Johanna Savedia, a teacher for almost two decades at Muntinlupa National High School (MNHS), was excited to welcome her students back to school until she was told that she would facilitate the National Mathematics Program (NMP), an additional program under the Matatag curriculum.
Her dilemma: she is not a math teacher, and has taught the Filipino subject for 16 years.
“Hindi naman ako nag-major ng math, pagtuturuin ako ng NMP. ‘Yan ‘yung malaking struggle. ‘Yan ‘yung malaking problemang haharapin namin ngayon dahil magtuturo kami ng math, eh mismo kami, hindi gaano kalawak ang kaalaman roon,” she told Rappler in an interview as classes began on Monday, July 29.
(I didn’t major in math, yet I’m being asked to teach NMP. That’s the big struggle. That’s the major problem we’ll face now because we’ll be teaching math, even though our own knowledge on it isn’t very extensive.)
“Parang ganito lang ‘yan — ikaw, hindi ka marunong sumayaw pero pasasayawin ka…. Ano gagawin mo?” she added. (It’s like this — you don’t know how to dance but you’re asked to dance. What would you do?)
The Matatag curriculum, or the revised basic education curriculum crafted during Vice President Sara Duterte’s time at the Department of Education (DepEd), was rolled out for kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 4, and Grade 7 this school year — only the first phase of implementation. It focuses on foundational subjects, such as language, reading and literacy, mathematics, makabansa or nationalism, and good manners and right conduct.
The curriculum has two additional programs, the NMP and the National Reading Program (NRP), which are supposed to be done every day for 45 minutes each.
Mark Joseph Fernandez, Muntinlupa City schools division curriculum implementation supervisor, confirmed that he received complaints from MNHS teachers regarding the rollout of the new curriculum. He said they were already addressing the issue.
“‘Yung buong week muna ngayon, sila muna, status quo. Babaguhin natin siya next week. Ibibigay na namin ‘yung NMP for mathematics teacher,” Fernandez told Rappler. (For now, this whole week, status quo. We’ll change it next week. We’ll assign the NMP to mathematics teachers.)
What went wrong?
The Matatag curriculum, launched in August 2023, was the banner program of the DepEd under Vice President Duterte. In a speech during its launch, Duterte noted that the new curriculum was the product of a review that started during the time of Leonor Briones, who served as education secretary under the administration of the Vice President’s father, Rodrigo Duterte.
Based on the “extensive” review, the Vice President also said in her speech, they found that the K to 10 curriculum “was overloaded with too many lessons or subjects” and “required instructors to teach an excessive number of learning competencies.” This “compromised [students’] mastery of fundamental skills such as reading and solving simple math problems.”
The Matatag curriculum was thus created to “give greater emphasis on the development of foundational skills such as literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional skills,” Duterte said. “It is a significant leap towards a better, more promising future for our learners.”
The curriculum’s implementation is being done in phases — kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 4, and Grade 7 in school year 2024-2025; Grade 2, Grade 5, and Grade 8 in school year 2025-2026; Grade 3, Grade 6, and Grade 9 in school year 2026-2027; and finally, Grade 10 in school year 2027-2028.
For the first phase, the education department had around a year since the launch to prepare. What happened?
Muntinlupa City’s Fernandez said the DepEd released the order containing the guidelines for the implementation of the Matatag curriculum only on July 23, less than a week before the opening of classes in around 47,000 public schools nationwide.
He said they were not able to review and implement changes in the teaching workload because of the tight schedule. The teaching workload had already been determined and distributed at that time.
DepEd Order No. 10 states that NMP and NRP facilitators should “demonstrate mastery of the subject matter or in their specialization across the curriculum.” Therefore, NMP facilitators should be mathematics teachers and NRP facilitators should be either English or Filipino teachers.
Marlyn Salvio, head teacher at MNHS, said the “last-minute” release of DepEd Order No. 10 was partly to blame because they were not given ample time to fix teachers’ schedules before the start of classes.
“Actually, medyo hindi talaga enough ‘yung timing ng release…. Kung talagang math teachers ang magtuturo niyan, which is ganoon naman talaga, kailangan i-consider namin ‘yung number of math teachers,” she said.
(Actually, the timing of the release was really not enough. If math teachers are really the ones supposed to be teaching this, which should be the case, we need to consider the number of math teachers.)
The experience of MNHS does not appear to be an isolated case. Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) chairperson Benjo Basas said his group also received complaints from teachers regarding what he described as the “chaotic” rollout of the Matatag curriculum.
“‘Yung implemention ng pagpapalit ng curriculum, mahabang proseso ‘yan, lalo na kung concern din ang workload ng mga guro,” Basas added.
(The implementation of a new curriculum is a lengthy process, especially when considering the workload of teachers as well.)
He confirmed that TDC members only received a copy of the order on July 23.
“July 23 lang ‘yun, then minadali ang training pero hindi umabot dahil bumagyo. Kaya wala halos training sa implementation,” he said.
(That was only on July 23, then the training was rushed but had to be cut short because there was a storm. So, there was almost no training for the implementation.)
On July 24, parts of Luzon experienced massive floods due to the southwest monsoon or habagat, which was enhanced by Typhoon Carina (Gaemi). In areas still reeling from the disaster, hundreds of public schools were unable to start classes as scheduled.
The Matatag curriculum rollout also came just days after former senator Sonny Angara took over the DepEd from Duterte. Rappler has reached out to the DepEd for comment, but the agency has yet to reply as of posting time. We will update this story once we receive a response.
Shortage of teachers, mismatch
The issue with the curriculum rollout is just the tip of the iceberg. In 2023, the DepEd had said that the Philippines lacked 89,506 teachers.
For years, teachers have been leaving the country in their quest for higher pay and improved working conditions. Teachers’ groups have been asking the government for a better compensation package. Currently, those with Teacher 1 designation earn P27,000 per month.
Experts have noted that the country needs to invest in its teachers in order to improve learning outcomes. Aside from a better compensation package, trainings and other opportunities to enhance teaching should be made accessible to them.
“Teachers are the biggest inputs to classroom learning. It’s important to have high-quality teachers who are knowledgeable,” Philippine Business for Education executive director Justine Raagas told Rappler in a previous interview.
Angara has expressed confidence that teachers’ salaries will increase during the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. As this is a question of funding, however, it is easier said than done.
The Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2), a national commission assessing the country’s education sector, also urged the government “to address the prevailing concerns on pre-service teacher programs in the country, including quality assurance.”
EDCOM 2 data show that performance in teacher licensure examinations has been dismal from 2012 to 2022, with an average passing rate of 33% for elementary and 40% for secondary teachers.
“What is worse is that based on our analysis, many higher education institutions or teacher education providers — 77 offering Bachelor of Elementary Education, and 105 offering Bachelor of Secondary Education, continued to operate despite having zero passing rates,” EDCOM 2 Executive Director Karol Yee said.
In addition, a 2016 World Bank study showed that “knowledge of subject matter among elementary and high school teachers is low in most subjects.” For instance, a mathematics teacher in high school was only able to answer 31% of questions “completely correctly,” far from even half of the questions.
How can students learn to analyze and solve math equations if teachers themselves are having a hard time?
Now, a new curriculum is in the mix, and along with its implementation are fresh concerns, adding to the long list of perennial problems needing solutions from the DepEd and its new chief.
– Rappler.com