Press Release - Implementation of anti-bullying policies in MATATAG curriculum need to be monitored - EDCOM 2

While anti-bullying policies, such as Social and Emotional Learning, are "embedded" in the MATATAG curriculum, monitoring teachers' capacity and actual implementation of these policies have become a challenge due to factors such as the high teacher-student ratio, difficulty in curriculum implementation, and the mismatch between teachers' training and their assigned subjects.

These were the challenges found during the Second Congressional Commission on Education's (EDCOM 2) second Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting to review and amend the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of RA 10627, or the Anti-Bullying Law of 2013. The meeting, held on August 5, brought together key stakeholders and aimed to identify and adapt best anti-bullying practices for implementation in DepEd schools.

"There is a curriculum document, but we want to know what is actually happening in classrooms...How do you know that the documents you develop are actually being implemented?", EDCOM 2 Standing Committee for Basic Education member and De La Salle University Distinguished Professor Dr. Allan B. I. Bernardo said.

"The monitoring, somehow, doon kami nagkakaroon ng gap...Ang daming layer. Doon kami medyo...We're not really confident as to how it was really delivered in the classroom", Ms. Carmencita Aguas, Senior Education Program Specialist at the DepEd Bureau of Learning Delivery - Teaching and Learning Division admitted.

Aside from Dr. Bernardo, the meeting was attended by EDCOM 2 Chief Legal Officer Atty. Joseph Noel Estrada, Chief Technical Specialist Krupskaya Añonuevo, OIC-Director IV, DepEd Bureau of Learner Support Services Atty. Suzette T. Gannaban-Medina, Department of Health Medical Officer IV Health Promotion Bureau Dr. Aimee Capinpuyan, representatives from the School Division Offices of Valenzuela City and Tanauan City, school officials from Xavier School San Juan, and representatives from the Child Neurology Society of the Philippines, and representatives from the Philippine Council for Mental Health.

Challenges in monitoring implementation of anti-bullying policies

Jona Kristen Valdez, Senior Education Specialist at the Bureau of Curriculum Development at DepEd,