Instructional Materials Council

MINI CRITIQUE

By Isagani Cruz (The Philippine Star) | Educational Articles Updated February 19, 2015 - 12:00am

There is a body in the Department “Curriculum” of Education called the Instructional Materials Council Secretariat (IMCS). According to its website, it “provides technical assistance to the Instructional Materials Council in the formulation and adoption of policies and guidelines, in the development, evaluation, and procurement of textbooks and other instructional materials.” BY: Danilo Jr. B. Patrolla Its mission is “to ensure that good Professor Danilova Lorenzo quality and reasonably priced instructional materials are made available or provided to all public elementary and secondary schools when and where they are needed.” Its vision is that there are “quality instructional did not succeed in reforming the IMCS. materials for students in public (For the short period that I was in charge elementary and secondary schools.” of IMCS, I take full responsibility.)

Since it was formed, the IMCS has The problem lies not only in the been the center of various controversies persons that staff the IMCS. One can about errors in textbooks and corruption reasonably argue that IMCS is in procurement. A quick search on the understaffed, that it does not have a Web should turn up articles by Yvonne budget proportionate to its importance in Chua, Luz Rimban, Vicente Chua Reyes the country’s educational system, that it Jr., Antonio Calipjo Go, and others on sometimes does have persons whose these controversies. In 1990, even the integrity is not beyond question. But that Congressional Commission on Education is looking only at the trees and not at the (EDCOM) that was responsible for wood. setting up the trifocal system of education that we have now (DepEd, CHED, and TESDA) strongly criticized The real problem with IMCS is that IMCS for its failure to provide quality it is a secretariat that has no council. It is textbooks to public school students. supposed to serve a council, but the Instructional Materials Council (IMC), When I was Undersecretary for except for a rare meeting or two, does Programs and Projects of the DepEd not exist. (then called DECS) in 2001, I tried but The IMC was created as an This EO listed the members of the afterthought. The name first appeared in IMC, namely, the Education Secretary, 1983 in the General Appropriations Act, the Administrator of the Instructional when the Textbook Council created by Materials Development Center (now the Executive Order (EO) No. 806 in 1982 National Book Development Board), the was listed as an Instructional Materials Director of Elementary Education, the Council. That seems, to my non-lawyer’s Director of Secondary Education, and mind, a bit funny, since the IMC was not “two (2) other members to be appointed created by a law nor an EO, but merely by the President.” by a typist. The IMC was given several In 1985, the DepEd (then named powers, the most curious of which is to Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports “approve textbooks for use in private or MECS) tried to justify the renaming of elementary and secondary schools.” the Textbook Council through MECS That power given to IMC will Order No. 64. surely raise not just the eyebrows but the On 30 September 1993, then blood pressure of private school President Fidel Ramos finally issued EO administrators. Private Higher Education 127, which “revitalized the Instructional Institutions (HEIs) with academic Materials Council by redefining its freedom, which are now thinking of functions” and made it legal. establishing Senior High Schools, have yet another thing to worry about. Of course, in our country, laws are any other body, public or private, it is made to be ignored. As far as I know, this supposed merely to implement what the particular provision of EO 127 has never policy-makers decide. been implemented, but as even non- The IMCS is usurping the authority of the lawyers know, “dura lex, sed lex” (the law IMC. may be tough, but it is the law). Needless to say, as a private school administrator, I In 2005, I was asked to be one of will be the first to object to the the two appointive members of the IMC. implementation of this provision, but I will We met once (or perhaps, I was invited leave that battle for another day. only once because I was much too vocal). During that meeting, we made The most important function of decisions about some textbooks being IMC is to “select and prescribe textbook proposed for adoption in public schools. and supplementary and reference books At least during that meeting, the IMC for use in public elementary and actually did what it was supposed to do. secondary schools.” That was a decade ago. This means that the IMCS has absolutely no authority to decide on The DepEd recently issued a whether a textbook can be purchased by textbook call for learning resources for the DepEd or not. That authority resides the K to 12 curriculum. Philippine only in the IMC. The IMCS is only a publishers are now urging DepEd to lift a secretariat. Like any other secretariat of moratorium on the procurement of supplementary materials. We are, once again, getting lost in Ateneo De Manila University and later on the trees. in University of the Philippines Diliman as an Assistant Professor before he retired. We should not forget the He also serve in Far Easter University as fundamental questions. Who or what a publisher in FEU Press. exactly is authorized by law to approve textbooks and other learning materials for public schools? Who now constitute Dr. Isagani Cruz: IMCS, the IMC? What is the IMCS a secretariat ineffectiveness of? (Reflection #1)

March 10, 2015

Manila- Dr. Isagani Cruz wrote an article DR. ISAGANI R. CRUZ about the ineffectiveness of Instructional Dr. Isagani Cruz is a graduate of BS Materials Council Secretariat (IMCS), a Physics in UP, and later on took M.A in body of Department of Education English Literature at Ateneo De Manila (DepEd) whose major role is to evaluate University. (1970). Laetr on he became textbooks in private especially in public known in the field of writing and awarded elementary and secondary education. the Don Carlos Palanca Award in 2004. He argued that IMCS is a dysfunctional As an Educator, he taught in De La Salle institution that is unable to perform its University, University of Santo Tomas, job. He stated that there are two problems 1) that it is understaffed and student I actually experience to use under budget and lastly 2) it does not books with typographical errors, and have a council to serve since it is a books that does not seems to be useful secretariat institution that implements (or being used by) for our teacher. That is what a “council” has decided, yet it does why most of the time, our teachers does not have any. not use the book and instead relay on their lesson plan and own examples to it is really alarming and in the same time teach a particular lesson. For me this “alarming” in the part of students, parent must be resolve since education is a and especially to educators/teachers. PRIORITY of the State and Government. Why? First, it is informative since as a This will also cause corruption on the student (I) of education and future institution (IMCS) that the students will teacher, instructional materials are very actually felt the effect, and second important to me, especially the moment I education will be in the lowest quality enter the world of teaching, it is essential since instructional materials are for me to know what body of Department important in facilitating learning. of Education (IMCS) that analyze and evaluate instructional materials (Textbooks) that are being used in elementary and secondary educations. Second, it is alarming since I learned that this body (IMCS) does not really function as how and what it should be. As a terms of their proposed SHS Program? Can a school propose new SHS tracks Senior high school and strands which are not found in the SHS Curriculum released?” MINI CRITIQUE By Isagani Cruz (The Philippine Star) | Updated February 26, 2015 - 12:00am Here is the official answer from In June 2016, Senior High School DepEd: “The guidelines on the SHS (SHS) will be compulsory for all Filipino Curriculum will detail the standards of the students leaving Grade 10. Before we said curriculum. Private schools may be praise, condemn, welcome, or fear it, we allowed to go over and beyond the should be sure to understand what standards for the specific SHS track or exactly SHS is. strand. In case applicants plan to offer other specialized programs to cater to The first thing to do is to go to the community and industry requirements, website of the Department of Education the applicant may propose new strands (www.deped.gov.ph) and search for for a specific SHS track provided that “Senior High School,” or go directly to they present other necessary SHS www.deped.gov.ph/k-to- provisions to ensure readiness of their 12/about/faq/private-senior-high-school. intended SHS.” Go to the last question on the FAQ Why am I starting an explanation page, namely, “How flexible will the of the rules about SHS by citing the private SHSs be allowed to enhance in exceptions? Because we have to look at employable), we added two years of free SHS from the correct perspective. If we public education. These two years should think of it as yet another imposition by an not have more of the same things they impersonal government bureaucracy that are supposed to learn in the first ten treats everybody the same way, we will years (11 now with compulsory miss the whole point of adding two years Kindergarten). Rather, they are focused to our basic education cycle. primarily on employable or entrepreneurial skills. (Students who can The whole point of the entire K to afford private schools need not worry 12 reform is to answer the needs of about employable skills when they are 16 about 30 million young people (those years old; unlike the poor, they can afford below 24 years of age) who have not to spend another four years learning a finished Fourth Year High School. Of the profession.) out-of-school youth (OSY) of employable age, more than six million are Now, employable skills are not the unemployed, primarily because they do same for all the regions in the country. It not have the skills that employers want. is not very useful for all the students in Quezon City, for example, to spend Since these employable skills hours learning deep sea fishing. Clearly, cannot be acquired within only ten years employable skills vary according to the of education (not to mention that, after needs of a community. These needs may Fourth Year or Grade 10, students will be current (employers are looking for only be 16 years old and not yet fully employees) or future (the country should eventually become the center of that means being able to fulfill the analytics, so studying analytics is a good College Readiness Standards mandated bet). by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). Poverty, however, should not be a reason for a student not to pursue a We can now see that the SHS profession. There are college curriculum consists basically of two parts: scholarships available, of course, but one part that gives students skills for definitely not for all poor students immediate employment or (roughly half the population, according to entrepreneurship, and another part that the SWS). There must be a systemic way gives students the academic preparation to give poor students a chance to go to for college. college at some point in their lives. First, Since those of us who are older we have to give them the skills they need than 24 had only ten years of basic to make a living. Then, if they save education and did not fare so badly in enough money and are motivated college, we could argue that SHS is not enough, then they can go to college and necessary. But that was before the take board exams and the rest of it. College Readiness Standards were That is the reason the curriculum formulated. The College Readiness of SHS has to devote enough time for Standards demand a lot more of students to be prepared for college someone entering college today than entrance examinations. In our country, during our time. Just one obvious example: the College Readiness DR. ISAGANI R. CRUZ Standards demand that a student Dr. Isagani Cruz is a graduate of entering first year engineering should undergrad course of BS Physics in already know Calculus. University of the Philippines, and later on The part of the SHS that gives all took M.A in English Literature at Ateneo students the basic academic preparation De Manila University. (1970). Later on demanded by the College Readiness he became known in the field of writing Standards is called the “Core Subjects.” and awarded the Don Carlos Palanca The part that gives students the skills Award in 2004. As an Educator, he needed by employers or needed if they taught in De La Salle University, set up their own businesses is called the University of Santo Tomas. “Track Subjects.” The Track Subjects are of two kinds: “Applied Track Subjects” and “Specialized Subjects.” ISAGANI CRUZ: DO NOT FEAR SHS

These subjects are not the same (Reflection no. 2) for everybody in every part of the Manila- Dr. Isagani Cruz explained the country. It all depends, as the DepEd importance of Senior High School (SHS) website explicitly puts it, on community that first it offers employable skills and and industry requirements. must not be feared by parents, especially poor families. Reading this kind of articles makes me two years. Aside from this it will also happy since there is someone that base upon the needs of the community, actually defends, if not at least explains if it is provincial it will be about agrarian the true essence and importance of and fishery, based upon the Senior High school and not just the community’s need. simple common knowledge of the people especially the parents that it will add two years (which is true) and will Historical Perspective of the add costing to the expenses on their Philippine Educational System children’s education (which is partially, but not true). I believe that senior high by Butch Dalisay school will strengthen the education Date: 6/15/2006 foundation and will transform these knowledge acquired by the students into Education in the Philippines has skills, and this is very important since undergone several stages of professional world and companies now development from the pre-Spanish a days requires experience and skills times to the present. In meeting the rather than just you have the diploma or needs of the society, education serves knowledge about the field that they are as focus of emphases/priorities of the entering or about to. That is why I leadership at certain periods/epochs in believe that parents should not be afraid our national struggle as a race. about the benefits of these additional As early as in pre-Magellanic times, the supervision of the Jesuits. Primary education was informal, unstructured, instruction was free and the teaching of and devoid of methods. Children were Spanish was compulsory. Education provided more vocational training and during that period was inadequate, less academics (3 Rs) by their parents suppressed, and controlled. and in the houses of tribal tutors. The defeat of Spain by American The pre-Spanish system of forces paved the way for Aguinaldo's education underwent major changes Republic under a Revolutionary during the Spanish colonization. The Government. The schools maintained by tribal tutors were replaced by the Spain for more than three centuries Spanish Missionaries. Education was were closed for the time being but were religion-oriented. It was for the elite, reopened on August 29, 1898 by the especially in the early years of Spanish Secretary of Interior. The Burgos colonization. Access to education by the Institute in Malolos, the Military Filipinos was later liberalized through Academy of Malolos, and the Literary the enactment of the Educational University of the Philippines were Decree of 1863, which provided for the established. A system of free and establishment of at least one primary compulsory elementary education was school for boys and girls in each town established by the Malolos Constitution. under the responsibility of the municipal government; and the establishment of a normal school for male teachers under An adequate secularized and free public The high school system school system during the first decade of supported by provincial governments, American rule was established upon the special educational institutions, school recommendation of the Schurman of arts and trades, an agricultural Commission. Free primary instruction school, and commerce and marine that trained the people for the duties of institutes were established in 1902 by citizenship and avocation was enforced the Philippine Commission. In 1908, the by the Taft Commission per instructions Philippine Legislature approved Act No. of President McKinley. Chaplains and 1870, which created the University of non-commissioned officers were the Philippines. assigned to teach using English as the The Reorganization Act of 1916 medium of instruction. provided the Filipinization of all A highly centralized public school department secretaries except the system was installed in 1901 by the Secretary of Public Instruction. Philippine Commission by virtue of Act Japanese educational policies No. 74. The implementation of this Act were embodied in Military Order No. 2 in created a heavy shortage of teachers so 1942. The Philippine Executive the Philippine Commission authorized Commission established the the Secretary of Public Instruction to Commission of Education, Health and bring to the Philippines 600 teachers Public Welfare and schools were from the U.S.A. They were the reopened in June 1942. On October 14, Thomasites. 1943, the Japanese - sponsored of P.D. No. 1397. Thirteen regional Republic created the Ministry of offices were created and major Education. Under the Japanese regime, organizational changes were the teaching of Tagalog, Philippine implemented in the educational system. History, and Character Education was The Education Act of 1982 reserved for Filipinos. Love for work and created the Ministry of Education, dignity of labor was emphasized. On Culture and Sports, which later became February 27, 1945, the Department of the Department of Education, Culture Instruction was made part of the and Sports in 1987 by virtue of Department of Public Instruction. Executive Order No. 117. The structure In 1947, by virtue of Executive of DECS as embodied in EO No. 117 Order No. 94, the Department of has practically remained unchanged Instruction was changed to Department until 1994 when the Commission on of Education. During this period, the Higher Education (CHED), and 1995 regulation and supervision of public and when the Technical Education and Skills private schools belonged to the Bureau Development Authority (TESDA) were of Public and Private Schools. established to supervise tertiary degree programs and non-degree technical- In 1972, it became the Department of vocational programs, respectively. Education and Culture by virtue of Proclamation 1081 and the Ministry of The Congressional Commission Education and Culture in 1978 y virtue on Education (EDCOM) report provided the impetus for Congress to pass RA Education (DepEd) and redefining the 7722 and RA 7796 in 1994 creating the role of field offices (regional offices, Commission on Higher Education division offices, district offices and (CHED) and the Technical Education schools). RA 9155 provides the overall and Skills Development Authority framework for (i) school head (TESDA), respectively. empowerment by strengthening their leadership roles and (ii) school-based The trifocal education system management within the context of refocused DECS’ mandate to basic transparency and local accountability. education which covers elementary, The goal of basic education is to provide secondary and nonformal education, the school age population and young including culture and sports. TESDA adults with skills, knowledge, and values now administers the post-secondary, to become caring, self-reliant, middle-level manpower training and productive and patriotic citizens. development while CHED is responsible for higher education.

In August 2001, Republic Act BUTCH DALISAY 9155, otherwise called the Governance Jose Y. Dalisay Jr. (born January 15, of Basic Education Act, was passed 1954) is a Filipino writer. He has won transforming the name of the numerous awards and prizes for fiction, Department of Education, Culture and poetry, drama, nonfiction and screenplay, Sports (DECS) to the Department of including 16 Palanca Awards. Dalisay was born in Romblon in 1954. He BUTCH DALISAY: Philippine completed his primary education at La Education System Salle Green Hills, Philippines in 1966 and March 10, 2015 his secondary education at the Philippine Science High School in 1970. He Manila- Butch Dalisay explained and dropped out of college to go underground stated the history of the educational after a period of imprisonment when system in our country. It was so Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos fascinating and so informative reading declared Martial Law in 1972. After his this article of him. During our second release as a political detainee, he also year first semester, we were able to take wrote scripts mostly for Lino Brocka, the a course subject about the Philippine’s National Artist of the Philippines for Educational System, and it reminded me Theater and Film. Dalisay returned to of that time. How our educational system school and earned his B.A. English evolved and turned out to what degree, cum laude from the University of system/curriculum we have right now is a the Philippines in 1984. He later received result of the systems that we undergone an M.F.A. from the University of Michigan in the past and for me as a future teacher in 1988 and a Ph.D. in English from the believe that learning these will allow me University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in to understand why our educational 1991 as a Fulbright scholar. system right now has its flaws and cons.