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The Philippines has a language problem. Among its more than 7,000 islands, nearly 200 languages have sprung up—each with speakers numbering from a few hundred to millions across the world. With so many disparate languages, which one ought to serve as the common denominator? Spanish, English, and Filipino have each been proposed as solutions, but questions of inclusivity, representation, and effectiveness have hounded their statuses as official national languages.
This gap is what mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) intends to address. Signed into law as part of Republic Act 10533 or the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, MTB-MLE is implemented as part of the Department of Education’s (DepEd) K-12 Basic Education Program. DepEd describes it as early education in which lessons are taught in the learner’s mother tongue or first language. The program currently translates material and lesson plans into eight languages for different regions in the country.
Less than a decade after MTB-MLE’s inception, educators continue to anticipate its results, weighing in on its educational benefits, costs, and inclusivity issues.
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