Makabayan education

Makabayan education

The Makabayan subject was introduced in 2002 as part of the Revised Basic Education Curriculum. Makabayan is considered as one of the five key learning areas in the newly-revised curriculum. The other four are English, Filipino, Science, and Mathematics. Public schools are required to teach the subject, but private schools were given the freedom to integrate it into their own curriculum or not, according to the needs of their students.

Teachers of the component subjects of Makabayan are asked to teach the components separately. Each Makabayan subject, except for values education, is taught for one hour daily for four days a week, or a total of 240 minutes a week.

History and objectives of the subject

Makabayan was drafted and proposed by the late Senator Raul Roco who also became the Department of Education secretary. Because of the lack of funds for the education sector, Roco and DepEd decided to create this solution to provide the highest quality education within the available budget. The introduction of Makabayan was a major feature of the restructuring of the Basic Education Curriculum in 2002.

Before the revision, basic education in the country consisted of eight subjects: English, Filipino, Science, Mathematics, MAPE (Music, Arts, and Physical Education)/PEHM (Physical Education, Health, and Music), Values Education/GMRC, Social Studies, and Home Economics. MAPE/PEHM, Values Education/GMRC and Social Studies were lumped together to form Makabayan, with Social Studies being the subject's main component.

Rationale

The rationale behind the revision of the education curriculum and the introduction of Makabayan is to:
Connect related subjects from the different learning areas;
Increase the time allotted for Science, English, and Mathematics;
Create multi-faceted basic education teachers;
Reduce congestion of subjects offered in basic education;
Reduce the hiring of teachers if one is able to teach different learning areas (particularly in the elementary level);
Improve the positive outlook towards work to increase productivity and lead to a peaceful country;
Increase each individual's ability to cope in a fast changing world;
Increase the importance of the arts, music, sports, dance, and other aspects of Philippine culture; and
Develop nationalism among the Filipinos and increase individual responsibility as a citizen.

Curriculum in the elementary level

The components of Makabayan in the elementary level are:
Araling Panlipunan (Social Studies)/Geography
Edukasyong Pantahanan (Home Economics)
Musika (Music)
Sining (Art)
Edukasyong Pangkatawan (Health Education)
Good Manners and Right Conduct

Curriculum in the secondary level

For high schools, the Makabayan components are:
Social Studies
Teknolohiya at Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan (Education Technology at Home and Work)
Musika, Sining at Edukasyong Pangkatawan at Pangkalusugan
Edukasyong Pagpapahalaga (Values Education)

Grading system and subject credit

Students earn four unit credits for Makabayan. subjects are counted as one Grades in the component, with values education having a unit credit of 0.4 and the other component subjects having a unit credit of 1.2 each.

reference: http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php/Makabayan_education

[新聞] 菲禁止小學周末派功課

為讓小朋友能有更多時間與家人相處、玩耍，菲律賓教育部下令禁止公立小學老師在星期5指定回家作業給學生。菲律賓教育部16日頒佈第392號備忘錄，規定小學老師不可在星期5安排課後作業給學生。備忘錄說，「週末不得安排課後作業，好讓學生享受童年，無憂無慮地與家人共度有品質的時光。」教育部把這份備忘錄發給了各區主任、督學及校長，預料全國將有3萬7600所公立小學的1250萬名學生「受惠」。

此外，教育部長路易斯楚（Armin Luistro）也指示，老師們平時安排作業的份量也要合理，不要把學生壓得喘不過氣來。他說，課後作業的主旨是讓學生熟悉課程，增加對課業的知識，而不是要剝奪他們與家人共享天倫的時間。菲律賓教育部給予私立小學一定程度的教學自由，因此不強制私立小學遵守這道命令。

新聞來源：中央社／馬尼拉記者林行健