Bill making 'good manners' part of school curriculum closer to becoming law

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate approved Monday a bill which would require elementary and high school students to take values education under the K to 12 curriculum.

Under Senate Bill 1224 or the Comprehensive Values Education Act, values education—including Good Manners and Right Conduct—will be taught to elementary and senior high school students for an hour daily.

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Values education will also be integrated in the daily learning activities of kindergarten students.

In the current K to 12 curriculum, values education is taught for 30 minutes daily in primary education and an hour twice a week in secondary education.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, sponsor of the bill, said the 30-minute allotment does not provide adequate time for educators to engage students in discussions and exercises on values formation.

The proposed legislation mandates values education curriculum to include role playing in the classroom, community immersion activities, teacher-parent collaborative learning activities, school-initiated values formation activities and other forms of experiential learning activities.

“This will allow students to gain real-life experiences in applying their values to difficult situations but in a controlled environment where experienced educators will help them process the lessons they learned in a constructive and nurturing way,” Gatchalian said.

The bill also called for the use of mother tongue-based multilingual education approach to be used in teaching values education.

Early in February, the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading a measure seeking to revive the GMRC subject in grade school.