By Leilanie G. Adriano
Staff reporter
LAOAG CITY—An online petition
is currently making waves again over the internet expressing disappointment and
disgust on the continuing circulation of some erroneous books intended for use
in the Ilokano Mother Tongue-based Multilingual Education of the Department of
Education’s K-12 program.
Since 2014, there had been
talks and numerous criticisms about these error-ridden books which were already
out in local and national bookstores including some schools in Ilokano-speaking
provinces yet the DepEd apparently failed to catch errors in textbooks and
teaching materials used in public schools.
With a bigger alliance called
as the Committee for the Protection of the Ilokano Language and the Ilokano
MTB-MLE from various communities, organizations and individuals who are
stakeholders of the Ilokano language, Joel Manuel, Bangui National High School principal
and president of the Gunglo Dagiti Mannurat nga Ilokano (GUMIL)-Ilocos Norte
Chapter led the launching of the online petition addressed to DepEd Secretary
Leonor Briones on May 20, 2017.
In its description, the
petition says, “The widespread use of sick books, defined in this petition as
unsound in substance and erroneous in grammatical quality, in pre-school and
Grades 1 to 3, has caused problems in the quality education of these Ilokano educatees.”
It further states, “the sick
books, produced both by the government’s arm tasked to prepare these
instructional materials and by the private sector, do not conform to the
commonly or widely accepted standards of the Ilokano language.”
“These sick books also lack
the substance that guarantee the equipping of the Ilokano educatees of the
needed skills, values, knowledge, and attitudes they need to transition to the
higher grades and to be prepared for life-long learning.”
As an educator and book
author, Mr. Manuel said, “we deserve something better than these error-laden
books,” citing several examples of Math and basic learning books with wrong
translation and illustrations.
“These sick books do not do
justice to the need to reflect the ethos, life, and values of the various
Ilokano communities in the Philippines and elsewhere as required in a fair and
emancipatory culture-based education,” said in the petition.
In view of this, the petition
is specifically urging Secretary Briones to recall all these sick books,
conduct an inventory of all Ilokano MTB-MLE textbooks and supplementary
instructional materials; assess the worthiness of all those in the inventory;
and to form a committee of experts on the Ilokano language and culture to
assess all textbooks and instructional materials used in Ilokano MTB-MLE, and
to advise the DepEd in the establishment of policies and guidelines on the
preparation, production, and quality assurance of all books to be used in
Ilokano MTB-MLE.
A number of Ilokano language
stakeholders have used social media to voice their disgust at the error-ridden
books as they signed the online petition.
“The books are harmful for
the learners, full of errors and the authors did not even consult Ilocanos who
has the command and education of the language,” said Rev. Father Joel Raymundo
of Naguilian, Isabela.
For Ej Eereno, an Ilokano
teacher and Ilokano language major from University of Hawaii at Manoa believes
that “It's important to set a strong foundation for our students and it starts
with quality materials that are overseen by the experts who have been studying
and using the language for decades if not their whole life.”
“Everybody deserves decent
education. Stop bastardizing Ilokano language,” said Rowena Badiang of Bangued,
Abra province.
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