How not to make a concerned citizen?

In college, I have taken up Social Studies (an umbrella term that includes such subjects as History, Geography, etc.) because I like it. It gives me a chance to travel back into time, know the heroes and villains of the past, and discover how similar or different the situation back then from today's. In short, I like Social Studies not because it's replete with facts, but because it offers a rich perspective. But many, including the Department of Education, do not share my enthusiasm for Social Studies, save the historians and history buffs.

Social Studies is always a fringe subject. Look around: In college, only few are specializing in it. Take Holy Cross of Davao College, where I'm studying. Out of the more than 2,000 Education students, there are only about 75 students majoring in Social Studies. In high school, students so loathe the subject that they have no qualms skipping it.

"In today's world," Dr. Serafin D. Quiason and Prof. Fe B. Mangahas wrote, "our educational planners have come out with a strange concoction in the form of a collected set of subjects called Makabayan, which is a misnomer."

"Lamentably," Dr. Quiason and Prof. Mangahas continued, "Makabayan is the antithesis of patriotism, nationalism and one's sense of national identity. Although the package is well intentioned, Makabayan presents Filipino culture and history in a hodgepodge fashion, void of the vital element of continuity in the study of our past."

It is really sad that a subject so important as History is so conveniently taken for granted. As if its relegation to the Makabayan were not enough, the government sent it further down into the abyss.

On August 25, 2009, the Department of Education (DepEd) issued Department Order No. 90 (DO 90). It is DepEd's "response to the alarming size or population of learners in a class or crowded classrooms, safety of young pupils and clamor for lesser learning loads."