The implications of law ending mother tongue education

On Tuesday, July 23, 2024, Senate Bill No. 2457 became the first bill to pass the third and final reading in the Third Regular Session of the 19th Congress. Sponsored by Sen. Win Gatchalian, the bill proposes to “discontinue the use of the mother tongue as a medium of instruction from kindergarten to the first three years of elementary education.”

As the bicameral body moves toward finalizing the proposed law for signing by Malacañang, it is imperative that we voice our concerns and critically examine the potential repercussions of this legislation. The bill seeks to restrict the use of the mother tongue (L1) as a medium of instruction from kindergarten to the first three years of elementary education, allowing only Filipino and English as media of instruction.

This led me to a conversation with two experts in Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE): Dr. Maria Mercedes Arzadon of the University of the Philippines College of Education and Dr. Heidi Macahilig of the Philippine Normal University.

According to them, this proposed shift warrants a closer look, as it affects constitutional rights, indigenous peoples' rights, and the integrity of our educational framework. The following paragraphs summarize my takeaways from my discussions with Dr. Arzadon and Dr. Macahilig.

The underlying question is whether there is concrete evidence to support the idea that limiting instruction to just Filipino and English will enhance learning outcomes for Filipino students.

Historical and contemporary research into multilingual education shows that students often benefit from being taught in their mother tongue, especially in the early stages of learning. Including a child’s native language can improve comprehension, retention and overall academic success.

This is particularly crucial for indigenous students and those from marginalized linguistic backgrounds, whose rights are enshrined in both our Constitution and the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (RA 8371).

The 1987 Constitution explicitly protects the right to freedom of expression and acknowledges regional languages as auxiliary official languages, promoting their use as media of instruction.

Section 7 of the