THE Alliance of Concerned Teachers called on the Department of Education to halt the implementation of the MATATAG Curriculum and conduct an open, democratic and genuine consultation with education stakeholders.

The new curriculum was pilot tested in 35 schools beginning Monday, Sept. 25, 2023.

The group said the MATATAG curriculum is just a rebranding of the Enhanced Basic Education Curriculum.

“The benchmarking of the 21st century skills development to produce graduates is aligned to the demands of foreign entities. This runs counter to our need to produce graduates that should be inclined to the constitutional mandate of education to establish, maintain and support a complete, adequate and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of the people and society,” Vladimir Quetua, the group’s chairperson, said.

The group raised concerns that the premature implementation of the re-branded K to 12 curriculum is another experimental educational scheme making youth guinea pigs.

“Just like in the implementation of K-12 in 2012, it is disheartening that after more than a decade, the DepEd would tell the public that an implemented curriculum is problematic,” Quetua said.

ACT maintained that the worsening education crisis stems from the government’s failure to significantly overhaul the curriculum, address education shortages, capacitate and empower teachers, and conduct an evidence-based nationwide learning assessment to determine the extent of learning loss.

“It is necessary to democratically and genuinely draft a relevant and responsive curriculum that will produce graduates who will contribute to nation building– a nation that addresses the needs of the Filipino people for food security, development of small and medium enterprises, utilization of science and technology for agricultural development and establishment of basic national industries for the common people and not for the profit-generating capitalist entities,” Quetua said.