The Department of Education (DepEd) is blaming an employee who has since passed away for the data in one of its modules that put Vice-president Leni Robredo in a bad light.
The self-learning module used by Grade 11 students titled “Methods of Philosophizing: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person” was first used in September 2020 but it was only recently that details came to light.
DepEd Manila issued an apology but did not directly address the victim, Robredo, whom the module insinuated was a liar.
“We sincerely apologize for any harm or inconvenience that this may have caused individuals or groups.
This is definitely not the intent or the very purpose of the publication of such material,” DepEd’s Manila office said in a statement.
The module instructs students to identify which among several headlines had no errors in spelling, grammar, and content.
The choices were: a)
Robredo Chides Government for Unclear Communication on New
Quarantine Rules; b)
Robredo Blames the Government as They Don’t Have Clear Rules in
Quarantine; c)
Robredo Charge the Government as Culprit for Confusion in Quarantine; and d) Robredo blames those in Executive Branch for Communication’s Unclear.
Another item instructs students to determine which among the following statements are substantiated generalizations: a)
‘Drug war a massive failure’ – Robredo; b) Robredo lies to the world, shames the nation and herself in UN message; c)
The real albatross in Leni Robredo’s neck; and d) Let Leni plan on her own drug war.
DepEd Manila said it had identified the person who wrote the module but did not release his name.
The Schools Division Office (SDO) of Manila ordered school heads to retrieve the hard copy of the module that had already been distributed to students.
The SDO also instructed persons in charge of the Learning Resource Management portal to remove the module in its online platform.
The SDO said: “During the review and revision process, we will employ more quality control and assurance processes, with teams focusing both in content and style, so that this occurrence will not surface in the future.”
But instead of apologizing to the aggrieved party, the SDO instead addressed one of the DepEd’s own officials.
The SDO said, “We apologize further to Asec Malcolm Garma, then regional director of DepEd-NCR, and the rest of the NCR team mentioned as part of the management team as stated in the copyright section of the published material. We admit that this module did not go through their conformance review – as it should – hereby placing mechanisms that should be followed in next productions, if any.”
For her part, Robredo said she had seen the module and its release showed the education department was “inefficient” in allowing questionable parts to escape their attention.
She said the education department should never allow such incidents to happen, regardless of who will be affected, because it only revealed the inefficiencies of the department.
Robredo added that learning materials that only poison the minds of the people should not be released irresponsibly.
The DepEd has previously been cited for questionable materials appearing in some of its modules.
The department said they had undertaken improvements in its quality assurance process.
The DepEd is currently headed by Secretary Leonor Biones.
At 81, she is the oldest member of the Duterte Cabinet.
Even when she was appointed to the post six years ago, educators complained that Briones was “too old” to handle such an important position.
The Constitution states that the DepEd should receive the biggest chunk of the national budget, but this has not always been followed.
There have been years when the Armed Forces of the Philippines received a bigger share of the annual budget.
