USING the mother tongue as a medium of instruction from Kindergarten to Grade 3 would be dropped as a Senate bill lapsed into law.
Republic Act 12027 or the Act discontinuing the use of mother tongue as a medium of instruction from Kindergarten to Grade 3, providing for its optional implementation in monolingual classes, and amending for the purpose Sections 4 and 5 of RA 10533, otherwise known as the “Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013.” was passed on Thursday, October 11, without the signature of the President.
The law provided that the medium of instruction will revert to Filipino and, until otherwise provided by law, English. Regional languages will serve as a supplement.
It added the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) will be applied in monolingual classes, provided that the mother tongue to be used shall comply with an official orthography developed and published by the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF).
Officially documented vocabulary published by the KWF such as glossary, dictionary, encyclopedia, or thesaurus; literature on languages and culture, such as big books, small books, picture stories, or wordless picture books; grammar books are also required.
Teachers in the school who speak and are trained to teach in the Mother Tongue should be available.
Monolingual classes refer to a group of learners who speak the same Mother Tongue and are enrolled in the same grade level in a given school year.
The law also provided that the Department of Education (DepEd) would consult with the KWF to develop a language mapping policy within one year from the effectivity of the law. A language mapping framework will be implemented to determine the existence of monolingual classes per year.
The DepEd is mandated to conduct a review of the optional implementation of the MTB-MLE Program in monolingual classes, including learner assessment, teacher recruitment and matching, development of learning resources, capacity-building efforts for teachers, and funding requirements for the program, three years after the effectivity of the law.
It added the report shall include recommendations to address gaps in the law and/or the implementation of this Act, or whether to continue or discontinue the optional use of the Mother Tongue in monolingual classes based on the review conducted.
The law mandates the DepEd, KWF, and other stakeholders to issue the implementing rules and regulations within 90 days from the effectivity of the law.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, Department of Education Secretary and proponent of the law earlier said during the approval of the bill in the Senate in July, that the vast majority of schools are not prepared to roll out MTB-MLE due to “inadequate teacher training and lack of materials.”
“Discontinuing the use of mother tongue as medium of instruction from Kindergarten to Grade 3 is consistent with the evidence: that mother tongue-based learning is effective only in monolingual classrooms,” he said.
