Cebu – Five public schools in Cebu province are set to participate in the pilot introduction of Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) in the upcoming school year. Cebu provincial schools’ division superintendent Senen Paulin announced on Tuesday that this initiative is a step towards reintegrating an intensified values formation subject in all elementary and secondary schools in the area.
According to Philippines News Agency, Paulin, the inclusion of GMRC as a separate subject from values education is part of the preparation for its re-inclusion in the curriculum. The schools participating in the pilot are Tindog Integrated School in Medellin town, North Central Elementary School in San Fernando town, Tabogon Central Elementary School, Dumanjug National High School, and Liloan National High School. The MATATAG Curriculum under the Marcos administration, which aims to decongest the K to 12 curriculums, prominently features GMRC to emphasize basic behavior codes and character education.
Paulin explained that the Department of Education (DepEd) plans to fully implement GMRC teaching in elementary and secondary schools, but initially, only these five schools will pilot the subject for the 2024-2025 school year. The MATATAG Curriculum, launched by Vice President and DepEd Secretary Sara Duterte in August 2023, focuses on developing foundational skills such as literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional skills from kindergarten to Grade 3, along with intensified values formation and character development in line with the GMRC and Values Education Act. GMRC as a subject was also reinstated through Republic Act 11476, known as the Character Education/Good Manners and Right Conduct Act of 2020.