Dulangon: Give me solutions, not probs

CEBU, Philippines - T he Department of Education 7 has accomplished 95.94 percent of its targeted physical outputs in the implementation of the K-12 for the second quarter. This was reported during the recently concluded Regional Monitoring Evaluation Adjustment conference.

DepEd 7 director Dr. Carmelita Tumulak Dulangon, however reminded the heads of the different divisions in the region that the reported results are “quantitative, not qualitative.”

“We should have to take a look at what we wanted to do. Some of the items presented are recurring problems such as lack of manpower and equipment, this time including a (filing) cabinet. Don’t give me problems. Give me solutions,” Dulangon said in her management response immediately after the Physical Accomplishments report presented by the Technical and Development Division; Policy, Planning and Research Div.; Field Technical Assistance Div., Budget and Finance Div., Resource Mobilization Special Programs and Projects Div.; Quality Assurance and Accountability Div., Curriculum and Learning Materials Div., and Administrative Division.

Dulangon, in response to teachers’ feedback and a study done by a public high school head here, which revealed that despite the five K-to-12-related trainings provided by the regional office the “echo model training is ineffective,” said: “We might be scratching the surface only. Remember that our work does not stop after we have given the training and provided the instructional materials. We have to immediately check what happened after, why some teachers complain of not receiving these materials like Cebu City and Bantayan Divisions (for Quarters 3 and 4 last school year, particular to the implementation of Grade 7).”

“Some might not feel they are fully equipped because they might be new teachers. We also have to mark that in our data gathering. And we should not be disappointed with media if they report feedback from teachers because they are of help to us in seeing ourselves. We can be guided further on points to work on and work into,” she further said.

As for the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education in the first three grade levels, Dulangon said parents need not worry that their children might not become as proficient in the English language as their counterparts in private schools. “Mother tongue, like our Sugbuanong Binisaya, is beneficial to our students, in that it develops self-confidence among them. They can express better orally. Book content is also geared at developing values among our children, not just dissecting grammar parts, and not just for the heck of reading.”

She also acknowledged consistent and strong partners in various projects that can’t be wholly addressed by the DepEd. “There’s Aboitiz and RAFI that share in our programs meant to provide brighter future in education.”

“And of course there’s The FREEMAN which has a special page – an Education Section – highly endorsed by this office to its 19 Divisions, for coming up with stories about our outputs, and not just about crimes and violence,” Dulangon underscored. (FREEMAN)