMPETENCIES: The learner counts and tells the value of a set of bills or a set of coins through 100 in peso (coins only, bills only, and coins and bills).”

Take a typical Grade 1 class in an average private school. The students are 6 years old or a bit older. Practically all of them have had two or more years of being in school before Grade 1.

It is highly unlikely that these students have never seen money in coins or in bills. Because private schools (unlike public schools) are often not located within walking distance of their homes, students most likely have either seen their guardians use coins and bills or handled these themselves when they use public transportation.

As early as Grade 1 (and earlier in some cases), private school students already know how to count coins and bills to P100. There are only three bills anyway (P20, P50, P100) and only three coins (P1, P5, P10).

Students in private schools do not have to wait until they are in Grade 2 in order to fulfil this competency. This particular competency may already be met in Grade 1. In fact, in some private schools, counting money may be done as early as Prep or even Nursery.

I am not saying that students in public schools have not handled these coins and bills. But I am talking now only of students in private schools.

The point is that private schools do not have to wait for students to reach a certain grade in order to teach the competencies mandated for those grades.

The same can be seen in the teaching of English.

Here is one of the competencies for Grade 2:

“DOMAIN: Alphabet Knowledge.

“CONTENT STANDARD: The student demonstrates understanding of the alphabet in English in comparison to the alphabets of the Mother Tongue and Filipino.

“PERFORMANCE STANDARD: The student distinguishes similarities and differences of the alphabets in English and Mother Tongue and Filipino.

“LEARNING COMPETENCIES: The student is able to read the alphabet of English. The student is able to identify letters in English that are not present in Mother Tongue or Filipino and vice-versa.”

In private schools, where there is no lack of English-language books in Nursery, Prep, or Kindergarten, students usually already know the English alphabet by Grade 1 or even earlier. There is no reason to wait for Grade 2 to have students recite the letters of the alphabet.

The learning competencies prescribed by the Department of Education are meant as minimum. They are not limits to what the students can or must learn. If students are able to meet certain standards of a higher grade, private schools should not waste time waiting for that grade.

DepEd has no choice but to legislate for the vast majority of students. These students generally go to public schools. On the basic education level, there are a lot more public schools than private schools. Private schools are for the minority of students – those that can meet learning standards much earlier than others.

If we now go back to the question of when exactly students should learn English, we can see the principle of non-minimum standards at work. Public school students have to wait until the third grading period of Grade 1 to start hearing the sounds of English and seeing the shape of English words on a page. Private school students, on the contrary, do not have to wait. They can and should start reading books in English in Grade 1, and better, even earlier, in Nursery, Prep, or Kindergarten.

Students in private schools should meet the minimum learning competencies or standards set by DepEd, but they can meet them much earlier than students in public schools.

If parents want their children to get the minimum, they can send them to public schools for free. If they want them to get the maximum, they should send them to private schools, but they have to pay. The minimum is free. The maximum is not. (To be continued)