Sunday, November 09, 2008 DepEd seeks to introduce Spanish in high schools
HIGH school students across the country might be able to learn Spanish in their schools, if plans for the integration of the language in the curriculum push through, said an education official Saturday.
“We hope that it will start next school year,” said Department of Education (DepEd) 7 Director Recaredo Borgonia.
Interested high school students will be allowed to pick Spanish as an elective course in their secondary studies. However, only those that perform well in class will be allowed to take the elective.
“We cannot make it a requirement for all the students to take up Spanish. If the student doesn’t perform well in English or Filipino, you can’t expect them to do well in Spanish. So it is better that it just an elective, for the students to decide,” said Borgonia.
However, plans for the integration of the Spanish language in the curriculum are still in the early stages, he said.
“We are still preparing for it. Nothing has been made clear. Right now, we still need a task force that will draw up plans to have Spanish taught as an elective (subject) in secondary schools across the country,” he said.
An earlier DepEd memorandum called for the integration of Spanish in the curriculum for the current school year. However nobody took charge of the program.
Borgonia said they were hoping to fully implement the endeavor this time around.
“It will be done on a pilot basis. Not all schools will immediately implement it. It will be one school per region at first,” he said.
In order to effectively teach Spanish, public school teachers will be taught by Spanish teachers.
“Through that, we will have teachers who have the competencies to speak and teach Spanish. By effectively teaching students Spanish, teachers will be able to help students get a sense of history,” Borgonia said.
“The students get a good sense of history. And also, by learning Spanish, it is a good tool for industry and business for the students in the future,” he added. (EPB)
