In order to create a holistic learning experience, the Department of Education (DepEd) will now also focus on the emotional quotient of elementary students.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said DepEd will now integrate the social emotional learning (SEL) in character education or Edukasyong Pantao in order to enrich the elementary curriculum. Through this additional program, pupils are expected to learn about self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.

"These skills are expected to facilitate academic achievement and develop well-rounded, wholesome individuals. Developing lifelong learners in a fast-changing world calls for continuous refinement in education,” Lapus said.

Moreover, he noted that the improved elementary curriculum would strengthen values on nationalism and love of cultural heritage, adding that the pupils’ learning experience will be made more interactive, experiential and information and communication technology-enabled.

The inclusion of the SEL is also part of the education agency’s Education For All (EFA) goal that aims to upgrade the quality of basic education by 2015.

The program’s guidelines and the teaching of Edukasyong Pagpapakatao at Sibika at Kultura/HEKASI, which focuses on demonstrating nationalism and love of cultural heritage, are all contained in DepEd Order No. 71 series of 2009.

The lessons will include natural songs, folk dances, poems, folklores, other literature and customs and traditions.

The DepEd order also stressed the “Talk Less and Learn More” practice in schools.

Also, team teaching for Grades I to III and IV to VI will be encouraged, using the teachers’ expertise in each learning area assigned. Team leaders in the area will be the recipients of summer training and scholarship programs.