Erasing PH history
CALLING the proposal and the clamor of thousands of teachers and historians to bring back Philippine History as a dedicated subject in the high school curriculum “premature” and “misleading” simply shows that the Department of Education (DepEd), both the outgoing and the incoming administration, do not know the current situation of our education system on the ground. DepEd Order 20 removed Philippine History from the curriculum of high school students. In effect, discussions of events in Philippine history are only integrated in several subjects instead of an independent subject focused on teaching the narration of facts and ensuring that the students understand the implications of these events in our daily lives today.
According to many history teachers and professors, students only learn Philippine History at the age of 11 and 12, nothing else is taught thereafter until seven years later when they enter college, if they continue their studies. This leaves students with very minimal understanding of basic historical concepts and the significance of these events to our daily lives which further limits the capability of many Filipinos to make their own research about our own culture, appreciate and emulate our national heroes and criticize the sins of the past that the have great effects on how our society is today.
DepEd Order 20 s. 2014 removed Philippine History from the curriculum of high school students as part of so-called “education reforms.” What kind of reform is that? We must strengthen Philippine History education especially during these times when there is widespread disinformation and misinformation about our history and there is a conscious effort to revise and deny the history of the Filipino people especially during the martial law period.
Erasing Philippine History in the high school curriculum amounts to a deliberate effort to make Filipinos forget the lessons of the past, our hallmarks and pride as a people and a nation, and to render us greatly vulnerable to the spread of lies, to modern agents of colonization and oppression. This is a great injustice not only to our heroes, including the unsung, but also to the next generation who are deprived of quality education that includes the history of our country.