Public officials should observe GMRC, too
THE enactment of Republic Act (RA) 11476, or the “GMRC and Values Education Act,” is one of the good things that happened while most of the country was on lockdown. The new law revives the subject Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) in the basic education curriculum. Bringing back GMRC, in lieu of
that teaches ethics to students in the current curriculum, serves as an admission that removing it as a separate subject 18 years ago was a mistake.
The intention then was to integrate GMRC in all learning areas, but it failed. What happened was that GMRC or character education, one of the original subjects in the curriculum when the Philippine educational system was established in 1901, took a backseat.
Institutionalizing GMRC and Values Education again as a separate subject in the curriculum becomes more significant in the age of smart phones and the internet when parents and teachers are no longer able to control what children are exposed to.
Under the new law, students will be taught the following: basic tenets of the observance of respect for oneself, others and elders; intercultural diversity and gender equity; ecology and integrity of creation; peace and justice; obedience to the law; nationalism and global citizenship; values of patience, perseverance, industry, honesty and integrity; and good faith in dealing with other human beings, along with all other universal values.
GMRC will be taught as a separate class from Grades 1 to 6, while Values Education will be a separate subject for Grades 7 to 10. For Grades 11 and 12, Values Education will be integrated in the teaching of subjects.
According to the Global Peace Foundation, an international, nonsectarian organization that promotes an innovative values-based approach to peace building, character education found its place back in the elementary and high school curriculum in 2005.
But then, in spite of the efforts to develop the character of learners, it noted “evident decline in morality, honesty, discipline, respect, civility and responsibility in our — in the family, in society, in government, even in schools.”
It concurred in the observation that “conventional education is incomplete when it comes to nurturing the character and personality of the students.”
The Department of Education (DepEd) should immediately come out with implementing guidelines of the new law in time for the planned reopening of classes in August under a “new normal” that necessitates adoption of innovative learning approaches to help contain the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019.
Observations on how young people — particularly the millennials and the so-called Generation Z, or those born between the mid80s to the mid-2000 — behave prompted advocates to push the legislation of the GMRC bill.
We see millennials and Gen-Z Filipinos sitting comfortably in buses and the MRT, pretending to be tired and sleepy or busy tinkering with their cellphones as a way to ignore disabled, elderly and pregnant passengers who try to keep their balance on the speeding transport. We see them jump the queue in the ride home, in restaurants and banks. Worse, we hear them cursing and showing discourtesy in public places.
With the new law, educators are mandated to teach students the practical and acceptable manner of conducting daily affairs according to universal norms of ethics and morality.
In a statement welcoming the enactment of the GMRC bill, the DepEd said it formed part of empowering the youth to “contribute to nation building while protecting their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual and social well-being.”
“Though we have been providing lessons on GMRC and Values Education in our K to 12 curriculum, we value the vital role RA 11476 will play in strengthening our youth’s decision making skills, attitude and behaviors, especially in these critical times,” it added.
While the new law mandates the teaching of good values in school, the learning from the education system ought to be complemented with practical applications at home. It does not take away the obligation of parents, who should be the children’s first teachers, to show examples of proper behavior and discipline at home. Otherwise, the law will be useless.
The law is a challenge for elders, particularly government officials and public figures, including entertainment personalities, to prove with good deeds that they deserve trust and respect and that they’re worth emulating.
President Rodrigo Duterte, for one, should fulfill his promise before assuming his post in 2016 to behave well and refrain from cursing, at least in his public speeches. Senators and congressmen should avoid acting like chimpanzees. Movie actors and actresses should not flaunt their illicit relationships before the eyes of their adoring fans, including young children. It is important that adults show examples of good manners and right conduct that young people could emulate.
Let’s share the hope of the Education department that the GMRC and Values Education law will “guide our youth to the right path” as “we look forward to raising more Filipinos who are