PHILIPPINE NEWS SERVICE — AFTER being scrapped out of the school curriculum years ago, Spanish language makes a re-entry in the high school curriculum based on a memorandum of agreement signed by the Department of Education (DepEd) with the University of Alcala in Spain.
The agreement would allow the inclusion of the Spanish language in the high school curriculum as well as strengthening of educational and cultural ties between the Philippines and Spain.
Education Secretary Jesli Lapus and University of Alcala Rector Professor D. Virgilio Zapatero Gomez signed the agreement which seeks to develop the Filipino students’ skills in listening, reading, writing and speaking the Spanish language as fundamental to acquiring communicative competence in a second foreign language.
The two officials have also agreed to implement programs that will strengthen the academic, educational and cultural activities that will benefit both parties.
“With this agreement, our students and teachers will not only learn to master the basics of Spanish language, but will also be exposed to more opportunities of interaction in the international arena,” Lapus said.
Lapus added that “bringing back the Spanish language in the school curriculum would help us understand and connect with our past.”
“Many of the works of our forefathers, including our national hero Jose Rizal, which were written in Spanish, remain significant up to this day,” he said.
The 15 pilot schools where Spanish language would be taught were selected by DepEd regional offices based on mean percentage score in English, ability to provide substitute teachers to take over the classes of teachers in training, and availability of classrooms and support facilities and equipment.
The schools implementing this program are Ilocos Norte National HS (Region I), Lemu National HS (Cagayan, Region II), Honorato Perez Memorial Science HS (Cabanatuan City, Region III), Cavite Science HS Region IV-A), Dolores National HS (Marinduque, Region IV-B), Naga City Science HS (Region V), Capiz National HS (Region IV), Don Pablo Lorenzo Memorial HS (Region IX), Gusa National HS (Region X), Davao City Special School (Region XI), Tupi National HS (Region XII), Agusan National HS (CARAGA), Ifugao Provincial Science HS (CAR), Quezon City Science HS (NCR), and ARMM Science HS (ARMM).