The Department of Education was mentioned as the top-performing and most trusted national government agency in the third quarter of 2023 according to the survey conducted by Octa Research. The said study had 1,200 respondents and 80% of them said they are satisfied with DepEd’s performance. However, I stand that there are a lot more values that needs to be considered before voting for satisfaction rates.
First, the rebranding of K-10, wherein the new curriculum for kindergarten until grade 10 will be changed so it can be less “congested”. Though the goal is in sight, the procedure to achieve their target is not studied thoroughly. Tanggol Wika stated that the revised K-10 curriculum is a “recipe for disaster” after DepEd removed the subject “Mother Tongue”. According to them, without MTB-MLE, teachers won’t have a strong foundation on what language they’ll use in their classes, especially in teaching younger students. Additionally, students, mainly those who aren’t proficient with the English language could have a hard time understanding the lessons.
Second, the 125-million-peso confidential funds draining in less than a month. The Commission On Audit (COA) reported on September 25 that the Office of the Vice President used the confidential fund in a span of 11 days. OVP Budget Sponsor Davao de Oro 1st District Rep. Carmen Zamora tried to counterattack COA’s statement by saying that the fund was used in a span of 19 days. Even if they add eight more days, it’s still unbelievable how much they spent in less than a month with no visible change in the sector which they could’ve spent the money on. DepEd’s project can’t be clearly seen. If someone emptied the budget in a quick manner, the purpose because they used it should also be liquidated or if not, disclosed to the public, but not entirely.
Moving on too much more recent matters that people should look into, is the death of two high school students in Taguig. Nicole Picar and Irish Manalo’s bodies are found hanging in one of the rooms in Signal Village National High School which they both attend to, and the last update about the case was two weeks ago with the Taguig Police saying “no foul play” was sighted. On the other hand, Rhea Manalo, a cousin to one of the victims said on a Facebook post that Irish will never kill herself and revealed that the school is “uncooperative”. The CCTV cameras aren’t working, and it’s been weeks since they died but justice isn’t served just yet. Due to this, DepEd should prioritize the welfare of students at every school, furthermore, they also should hurry the investigation so that the victims’ death can achieve justice and so will their families.
To add to this, the recent research of the group, enough is enough mentioned, that according to the data they’ve kept, there’s a possibility that there are more students who have experienced sexual abuse in their school since 2022. They recorded 70 cases of sexual abuse, 77 cases of verbal abuse, and 66 cases of bullying. Sophia Reyes, a member of the group said, “Multiple predators have not faced any repercussions,” and she also expressed that there are no transparency on how the investigation takes place. In line with this, DepEd’s investigation about the predators was not publicized, and worst, some of them are walking freely in their cities. This alone is an alarming news because there is a huge possibility that those predators will do it again.
In conclusion, the Department of Education have many unsolved problems for their performance to be considered satisfactory. Filipinos need to intensify their standards for public servants, they need to make sure that the government is protecting them, and no one is being left behind. Instead of being a martyr, hold them accountable for what they should’ve done. Voice out your concerns because no freedom is achieved by a country if the citizens are deprived of their rights.
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