Students, teachers and parents are in the thick of preparations for the school opening this Tuesday, but for public schools textbook critic Antonio Go, students may be surprised to find out that some public school textbooks in elementary subjects Makabayan and Sibika at Kultura have minor and major factual errors.
Some errors can be found in this Grade 4 Makabayan textbook with a picture of a Mercedes Benz car as one of the influences of American culture in the Philippines, when in fact Mercedes Benzs are made in Germany, showed Go.
In the Grade 3 Sibika at Kultura textbook, a map of Cebu province shows Cebu City at the western portion of the island when it should at the eastern side.
“We should satisfy the children who will use the books. Kasi as long as the errors are there anong tinututo natin, kamalian?,” said Go.
But according to the Department of Education (DepEd), they have made the necessary corrections last year after Go raised his concerns.
They distributed to teachers booklets of errata where some 269 errors were corrected in seven books in Makabayan and Sibika at Kultura.
“The corrections are all trivial and inconsequential,” Go said.
The DepEd countered they continuously evaluate books with the cooperation of publishers and authors, and more importantly, they are open to criticisms and suggestions.
“We tell the publishers. We first make them aware of these comments, so that they develop the same type of materials they become more sensitive,” said DepEd Instructional Materials Council Director Socorro Pilor.
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