There are issues about the K-12 program being implemented by the Department of Education but the one good thing about it is the use of the mother tongue or native dialect as medium of instruction for the first years in school. That means from Kindergarten to Grades 1 to 3.
In a country, where many equate speaking English, however badly, with intelligence and class, the use of the mother tongue as medium of instruction in early education was a bold step to right a wrong policy.
The new policy was based in various studies that the use of the language spoken at home during early years of schooling produces better and faster learners who can easily adapt to learn a second language (Filipino) and third language (English).
The implementation of this policy is daunting considering that the Philippines has 181 documented languages. Producing learning materials for would require a lot of resources and time.
An Inquirer report said that The DepEd used 12 major languages when it introduced the mother tongue based-multi-lingual education (MTB-MLE) last school year namely Tagalog, Kapampangan, Pangasinense, Iloko, Bikol, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray, Tausug, Maguindanaoan, Maranao and Chabacano.
