Gatchalian to Duterte: Focus on reading, math

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte should focus the reform in the Department of Education (DepEd) on going back to the basics and improving students’ competencies in reading comprehension and simple mathematics, according to Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian.

“I will suggest to Duterte that the focus on the improvement is to go back to the basics, which are reading, reading and comprehension and mathematics. It is easy to learn other subjects when you can read,” Gatchalian said in a recent interview with dzBB.

“Mathematics is also important if you can count, learn in life, find a job, in business,” he added.

The senator emphasized that it is a no brainer that Filipinos are weak in reading and simple math, and these are areas that should be strengthened.

“As I travel around the Philippines, that’s what I hear from our kababayans, who are disappointed with K-12, because K-12’s promise that their children will have jobs is not happening, including that they are still not working,” he said.

“Two years ago, almost half of Filipinos are not happy with K-12, and the benefit of K-12 is not felt by our people,” he added.

Gatchalian said he would push for a Senate inquiry on the K-12, which is a law, for the improvement of the system.

“What we will look at in the K-12 law is if the provisions are implemented well, then we will also look at the effectiveness of those in the law and whether it brings good to our people,” he added.

The senator noted that K-12 graduates are not ready and employers do not want to accept them.

Gatchalian, however, stressed that he is not in favor of abolishing the K-12 program.