Those who created and cleared a self-learning module with a vulgar description of the mythical Filipino creature “aswang,” which Sen. Win Gatchalian believes was deliberate, should be held accountable, the lawmaker said yesterday.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture stressed those involved in the creation and clearing of the said material should be penalized.
He was referring to a Department of Education (DepEd) module that was flagged in a hearing of the House committee on public accounts.
The said module used an obscene Filipino word that means sexual intercourse in English.
Since the meaning of the word is clear and obviously not appropriate for young learners, Gatchalian suspects the inclusion of the word in the module was intentional.
What’s worse for Gatchalian, however, is how these materials still get through DepEd’s quality assurance process.
“Obviously, the system failed. And we also need to investigate this matter and hold the quality assurance mechanism or those people who are implementing the quality assurance to account. But more importantly, look for that person who wrote that,” said Gatchalian.
DepEd Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio said the module was recalled last February and already rectified by the division office concerned. Based on the DepEd data, the module was used by Grade 10 students in Pampanga for the second quarter.
According to DepEd, 155 errors were found in learning materials from October 2020 to June 2021 — 104 of which were from locally developed materials, 25 were reviewed by DepEd’s Central Office, 19 were from unknown sources, five from DepEd TV, one from a privately-developed material, and one from a DepEd textbook.
Gatchalian said he will look into DepEd’s quality assurance process in the upcoming Senate inquiry on the preparations for school year 2021-2022.
Senate Resolution No. 739, which Gatchalian filed, aims to assess the capacity of basic education institutions to deliver quality education for next school year, whether through face-to-face classes or distance learning.