GMRC has always been present, says DepEd

There is a growing clamor for the “revival” of the good manners and right conduct (GMRC) subject, but the Department of Education (DepEd) said it was never really left out in the new curriculum.

“Maybe there’s some misunderstanding or misrepresentation in the terminologies,” DepEd Undersecretary for Finance Service and Education Programs Delivery Unit Annalyn Sevilla said in an interview on the sidelines of the ongoing 1st National Summit on the Rights of the Child in Education (NSRCEd).

The GMRC, she noted, was the “old subject or course” taught to students way back in the old curriculum. “But right now, we have the GMRC embedded in Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao (EsP),” she explained.

Sevilla said that under the new K to 12 curriculum, “age appropriate values education and the lessons that are relevant and appropriate for our learners” are being taught to students from kinder to grade 12.

“We teach our students not just about values education but being the ‘complete’ person,” she added.

Sevilla clarified that while concepts of GMRC are “already included and embedded” in the current curriculum, the agency is “still open” to the suggestions of stakeholders from various sectors. “Let’s hear all the sides and opinions and we, at DepEd, welcome this because this is also what we want to do,” Sevilla said in reaction to the calls to revive GMRC at the basic education level.

“From the experts of the education system, we will hear the changes and developments in the system of education that we should address,” she said.

The DepEd, through its Legal Affairs Office, is hosting the firstever NSRCEd from November 14 to 15. It gathers stakeholders from local and international community to take a closer look at the rights of the child in education and address gaps in the implementation of policies that involve learners.