San Fernando City — Regional Director Tolentino G. Aquino emphasized the importance of the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTBMLE) in improving the quality of education during the Regional Orientation on the Utilization of MTBMLE Materials for Grades 1 and 2.

“The purpose of MTB-MLE is two-pronged,” Aquino said as he explained that there are two main reasons behind the implementation of MTBMLE.

“The first reason is that the use of mother tongue promotes and sustains culture.

Secondly, studies suggest that learners respond better when mother tongue is used,” Aquino said.

Aquino added that learning another language is easier through bridging. “MTBMLE is also facing some challenges.

One issue is bridging from Mother Tongue to Filipino,” Aquino said as he explained the issues on the program.

Aquino said the conduct of the orientation on bridging would hopefully address this concern. “We enjoin everyone to support MTB-MLE,” Aquino said.

Assistant Regional Director Ronald B. Castillo also said the the orientation was a welcome development in the implementation of MTB-MLE.

“Researches say it’s more beneficial to use mother tongue in developing the proficiency of learners,” Castillo emphasized as he urged schools to implement the program properly in the schools.

Castillo said the Regional Office had been looking into the deployment of teachers to Grades 1 to 3.

“We will come up with a policy that will ensure that K to 3 teachers are highly familiar with MTB-MLE,” Castillo explained.

The five-day online orientation aimed to orient the MTBMLE implementers, particularly those handling Mother Tongue-Pangasinan, on the use of Primer 1 materials and the bridging Primer 2.

It should be recalled that MTBMLE primarily aims to develop appropriate cognitive and reasoning skills enabling children to operate equally in different languages starting in the mother tongue with transition.

The program ran from July 21-23 and July 27-28 via Zoom platform. Regional Supervisor Johnson P. Sunga said he would make sure MTBMLE would be properly implemented in the schools across the region.

“This is just the start. Policies and capacity building activities are underway,” Sunga said.

Arlene A. Niro, chief of the Curriculum and Learning Management Division, vowed to support the programs on the use of mother tongue.

“The benefits of MTBMLE are clear. I am rooting for its success,” Niro said.