SEN. Sherwin Gatchalian on Monday stressed the need to address concerns on the implementation of the spiral progression approach and the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) policies mandated by the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 or the K to 12 Law (Republic Act 10533).
He cited the gaps in the programs identified during a workshop organized last year to evaluate the twin policies.
Under the MTB-MLE program, the instruction, teaching materials and assessment shall be in the native language of learners from Kindergarten to Grade 3. From Grade 4 to Grade 6, Filipino and English shall be gradually introduced through a language bridge program.
These two languages will be used in the secondary level.
Meanwhile, the spiral progression approach allows the logical progression from simplistic to complicated ideas where learners revisit topics or subjects several times, Gatchalian said.
“Bagama’t maganda ang layunin ng mother tongue policy at spiral progression approach, maraming pagkukulang sa pagpapatupad ng mga ito. Sa ating pag-reporma sa curriculum, kailangan nating punan ang mga pagkukulang na ito upang matiyak nating nakatutulong ang mga polisiyang ito sa pagkatuto ng mga mag-aaral (While the intention of the mother tongue policy and spiral progression approach is good, their implementation were insufficient. In reforming the curriculum, we need to fill up these gaps to ensure these policies will be of help to the learnings of the students),” the senator said.
A workshop for teachers organized last year by Gatchalian and nongovernment organization Synergeia Foundation evaluated the spiral progression approach and the MTB-MLE.
Based on the results of the workshop, some problems were identified, such as having few or no teachers trained to teach all the branches or areas of a subject.
Gatchalian shared science teachers, for example, were only trained to teach in one area of expertise rather than the different branches of the subject such as chemistry, biology and physics.
On the MTB-MLE, among the difficulties identified in the workshop were inadequacy of learning materials and teacher training on the use of the mother tongue and transitioning to the second language.
Other studies also pointed to gaps of the MTB-MLE and the spiral progression approach, he added.
He cited the 2018 study of the Philippine Normal University that showed spiral progression content is not concentrated and extensive and requires competent and highly qualified teachers as well as sufficient facilities.
A 2019 discussion paper from the Philippine Institute for Development Studies also revealed among the challenges of the MTB-MLE program are inadequate teacher and school preparation and dearth of textbooks and learning materials, the senator said.
