Mother tongue law slammed

A CONGRESSMAN on Sunday slammed the lapsing into law of a measure discontinuing the use of mother tongue in the classroom for early learners, saying the move is a “step backward” in honing students’ sense of nationalism and critical thinking skills.

“Removing the Mother Tongue as a medium of instruction is a step backward from providing better quality education to the youth,” Deputy Minority Leader and Party-list Rep. France L. Castro said in a statement in mixed English and Filipino. “Abandoning the Mother Tongue is turning away from our country’s various languages and their contributions to the diverse cultures we have.”

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. inaction on the measure allowed it to lapse into law, going in the books as Republic Act No. 12027, ceasing the use of mother tongue as a medium of instruction for kindergarten to grade 3 students.

The new law mandated the use of Filipino and English as mode of classroom instruction, relegating regional languages as “auxiliary media” for class discussions. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio