DepEd to teachers: Be professional and ‘very sensitive’ in preparing learning materials for students

On Wednesday, DepEd Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction Diosdado San Antonio has reminded teachers of their professional duty in preparing learning materials that students will use, especially under the distance learning set-up implemented in the new normal.

This comes after a certain self-learning module content that mocked actress Angel Locsin. 

While the accountability to review normally lies within the school’s department head or the principal, San Antonio explained that it is the teacher who is mainly responsible when it comes to the summative tests for the specific class he or she is handling. Teachers are required to prepare a set of assessment questions for the students.

Photos of a learning material calling Locsin an obese person received a lot of criticisms which immediately prompted the department to issue an apology. They had conducted an investigation on the matter.

San Antonio clarified that the said item was “not a part of a module” but a part of a learning resource.

It’s a summative assessment prepared by a teacher...It was not used in the whole DepEd, it was just for the group of learners the teacher was handling,

he said.

San Antonio said the DepEd Central Office has been emphasizing the need to be very sensitive about social issues. He also reminded the teachers to avoid infringement of copyright laws.

He pointed out that academic freedom is not absolute and executed in a way that respects certain norms and laws.