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| Compiled photo from Manila Bulletin and Inquirer (ctto) |
The Commission on Audit (COA) recently discovered that the
learning materials of the Department of Education (DepEd) worth P254.253
million for Grade 3 pupils were filled with errors in spite of its strict
three-step review process.
State auditors have advised the Department of Education to correct errors in P254.4-million worth of textbooks being used in public schools.
They discovered that these instructional materials were full of grammatical and factual errors.
These materials include those for araling panlipunan,
science and English, the COA said in its 2018 audit report.
“The existence of
error-filled learning materials is an indication that the meticulous checking,
review and evaluation processes of the manuscripts were not undertaken by the
concerned bureaus before [their] mass production,” COA said.
Per COA report, it also said it found that the DepEd had “an alarming number” of undistributed
instructional materials worth P113.708 million.
They added that these instructional materials were procured
as buffer stock from 2014 up to 2017, but as of 2018, some 3.4 million copies
intended for public schools nationwide remained unused and idle in five DepEd
warehouses.
In a letter of Calipjo Go, columnist, to the editor in the
Inquirer in 2018, the COA said the Grade 3 “Araling
Panlipunan Learner’s Material,” written by Manalo, Capunitan, Galarosa and
Sampang, had a staggering 1,308 errors.
While the audit body said that the 363-page Grade 3 “English Learner’s Material,” written by
15 authors, contained 430 errors.
And the 185-page Grade 3 “Science
Learner’s Material,” which was written in Filipino, was found to have
317 errors, an average of 1.7 errors per page.
The materials include those for araling panlipunan, science
and English, the COA said in its 2018 audit report.
In the report, COA also said it found that the DepEd had
“an alarming number” of undistributed instructional materials worth P113.708
million.
These instructional materials were procured as buffer stock
from 2014 up to 2017, but as of 2018, some 3.4 million copies intended for
public schools nationwide remained unused and idle in five DepEd warehouses.
COA conducted personal interviews with the
teachers and said the topics of the learning materials were “repetitive and the sequencing of topics is
confusing for the teachers and learners.”
Moreover, they also added that the topics were not in line with the curriculum guide.
Moreover, they also added that the topics were not in line with the curriculum guide.
Teachers have opted to use older reference textbooks and
other supplemental resources like the internet and books from private schools
that was congruent with the previous curriculum,
“To their mind, the
poor quality and the confusing sequencing of the topics are indicative that
there were several writers who coauthored the materials without proper
coordination and review process,” the COA added.
Former Education Secretary Armin Luistro had approved the P254.253-million contract for the materials, which were delivered between 2015 and 2016, according to the audit body.
The audit body immediately ordered the DepEd to
evaluate and correct the errors in the learning materials.
They also directed the department to “improve and
strengthen” the process of review, scrutiny, and evaluation of instructional
materials before publication and distribution to the public.
The Office of Undersecretary for Curriculum and
Instruction’s Bureau of Learning Resources had since conducted a series of
workshops on the development of handbooks on learning resource processes, which
included quality assurance, according to DepEd.
Source: Inquirer
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