THE Philippine Government’s Official Gazette records the DepEd’s Special Program for Foreign Language (SPFL) as having been initiated in SY 2009-2010 and implemented in selected public secondary schools. Starting, with the Spanish, French, and Japanese languages, the DepEd added German the year after and Chinese in SY 2011-2012. For this initiative, DepEd is collaborating with the respective cultural institutes which are the Instituto  Cervantes, Alliance Francais Manila and Cebu, Japan Foundation, Goethe Institut and Angeles University Foundation’s  Confucius Institute for the summer language training of teachers of these languages. Training of local teachers to teach well the language in pilot schools is foremost in the partnering agenda of these institutes. The SPFL, offered beginning in junior to senior secondary level, is for students who have demonstrated competence in English and are capable of learning other foreign languages.

Let’s back track to the teaching of Spanish language in our education system.  Spanish was in SY 1950-51, a subject included in the last two years of high school and later was removed. In higher education, it was compulsory, as language   requirement   consisting of twelve units, which in 1957, was increased to twenty-four units. In later years, it was reduced to eighteen, then to twelve units.  In 1987, it became optional.

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