Philippines’ South China Sea education push blurs ‘teaching the truth’ lines

The Philippines is seeking to move its China-sea" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="8346" data-entity-type="location">South China Sea row with Beijing into classrooms, a push that analysts say could shape how young Filipinos understand the country’s maritime claims while raising questions over potentially blurred lines between education and state narrative-building.Congressmen in the House of Representatives introduced legislation on Thursday requiring the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education to develop standardised teaching materials on the disputed waterway, particularly regions Manila considers to be within its exclusive economic zone.The bill would require educational materials to be based on the Philippine constitution, the Maritime Zones Act, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) and a 2016 arbitral ruling that found China’s expansive claims in the contested waters had no legal basis under international law.