WELCOMING GMRC BACK TO THE CURRICULUM

Genalyn M. Garcia

Being a teacher, it is one of our goal to create a students that are exemplary, not only in their academic performance but also to their character skills like optimism, self regulation, having empathy and respect. As they have said, citizens are made, not born, so it is a good news that the Department of Education (DepEd) welcomed the revival of the Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) subject in the elementary and secondary levels following the approval of the bill making it a core subject in the K to 12 curriculum for both private and public schools.

Values Education was given a primary thrust after the EDSA Revolution on 1986, they believe that in rebuilding the nation, it is important to re-established the people as well, thus begun the integration of values education program in the the department known then as Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) under DECS Order No. 6 s. 1988. From then on, the GMRC has become a part of the curriculum under DepEd Order No. 90 s. 1991, on which the objectives were based on the latter. However, following the K-12 Curriculum, GMRC was removed as a subject and was integrated into Social Studies, moreover, integration of it to all the subjects was highly encouraged by the Deparment. Still, lawmakers argued that teaching GMRC as a separate subject is still needed since we are living in an era where children can see negativities just by opening their mobile phones .

I, as a teacher, personally believe that bringing back the GMRC would be a great help to create a better world with better citizens. As Bob Ong has said in his book, ABNKKBSNPLAko, don’t we find it wrong that Written Works, Performance Output and Periodical Test were graded but character was not even though at the end of the day, character was the one who shapes people, family, the world and history.

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The author is Teacher III at St. Vincent of Quebiawan Integrated School