Optional use of mother tongue for flexible teaching - lawmaker

Metro Manila, Philippines – Scrapping the mother tongue as the required medium of instruction in early childhood education would make teaching more flexible, a lawmaker said.

In an interview with NewsWatch Plus, Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo, chairperson of the House committee on basic education and culture, welcomed the new law that discontinued mother tongue as a required teaching medium.

On Oct. 11, Republic Act 12027 lapsed into law without the signature of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. It seeks to “revert the medium of instruction to Filipino and until otherwise provided by law, English” amending the section 4 of the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013.

Romulo said teaching with the native language remains an option. He added this will help instructors not used to teaching in native languages.

“Hindi naman dapat na ang teacher, habang nagtuturo, dapat English. Kung nakikita niya na kailangan, para mas maintindihan, ay managalog siya or mag-Cebuano siya or mag-Waray siya, pwede iyon,” said Romulo.

[Translation: Teachers don’t have to teach in English. If he/she its fit to teach in Tagalog, Cebuano, or Waray for students to understand her lessons, that’s acceptable]

The law allows mother-tongue education in monolingual classes in certain conditions:

+ An official orthography from the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino

+ Officially documented vocabulary such as glossary, dictionary, among others

+ Literature on languages and culture

+ Availability of teachers in school who speak or trained to teach mother tongue

David San Juan, head of the National Committee on Language and Translation of the National Commission of the Culture and the Arts (NCCA), said meeting these requirements would need support from the government.

“Parang kailangan ma-comply muna iyan ng lugar na kailangan may ganito kayo may ganyan, glossary, storybooks. Ibinabato sa Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, maliit lang rin budget ng KWF. Hindi nila dinagdagan ng budget so paano mangyayari iyan?” he Juan told NewsWatch Plus.

[Translation: It seems like there's a need for certain requirements to be met, like having specific materials such as glossaries and storybooks. This is being passed on to the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (Commission on the Filipino Language), but their budget is limited. They haven't increased their budget, so how will this happen?]

Romulo said he supports calls to fund these programs.

The Department of Education said it will craft implementing rules and regulations for the law with the help of KWF and other stakeholders.