Wednesday, October 17, 2007 DepEd to integrate consumer education, DTI product standards in lessons for kids
WORRIED that its efforts will be in conflict with what the parents are teaching or showing their children, the Department of Education (DepEd) is speeding up its campaign to instill values among the students as consumers through the curriculum.
Starting this month, which is National Consumers Welfare Month, DepEd will integrate consumer education in social studies, values education, mathematics, and science subjects.
“We have observed that even though they lack the funds, some parents will still insist on buying unnecessary materials, while the schools are teaching children to learn to use their money wisely. There is really a conflict between what the schools and the parents teach to their children,” said DepEd 7 director Carolino Mordeno.
With the theme “Education and Information: Key to Consumer Empowerment,” DepEd is strengthening its consumer education in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the National Consumers Affairs Council.
It will also be complemented with activities such as lesson plan development that will integrate DTI product standards and concepts, class discussions on the theme, and cooking contests.
“We have a thrust to include social concerns in the curriculum such as environmental sanitation, consumerism, mag-impok sa bangko, and even about tree-planting,” Mordeno said.
He added that DepEd also extends its curriculum to parents through parent-teacher-community association meetings, encouraging them to make a “shift” from extravagant to thrifty spending.
“It is necessary that we instill in the minds of our students the laws covering service warranties, complaints, counterfeiting, and even intellectual property so they will know their responsibilities and privileges as consumers,” Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said in a statement. (NRC)
