Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) is set to return to the curriculum, as the bicameral report for the GMRC and Values Education Act bill was approved recently.
Senate Majority Leader Migz Zubiri, principal author of the bill, stressed that GMRC is lacking in the current K-12 curriculum in both public and private institutions.
The bill is sponsored by Senator Win Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture. Other co-authors are Sens. Cynthia Villar, Joel Villanueva, Nancy Binay, Panfilo Lacson, Sonny Angara, Bato Dela Rosa, Frank Drilon, Bong Go, Risa Hontiveros, Lito Lapid, Imee Marcos, Manny Pacquiao, Kiko Pangilinan, Koko Pimentel, Bong Revilla, Vicente Sotto III, and Francis Tolentino.
“Kita naman po sa news kung gaano na napariwara ang ating kabataan. Kulang sila sa guidance. You all saw the CCTV footage of how those teenagers set that man’s balloons on fire, inadvertently bringing physical harm to him, on top of destroying his means of livelihood. Clearly, may pagkukulang tayo sa mga batang ito. Napabayaan silang lumaki nang walang respeto, walang malasakit, o kahit sense of consequence man lang,” Zubiri said.
“We need to teach GMRC in our kids’ formative years, so they can develop good habits at a young age.”
“We need to teach GMRC in our kids’ formative years, so they can develop good habits at a young age. This is how they do it in Japan, and the kids there are unbelievably responsible. Napakagaling. Kahit maliliit na bata napaka-disiplinado,” the veteran legislator stressed.
This bill will institutionalize a comprehensive GMRC and Values Education program in the K-12 curriculum of the Department of Education, replacing the current Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao curriculum. GMRC will be integrated into daily activities in the kindergarten level, and then it will be taught as a separate subject from Grades 1 to 6. Grades 7 to 10 will be taught a Values Education subject, into which GMRC shall be integrated. For Grades 11 and 12, Values Education shall be integrated in all subjects under the K-12 Basic Education Curriculum.
This bill marks the return of GMRC after it was dissolved as a subject and assimilated into other classes upon the implementation of the K-12 program in 2013.
“Technology can be a wonderful tool for learning, but it can also stunt their moral development.”
“Our kids are growing up in a period of great technological change. Technology can be a wonderful tool for learning, but it can also stunt their moral development. ‘Di sila matututo maging magalang, responsable, at disiplinado online,” the seasoned lawmaker said.
“Values education remains the domain of the family and the school. This is why we need a strengthened Values Education program, and why we need the return of GMRC in our schools,” the senator stressed.