Incident reports of errors found in learning modules have already been resolved , Education Secretary Leonor Briones said on Monday, in response to Vice President Leni Robredo’s charges that the department is lacking a ‘proper system’.
Robredo, in her weekly program on DZXL said that “Ito iyong problema ng sistema na kapag hindi masusi iyong pag-asikaso ng lahat. May mga makakalusot talagang ganito, may mga makakalusot na hindi dapat (This is the problem in a system if not all things are properly taken care of. There will really be errors like these that will slip past them.
It should have not happened).”
Briones refuted the comments stated by the Vice President during a virtual conference that happened this Monday, June 21, alongside the department’s celebration of it’s 123rd Founding Anniversary.
“We thank Vice President Robredo for her comments but we assure her that this happened several months ago, this has been already attended, and action has already been undertaken,” said Briones.
She also said that the department has maintained a working system of mechanism that deals with reports of errors found in the learning modules and that several actions are already in place.
After going through verification, at least 155 errors for the School Year 2020-2021 were reported last Monday, June 14, by DepEd Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction Diosdado San Antonio.
In response to these errors validated earlier, Briones said “now, in light of all the noise on an event which happened several months ago and that has already been resolved, I reopened the case again.”
“I am reviewing it now just to make sure that we did the right thing and that there are, perhaps, other considerations to look at,” Briones said.
To ensure that prompt actions are to be made, the Secretary department is putting into consideration if it is already “high time” to instigate necessary sanctions against individuals who were behind these errors in the learning modules.
She added that she has been observing the issue quite well given that there appears to be a pattern already.
“We are checking if these claims are credible and we’re also tracking if there is a pattern that might affect the reputation of DepEd,” said Briones.
Meanwhile, statements from educators who were found guilty of committing errors in learning modules reported that they got the inspiration from social media sites, particularly on Facebook, and used it as teaching materials.
Briones explained that “as soon as we receive reports on errors in modules, we verify with the concerned regional office, we withdraw and take action but this might be a deeper issue than the usual thing, it is deeper, perhaps, that we think they are.”
The department, back in October 202, launched “DepEd Error Watch” as a “response to numerous reports about errors found in learning materials”.
In a related development, the House of Representatives’ Committee on Basic Education and Culture has adopted the proposal for a Learning Materials Development Center attached to the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Education to ensure the accuracy, quality, and effectiveness of learning materials in the public school system.
The proposal is embodied in House Bill 6247, or the K-12 Reform Act, which the House Committee on Ways and Means chairman, Albay Rep. Jose Clemente “Joey” Sarte Salceda principally authored. Salceda called for an independent center to act as a sort of ‘content and quality ombudsman’ for learning materials.”