Topic no.
1 Stop bullying, schools must be a
safe place
SCHOOLS. This is where we learn and create meaningful relationships with fellow students we
meet along the way. In its essence, it must be a safe place for students.
However, there lurks a disease in schools that needs to be cured -- bullying.
Throughout the years, we have heard countless stories of students being bullied. Some were
severely bullied and it led them to do unimaginable things for someone their age. Some
committed suicide while others harmed fellow students.
Bullying takes a huge toll on the mental health of young people. Victims tend to show signs of
depression, anxiety, stress, and detachment. They would harm themselves and be in a very dark
place.
What is worse is the mental and emotional stress on these young people is being seen as just a
phase. Parents would seldom seek professional health for their children who are victims of
bullying. Others would just ask the victim to "pray the depression away."
For some, what some of these kids post on social media is just seen as trivial posts. We have to
start taking their posts on depression, anxiety, and sadness more seriously. These posts should be
seen as red flags and interventions must be made.
The responsibility of protecting students from being bullied or preventing the birth of bullies also
lies with the school officials and the parents themselves. At home, parents must teach their kids
the right values like being respectful of others. Schools themselves must have safeguards in place
to protect students from bullies and reprimand the bullies.
Maybe it is time that we intensify topics on good manners and right conduct in schools.
Likewise, schools must truly and intentionally capacitate all teaching and non-teaching personnel
with the knowledge on identifying students who are being bullied and those who are having
mental or emotional issues.
Schools must be safe places. That's why it falls upon the responsibility of the schools and the
parents that where their children go is also psychologically, mentally, and emotionally safe for
other kids.
Topic no.1
EDITORIAL - Bullying should not be
tolerated
According to Senator Robinhood Padilla, students should be able to manage a little physical
bullying as opposed to mental bullying.
He said this during a Senate hearing last February 13 where lawmakers studied the
implementation of the Anti-Bullying Act.
“For me, physical bullying is manageable... physical torture, for me, helped me, not only about
facing life challenges. I think it helped me 20 or 30%... those little push is okay,” Padilla said.
No, it’s not okay. Padilla seems to misunderstand how bullying, any kind of bullying, works.
Yes, there are physical “pushes” that are good for us. In fact there is this thing known as tough
love, which includes the corporal punishments like whipping, kneeling on salt, standing out in
the sun, and all the punishments that the older generation experienced but seem to be taboo
today.
But tough love only works when the one dealing it is the right authority and with the right
intentions in mind. By that we mean parents, siblings, relatives, teachers, and those in similar
positions who want the person straightened out, to become disciplined, to improve, or to get
important life lessons.
And tough love results from certain actions or offenses committed, it does not come out of the
blue.
Bullies aren’t persons with such interests. They don’t pick on others to make those bullied
persons better; they bully others only to make themselves feel better about themselves. Unlike
tough love, bullying also comes out of the blue and often undeserved.
And while it is true that exposure to physical bullying can make one tougher, it is a toughness
that comes with trauma, resentment, and even anger, and most likely will be passed on to others
when that person comes into a position of power. From student to student, parent to child,
employer to employee, among others.
Any kind of bullying, physical, mental, or whatever, should not be tolerated. It is not okay.
Topic no.2 About the MATATAG Curriculum
Hope of the nation, guinea pigs today
WHILE THE nation continues to grapple with the aftermath of the pandemic, the Marcos-
Duterte administration has chosen to embark on yet another experimental educational scheme—
the MATATAG Curriculum. Claimed by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to be the
“best education system yet” in the country, the MATATAG curriculum: Bansang Makabata,
Batang Makabansa aims to decongest the present K-12 system. The plan aims to achieve its
goals by reducing learning competencies, emphasizing foundational skills, and embedding peace
competencies in learners beginning kindergarten to Grade 3.
With its pilot implementation officially conducted last September, the new curriculum has
generated mixed opinions among educators. Its timing is to be questioned, especially in light of
the challenges faced during the pandemic and the ongoing transition back to onsite learning for
both teachers and students.
The introduction of the MATATAG curriculum is a testament to the worrying lack of priority in
addressing the root causes of the country’s educational crisis. These issues include classroom and
faculty shortages, teachers’ long-term demands for salary increases, and the lack and
mismanagement of funding, among many others.
False promise
Efforts to change the education system are nothing new for this generation of students. Last
2012, the Aquino administration introduced the “K-to-12 Curriculum,” which added a total of
three years to the originally ten-year-long basic education program in the country. The change
established a “universal kindergarten” and added two years of senior high school to make
Filipino students “more globally competitive.”
In defense of this major reform, former president Benigno Aquino III cited experiences of
Filipinos abroad who found it difficult to attain jobs with the original ten-year program. Until the
introduction of the current curriculum, the Philippines was the only country in Asia and one out
of three worldwide to have a 10-year basic education cycle.
Along with increasing global competitiveness, the curriculum aimed to provide sufficient time
for students to master learning, striving to develop citizens who are equipped with both learning
and employment competencies. This reform was heavily framed as a solution to the employment
issues in the country, promising that students could join the workforce as soon as they graduated
senior high school.
Many progressive groups at the time argued that the new changes would not only worsen
existing issues, but also perpetuate a system that exploits cheap labor. The normalization of such
a phenomenon reflects the distressing impact of generational poverty and systemic inequalities in
our country. Until the government acknowledges the interconnectedness of such issues, the
reforms it introduces continue to be inadequate solutions.
A decade after the K-12 implementation, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) poll revealed that
50% of Filipino adults are dissatisfied with the K-12 curriculum, calling the additional years “a
waste of time.” Many individuals remarked that the K-12 did not accomplish its goal of shaping
job-ready graduates—one of the program’s promises.
Teacher groups such as the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) also mentioned that the
change did exactly what progressive groups feared—it managed to magnify the educational crisis
even further. Classroom and teacher shortages worsened, and a lack of coordination between the
Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission of Higher Education persisted, betraying
the aspirations of the youth who were promised bright futures.
Solution or facade
In light of the aforementioned concerns, the newly introduced MATATAG curriculum revises
the K-10 program by ‘decongesting’ it. This program will reduce the number of learning
competencies from over 11,000 to 3,600. It will remove subjects including mother tongue, while
increasing the focus on foundational skills such as literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional
skills. It also introduces a new learning area—good manners and right conduct.
Similar to the K-12 curriculum, one of the main competencies of the MATATAG curriculum is
the promise to make Filipinos job-ready without needing a college degree. Alongside Marcos Jr.,
Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte places heavy hope in the revisions’
potential to address the current issues of the education system.
However, the MATATAG curriculum has been heavily criticized, with ACT calling it
“premature.” They express that the revision of K-10 is as problematic as the K-12 curriculum, as
it fails to truly address the roots of the education crisis. ACT asserts that without a proper budget
to support plans for the education sector, the new K-10 curriculum will receive the same fate as
K-12.
Topic no.2 About the MATATAG Curriculum
Matatag curriculum: Solution to PH
education woes?
As the country continues to grapple with learning poverty and the continuing challenges of post-
pandemic education, the Department of Education (DepEd) is launching a new curriculum that is
expected to address the issues hounding the current K-12 curriculum put in place 10 years ago.
This comes as the World Bank rated the Philippines as among the eight countries in the Asia-
Pacific that have high learning deficits. The others are Cambodia, Kiribati, Lao People's
Democratic Republic, Myanmar, and Papua New Guinea, Tonga, and Tuvalu.
In a bid to resolve this, the DepEd created a major revision called the Matatag Basic Education
Curriculum, aiming to focus on key competencies and foundational skills of learners from
Kinder to Grade 10.
In an interview with The Manila Times, Education Assistant Secretary Francis Cesar Bringas
said this would also solve the problem of a "congested" curriculum with many learning areas not
focused on critical thinking.
"It is a decongested curriculum, with a lesser number of learning
areas, [and] reduced number of competencies, focusing on 21st century skills, focusing on
critical thinking, media and literacy," he explained.
"We are preparing our learners for the future through the [new] K-10 curriculum."
DepEd Bureau of Curriculum Development director Jocelyn Andaya added that 70 percent of the
competencies of the previous curriculum had been removed as there were "repeat" ones, meaning
those that are "nice" to know but not a "must to know."
"These learning areas have been deliberately crafted, not just simply merging or integrating the
existing learning areas," Andaya said during the program's launch last August.
Bringas said a decongested curriculum would benefit learners as they would be able to focus on
mastering the most essential skills given for a particular subject at a given grade level.
"We are now focusing on foundation skills for Kinder, Grades 1, 2 and 3, including Good
Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) for the elementary level; so this is very beneficial as they
can not only focus on social skills, but also improving their competencies in the foundation
skills, preparing them for the higher grade levels" Bringas said.
For teachers, a decongested curriculum also means that preparations for lessons would be
reduced, leading to more contact hours for learners who need assistance.
"They will have more time to do teaching-related tasks other than the actual teaching," Bringas
said.
During a speech at the curriculum's launch, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte
said she was optimistic that children would be giving a "meaningful learning experience that will
boost their intelligence, improve their knowledge, enhance their skills and talents, and prepare
them to become well-rounded, mature individuals".
"It offers a glowing promise in our campaign to improve the country's basic education as it
brings to life our dreams and aspirations for our learners and our country. But it demands the
extraordinary dedication, commitment, support, and resolve of our education stakeholders," she
added.
Topic no.3 Importance of Mental Health
AS the world celebrates World Mental Health Day 2024, the spotlight is once again on the
mental well-being of individuals, especially among students. In the Philippines, the importance
of mental health in schools has never been more crucial. With increasing academic pressures,
social media influences, and the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, Filipino students
face a mental health crisis that often goes unnoticed.
Mental health struggles of Filipino students
Mental health issues like anxiety, depression and stress are rising among young Filipinos.
According to a 2023 study by the Department of Education (DepEd), 1 in 5 Filipino students
experiences mental health concerns such as anxiety or depression, a sharp increase compared to
previous years. Additionally, suicidal ideation among young people has become an alarming
issue, with a reported 10 percent of students ages 13 to 17 having seriously considered suicide,
based on a World Health Organization (WHO) survey conducted in the Philippines.
In Filipino culture, emotional resilience is often associated with silence and endurance —
students are taught to remain strong and not complain, especially when faced with hardships.
Many feel the need to hide their struggles because openly discussing mental health is still
considered taboo in many Filipino households. This is compounded by the cultural expectation
of "utang na loob" (debt of gratitude) toward their families. Since education is highly valued in
the Philippines, many students feel immense pressure to succeed academically as a way of giving
back to their parents.
Additionally, the "hiya" (shame) culture influences how young Filipinos deal with personal
struggles. Fear of bringing dishonor or embarrassment to their family discourages students from
seeking help, even when they are overwhelmed. The collectivist nature of Filipino society —
where family honor and reputation are paramount — creates a perfect storm of pressure for
students to perform well and maintain composure, even if their mental health is suffering.
The concept of "bayanihan," or community support, deeply rooted in Filipino culture, should be
extended to mental health. Schools, being a second home for students, can foster a sense of
bayanihan by offering mental health services that encourage students to seek help without
judgment. Though it is a challenge, there is a growing recognition of the importance of mental
health support in schools, especially with the passage of the Mental Health Act of 2018, which
mandates mental health services across different sectors, including education.
Moving forward
World Mental Health Day 2024 emphasizes the theme of "Mental Health is a Universal Human
Right," a powerful reminder that mental wellness should be accessible to all, including Filipino
students. Schools are now better positioned to create safe, supportive environments that address
the emotional and psychological well-being of their students.
By acknowledging the unique challenges students face, such as balancing "pakikisama" (the need
to get along with others) and maintaining family expectations, schools can play a pivotal role in
ensuring the youth are emotionally prepared to navigate life's demands. Prioritizing mental
health in schools not only helps students perform better academically but also builds emotional
resilience, preparing them to succeed in all aspects of life.
As the Philippines continues to promote mental health awareness, there is hope that with
increased attention, community support, and the assistance of companies like Mindset, Filipino
schools can adopt a more holistic approach to student well-being. As the author, a licensed
professional teacher and psychologist, emphasizes, "When we prioritize mental health in our
schools, we teach our students that their well-being matters just as much as their grades. By
fostering emotional resilience, we're preparing them not just for exams but for life's greater
challenges."
The future of the country depends on its youth. Ensuring their mental health is safeguarded is not
just a task for schools but a shared responsibility of families, communities and society. By
fostering a culture that values both emotional resilience and mental well-being, we invest in a
stronger, healthier future for our entire nation.
Topic no.4 No Homework Policy
Topic 5. OVP Confidential Funds
