AN online interactive portal was launched primarily to mainstream the findings of a review on history textbooks.
On September 27 the Far Eastern University Public Policy Center (FPPC), in collaboration with Youth Leadership for Democracy (YouthLed), inaugurated an online portal publishing the findings of the center’s review on 14 K-12 Philippine history textbooks used in Grades 5 and 6 by public and private schools in Luzon.
The review entitled “The Dilemma of Philippine History Textbooks” is part of FPPC’s “History Project” that aims to assess and improve the content and teaching of history in the Philippines.
Dr. Maria Serena Diokno, professor emeritus at the Department of History in the University of the Philippines (UP)-Diliman and a FPPC trustee, delivered a keynote presentation at the launch, underscoring the state of Araling Panlipunan textbooks for Grades 5 and 6.
“In truth, history textbooks are a global concern, and controversies hound [them] in many parts of the world,” revealed Dr. Diokno.
With the Philippines as no exception, the review revealed that the textbooks contain “several examples of factual inaccuracies—including unproven statements that are presented as facts.”
She further underscored the need for more rigorous review of textbooks, especially as “for many, textbook authors are invisible, thereby reinforcing the perception that social studies textbooks—because they appear authorless—are free of perspective, interpretation, and bias. Widely believed as these assumptions are, they do not frequently hold true.”
An open forum “#HearLiesTheTruth” that discussed findings related to the state of the Philippine education system followed. It featured insights from Assistant Professor Dondy Ramos II, Assistant Professor Francisco Guiang, and Aaron Viernes who are also from the same department in UP-Diliman. They also shared ideas on improving the mentioned subject and its materials based on the findings.
“Supporting FPPC’s ‘History Project’ [via the online interactive publication is a way we contribute] to enhancing the country’s civic education,” YouthLed’s Chief of Party Natalie Christine Jorge shared. “Our shared vision with FPPC is for this platform to become a resource that will inform and inspire key education stakeholders to enhance the ways we teach history among the youth.”
To learn more about the review, visit https://publicpolicy.feu.org.ph/.