THE Department of Education (DepEd)-Davao said Korean language is expected to be included in the curriculum of public high schools in the region in the next school year.
A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between Education Secretary Leonor Briones and the Republic of Korea Ambassador to the Philippines Kim Jae was signed last June 21 regarding the inclusion of the Korean language in the public school curriculum in the country.
DepeEd-Davao Special Program for Foreign Language (SPFL) Spokesperson Cielo Estrada, in an interview with SunStar Davao, said the addition of Korean language to SPFL program was only piloted in selected 10 secondary public schools in the National Capital Region this school year to assess how effective before implementing it throughout the country.
"Central office told me that Davao Region was originally included in the pilot area of the Korean language implementation. But since it was martial law during the MOA signing, it was cancelled," Estrada said.
DepEd-Davao, she said, has been in constant communication with the central office regarding the assurance of the inclusion of Korean language in the region next school year due to the high demand of various schools in the region.
Estrada said the addition of Korean language in the region's SPFL program will gain abundant support as there are several Korean communities in the city.
It will be taught to students in Grades seven to 10 and will soon be extended to the senior high school program in the region.
However, not all public schools are allowed to offer this new language in SPFL program as there are requirements needed to comply by the schools such as the numbers and proficiency of the language teachers of the requesting school.
"The teachers must first master the competency in teaching English and Filipino subjects and we can see that through the grades of their students," Estrada said.
She added that the training of teachers for the inclusion of Korean language in the region may already begin at summer of next year. Only professional Korean language teachers will train the approved public school's language teachers.
At present, Estrada said Davao Region has nine schools offering Mandarin, seven schools for Spanish, and only one school offering Nihonggo.
She said SPFL program of DepEd aims to make junior high school students more globally competitive in the perspective of linguistic diversity.