The Department of Education (DepEd) said on Tuesday, February 9, that the self-learning module (SLM) that wrongly depicted Igorots was “mistakenly reproduced in good faith by some school personnel.”

In a statement sent to media, the DepEd said that the material was locally-developed, which means that it did not undergo vetting by the Central Office.

“We would like to emphasize though that this erroneous document was not distributed to learners since the field offices concerned, upon learning about the incident, immediately withdrew the said document from circulation,” the DepEd added.

In the learning module that went viral online, the students were asked whether a statement was right or wrong. The statement read: “Hindi ako makikipaglaro sa aking kaklasi (sic) na Igorot dahil iba ang kanyang pananamit (I will not play with my Igorot classmate because he or she dresses differently).”

This and other textbook errors mostly discriminating against the Igorots made the rounds on social media, such that Cordillera representatives sought to correct these errors.

But Cordillerans were not affected by the discriminatory materials, and even took to social media to parade their indigenous attire. (READ: Cordillerans dress differently? Thousands said this calls for a meme)

Among them were former Baguio mayor Mauricio Domogan, Marie Rafael of the communications office of the President of the Philippines, and Team Lakay martial artist Harold Banario who dressed in G-strings and tapis. Members of BIBAK organizations (Benguet, Ifugao, Bontoc, Apayao, and Kalinga) abroad also followed suit.

The DepEd said that “discrimination should have no place in our society.”

“Our journey to ensure that our education promotes equality and respect for each other still has a long way to go, and the department is committed to do its part to eliminate discriminatory practices in schools and offices,” it added.

The department said that “mechanisms are in place” to police such acts.

During the coronavirus pandemic, learning modules play an important role in the learning of millions of public school students. (READ: FAST FACTS: DepEd’s modular learning)

But learning module mishaps continue to surface on social media since classes began in October 2020, raising concerns over the quality of education of over 24 million students during the pandemic.

The implementation of distance learning has been widely criticized as the country is not fully prepared for remote education. There are also questions on whether students are learning in this kind of teaching mode. – Rappler.com