NCR is not the Philippines

“Lahing Pilipino, Kaagapay sa ika-21 Siglo,” is the title of a series of six grade-school level textbooks in the subject Araling Panlipunan (Social Studies) for Grade 3, published by Rex Book Store and is used in many private schools.

Not one of the other 16 regions of the country (there are 17 regions) was discussed in this book. The 16 regions were also not tackled in any of the other five books of the series, as if there existed no other region but the National Capital Region (NCR).

Not one of the six books included in their lessons the Philippines, the country itself, and its component regions and provinces, their capitals and most important cities and towns.

The many authors, coordinators, consultants and editors of Rex seem to have forgotten that Araling Panlipunan is the one subject that tells us everything we need to know about the Philippines.

This is like teaching the anatomy of the human body to schoolchildren by showing them only the heart, or describing a tree by showing only its flower or fruit. It is like saying that Washington, D.C. is a faithful and realistic representation of the entire United States.

Thus, a pupil living in the NCR and finishing his/her six years of grade school education there will have no inkling whatsoever about the existence of other regions outside of the NCR. He/she will graduate thinking that the Philippines is comprised of only one region!

Shouldn’t we be teaching students that no man is an island, that all 7,100 islands comprise this one country of ours, and that one tree does not represent an entire forest?

ANTONIO CALIPJO GO
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