The Department of Education (DepEd) wants to add good manners, right conduct and proper values to students’ learning as it sets a review of the 2-year-old curriculums in all grade levels under the K-12 program.

Noting it was “high time” the review was done, Education Secretary Leonor Briones said the DepEd wanted to strengthen “basic skills” in early grade levels, focusing particularly on the first three levels of basic education: kindergarten and Grades 1 and 2.

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“In the first three years, there are not so many subjects, [but there should be lessons in] good manners and right conduct,” Briones said in a press briefing at the DepEd central office in Pasig City last week.

“For example, they should know how to say good morning, how to deal with other children… along with basic numeracy and reading skills, which I’ve noticed are already being done in other countries,” she added.

‘Demands of society’

Briones said the proposed changes were also a response to the “demands of society,” where children were often more exposed to different environments and technologies that could influence their behavior.

When a 5-year-old child goes into kindergarten, she said, other institutions, such as the family and the Church, had already shaped the child’s attitudes.

“I’m not saying that the youth’s values are failing, but the world is changing. The values of our society and of the grown-ups are also changing,” Briones said.

“As we prepare our learners to be grown-ups, they can contribute to shaping such values because eventually, they too will become leaders,” she added.

Focusing on basic numeracy and reading skills are also important even at a young age, as these are the basis for “lifelong learning,” she said.

“We need to teach our children to be more analytical, to think more in terms of problem solving,” she said.

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