Chapter 4: Education

GEC8-2MM2_Finalterm. Payawal, Fernando

There is a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific

Organization) world report that was published in 2009 entitled “Investing in Cultural
Diversity and Intercultural Dialogue” which talks about cultural diversity as an invitation
for us to think in terms of a plural humanity, embodying a creative potential that
precludes any prescribed model of development. Moreover, a genuine
acknowledgement of cultural diversity is thus essential to attain the Millennium
Development Goals (p. v).
Chapter five of the book talks about education which is in line with Goal Two:
Achieve Universal Primary Education of the The Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs). The Millennium Development Goals are eight goals to be achieved by 2015
that respond to the world’s main development challenges. They are drawn from the
actions and targets contained in the Millennium Declaration that was adopted by 189
nations and signed by 147 heads of State and Governments during the UN Millennium
Summit in September 2000. Goal two of the Millennium Development Goals aims to
ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling (p. ii).
Education is a social institution through which a society’s children are taught basic
academic knowledge, learning skills, and cultural norms. According to Zahara
Mohamad, an article writer in teenink.com, education is an important tool that is applied
in the contemporary world to succeed, as it mitigates the challenges which are faced in
life. The knowledge gained through education enables individuals’ potential to be
optimally utilized owing to training of the human mind. This opens doors of opportunities
enables individual to achieve better prospects in career growth. 
In line with this, since education is treated as an important stepping stone to
success, in 1990, the World Declaration on Education For All (EFA) — also known as
the Jomtien Declaration (UNESCO, 1990) — adopted at the World Conference on
Education for All in Jomtien, Thailand, emphasized the need to make education both
universally available and more relevant, identifying ‘quality’ as a prerequisite for
achieving the fundamental goal of equity. The discussion about quality was linked to the

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two primary objectives of education: to ensure the cognitive development of learners
and to nurture their creative and emotional growth so that they are able to acquire the
values and attitudes for responsible citizenship (p. 97).
In the Philippines, education is provided by public and private
schools, colleges, universities, and technical and vocational institutions in the country.
Funding for public education comes from the national government. Formal education in
the Philippines compose of three education sytems; elementary education (Grades 1-
6), secondary education (junior high school (Grade 7-10) and senior high school (Grade
11-12)) and tertiary education (college level).
In line with the goal two of the Millennium Development Goals which aims to ensure
that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling (p. ii), the Philippines
issued the Philippine Education For All Plan in 2015. It is a vision and a holistic program
of reforms of the country to achieve an improved quality of basic education for every
Filipino by 2015. The central goal of the Philippine Education For All 2015 Plan is basic
competencies for all that will bring about functional literacy for all.
According to the UNESCO world report, Bilingual and multilingual education
Mother-tongue-based multilingual approaches in formal and non-formal education
greatly enhance the relevance of education and help to expand educational
opportunities for marginalized and underserved groups, including immigrant populations
(p. 102).
While many countries have still a long way to go in promoting mother-tongue-based
multilingual approaches, progress is nevertheless being made. For example, among
other good practices, Cambodia has introduced several minority languages as media of
instruction in pilot projects. Zambia’s Primary Reading Programme uses mother
tongues for the first three years of schooling as the main medium of instruction. India
strongly upholds the principle of mother-tongue teaching (p. 103).
The Philippines issued Deparment Order 16, Series of 2012 – Guidelines on the
implementation of the Mother Tongue-Based-Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) on
February 17, 2012. According to the article, starting School Year 2012-2013, the
Mother Tongue-Based-Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) shall be implemented in all
public schools, specifically in Kindergarten, Grades 1, 2 and 3 as part of the K to 12

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Basic Education Program. The MTB-MLE shall support the goal of “Every Child-A-
Reader and A-Writer by Grade 1.”
Negative attitudes towards children with diverse backgrounds and abilities —
especially girls and children from indigenous groups — are a major barrier to including
these children in school. Discrimination plays itself out in complex and sometimes
insidious ways and creates vulnerabilities for marginalized children that often lead to
their exclusion from school (p. 104).
In response to this, the Department of Education of the Philippines issued an order
in 2011, Creation of Indigenous Peoples Education Office (IPsEO). To operationalize
the Indigenous Peoples framework (which is, to serve as an instrument for promoting
shared accountability, continuous dialogue, engagement and partnership among
government, IPs communities, civil society and other education stakeholders in
upholding the IPs Learners’ education rights), the DepEd felt the need to establish a
mechanism for the mobilization, implementation and coordination of all programs and
projects of this Department pertaining to IPs Education. Accordingly, the Creation of the
IPs Education Office (IPsEO) is important to ensure continued delivery of quality
education to the IPs Learners.
In 2016, the Department of Education issued another order which is Implementing
Guidelines on the Allocation and Utilization of the Indigenous Peoples Education
Program Support Fund Fiscal Year 2016. The Indigenous Peoples Education (IPEd)
Program is DepEd’s response to the right of indigenous peoples (IP) to basic education
that is responsive to their context, respects their identities, and promotes the value of
their indigenous knowledge, skills, and other aspects of their cultural heritage.
Nowadays, education has become another basic need for people who wants to
pursue certain careers. For some, especialy those that belong in Indigenous groups,
there are a lot of hindrances before they can have access to education and they do,
there are other obstacles that they also might face. Some of these are discrimination,
bullying and others.
The DepEd orders mentioned above are specific to an issue or a group but
generally speaking, the most recent major curriculum change is the K-12 Curriculum. It
aims to produce students that are globally competitive since according to them, a 13-

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year program is found to be the best period for learning under basic education which
makes it the recognized standard for students and professionals globally. Besides this,
we can all agree that the Department of Education ensures that they keep updating and
issuing orders that are timely and relevant to the betterment of the Filipinos’ education
system.