A GROUP of Filipino language advocates called on President-elect Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. to reconsider the use of the English language as the sole medium of instruction in basic education.

In a statement, Tanggol Wika pointed out that any change in curriculum content will be “useless” if the government carries on with the “illogical policy” of using English to teach subjects like Science and Mathematics.

“We are all aware of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 results that sadly relegated our 15-year olds to the bottom heap with regard to scores in Reading, Mathematics and Science,” the group said.

Vice President-elect and incoming Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Monday said that Marcos has ordered a review of the implementation of the K to 12 program.

While Tanggol Wika welcomed Marcos’ directive to review the K to 12 program, it stressed that using English to teach subjects in basic education resulted in Filipino students’ low performance in international assessments.

The group said that Marcos’ plan to “double down” on the use of English as the official mode of instruction should be “shelved” to improve the quality of education in the country.

“Other than insufficient funds for public education, the government’s perennial obsession with the forced use of English in education is to blame for the current mess we are in,” it said.

“International and local standardized tests show that many of our students have insufficient competence in using English in academic settings, yet our government insists on using it as medium of instruction and as language of assessment/testing too,” it added.

In 2019, the Philippines performed the poorest out of 79 countries in the reading literacy assessment conducted by the inter-government group Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.