[lg policy] Philippines: Cebu lawmaker pushes English bill

[Harold Schiffman]

Cebu lawmaker pushes English bill

Cebu Daily News First Posted 06:34:00 04/17/2011 Filed Under: Language



A bill to make English the medium of instruction in elementary and
high school is again being proposed in Congress by a Cebu legislator.

Rep. Eduardo Gullas (Cebu, 1st district) filed the bill “to strengthen
and enhance the use of English” in school.

Gullas proposed that from preschool to grade 3, the medium of
instruction should be the regional or native language. But from grade
3 to high school, English should be used.

In the tertiary level, the current language policy of the Commission
on Higher Education (CHED), which is English, will be maintained.

Gullas said that when the Department of Education (DepEd) adopted the
bilingual policy—which requires the use of Filipino to teach subjects
of Social Studies, Character Education, Values Education, Physical
Education, Industrial Arts, and Home Economics—the “learning of the
English language suffered a setback.”

He said he’s aware that some groups don’t want to remove Filipino as
the medium of instruction in Philippine schools.

“The bill aims to correct defects of the current bilingual education
program of the DepEd. Its ultimate objective is the improvement of the
learning process in schools to ensure quality output,” Gullas said.

He said 206 congressmen already signed the bill, including former
president and now 2nd district representative of Pampanga Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo.

Gullas said seven more congressmen promised to sign up to show their
support. /Correspondent Fatrick Tabada


-- http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/news/view/20110417-331625/Cebu-lawmaker-pushes-English-bill

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