Textbooks from five publishing companies—ABIVA Publishing House Inc., C & E Bookshop, DIWA Learning Systems Inc., Phoenix Publishing House, and REX Book Store — have been selected as the new educational materials for Adventist schools from nursery to senior high level in SwPUC in the next three years. The selection process was held on May 6-7, 2023, at the union headquarters.

For nursery and kindergarten, textbooks will be sourced from ABIVA, and for elementary levels, from REX. For junior high and senior high, a combination of textbooks from Phoenix, C & E, DIWA, ABIVA, and REX will be used. 

The evaluating team consisted of selected teachers, principals, and education directors who were grouped by their expertise in specific subjects. Using the Textbook Evaluation Rubric, they assessed the books from different publishing companies in the following four criteria: organization, content, inclusivity, and alignment with the Adventist and MATATAG curriculum. 

Before the results were announced, SwPUC Education Director Dr. Alevir Pido had already assured that the chosen books would align with the highest standards of Adventist education and should provide quality educational materials for the students. 

SwPUC Assistant Education Director Romy Lamputi, who was in charge of the Book Review, reiterated this, pointing out that the content of the textbooks should be congruent with the Adventist principles. 

"That's why we're very happy to evaluate the textbooks objectively. We also decided to have different titles that will be used throughout the SwPUC schools from all levels," he said. 

ZPM Education Director Victor Palin, assigned to review Mathematics books, shared his experience: "I want to make sure that this subject is more comprehensible to the students, and it must coincide with the MATATAG curriculum of DepEd."

Launched in 2023, the new MATATAG Curriculum of the Department of Education is just one of the measures done by the said department to solve the ongoing poor performance of Filipino graders. In the latest evaluation of Programme for International Student Assessment in 2022, the Philippines still ranked 77 out of 81 countries in reading, mathematics, and science.

Adventist schools within SwPUC will start using the new learning materials this upcoming school year 2024-2025.

By Quin Salarda, News Reporter
SWPUC Communication Department