THE PRACTICAL IMPRACTICAL But what does K-12 scheme really has to offer to end, K-12 graduates will

to end, K-12 graduates will become globally

K + 12 EDUCATION PROGRAM students? competitive and are set to obtain spot in the stiff
labor market.
To prove that K-12 system is more than just adding
The two more years to high school, below are three of the The government believes that K to 12 curriculum
many practical benefits of schooling under a 13-year in the Philippines will put Filipino students at par with
education cycle: the rest of the world. Truly, investing in education is
the key toward reaching national growth and
development.
1. Preparedness for tertiary learning  – With
adaptation of K-12 scheme, students are expected The
to graduate at age a bit older than past PROS (which is
implementation of K-12 curriculum in the country drew graduates’. This is an advantage, according to
negative reactions from various societal groups. Since basically
DepEd, as graduates will be considered young the side of
2011, critics have been very vocal on their primary adults. Hence, they will be more equipped to deal the
concerns. They insist the government isn’t yet ready with much higher level of learning as they enter
for this new system and that this is more of additional college education.
burden to students and their parents. 2. Readiness to join the workforce – Unlike the
old system, K-12 does not compel each student to
take college after completing Senior High School
Despite calls to suspend the program, the government government, well-heeled and articulate leaders from
(SHS). In fact, this scheme empowers students to
the academe, the business community and the media):
remained firm saying this new educational system ma ke a choice on their own. They may not
offers opportunities for Filipino students and the pursue college education especially if they have ® “Enhancing the quality of basic education in the
national economy. chosen a track other than academic track. The Philippines is urgent and critical.”
good thing is SHS graduates will be equipped with ® “The poor quality of basic education is reflected in
skills (through electives) that will make them good the low achievement scores of Filipino students. One
For its part, the Department of Education (DepEd) at certain field(s). reason is that students do not get adequate
stresses that the country is prepared for a big shift in 3. Skill competency in the global job market  – K- instructional time or time on task.”
education system. In fact, it has worked to fulfill the 12 system aims to improve Filipino students’ ® International test results consistently show Filipino
gaps on the number of classrooms, teachers, and mathematical, scientific, and linguistic students lagging way behind practically everybody else
textbooks. Also, it has finished the planning phases competence. With the new curriculum, DepEd in the world. In the 2008 mathematics exam, for
promised to offer higher quality education through example, we came in dead last.
along with stakeholders.
tracks. Each track will give students enough time
to master a field and enhance their skills. In the
® “The congested curriculum partly explains the emotionally, psychologically, and intellectually mature, prestigious graduate schools in the world, even with
present state of education.” Twelve years of content why do we require them to get parental consent before only ten years of basic education.
are crammed into ten years. they get married? ® As far as the curriculum is concerned, DepEd should
® “This quality of education is reflected in the
fix the current subjects instead of adding new ones.
inadequate preparation of high school graduates for
The The problem is the content, not the length, of basic
the world of work or entrepreneurship or higher
education.” If ten years were adequate, how come CONS education. As an editorial put it, we need to have
employers do not hire fresh high school graduates? (which better education, not more education.
How come most high school graduates flunk the are ® A high school diploma will not get anybody
UPCAT? anywhere, because business firms will not hire fresh
® “Most graduates are too young to enter the labor high school graduates.
force.” Since most children start Grade 1 when they
® Every family dreams of having a child graduate from
are 6 years old, they do not reach the legal employable
age of 18 when they graduate from high school today. basically the madlang people whose pocketbooks college.
® “The current system also reinforces the would be adversely impacted by the proposed ® While students are stuck in Grades 11 and 12,
misperception that basic education is just a additional 2 years of basic education): colleges and universities will have no freshmen for two
years. This will spell financial disaster for many private
preparatory step for higher education.” Why prioritize
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).
the minority of high school graduates that go to ® Parents have to shell out more money (for The drop-out rate will increase because of the two
college? transportation and food) for the education of their extra years.
® “The short duration of the basic education program children. ® “The government has not yet shown the arguments
also puts the millions of overseas Filipino workers ® The government does not have the money to pay for of the opposition to be fallacious,” writes Cruz.
(OFWs), especially the professionals, and those who two more years of free education, since it does not
intend to study abroad, at a disadvantage. Our On the other hand, Cruz characterizes the
even have the money to fully support today’s ten
opposition (anti) as being “very vocal airing its
graduates are not automatically recognized as years. DepEd must first solve the lack of classrooms, arguments not only in newspapers, on radio, and on
professionals abroad.” The best examples are our furniture and equipment, qualified teachers, and error- television, but even in the parliament of the streets.”
engineering graduates, who are condemned to free textbooks.
international jobs not befitting their professional status ® We can do in ten years what everyone else in the “As of this writing,” Cruz writes, “I have not
due to our not having a 12-year basic education cycle. world takes 12 years to do. Why do we have to follow heard the opposition rebut the arguments of the
® “The short basic education program affects the what the rest of the world is doing? We are better than government. In fact, as far as I can see, they have
refused to even listen to the government.”
human development of the Filipino children.” If we all of them. Filipinos right now are accepted in
believe that 17-year-old high school graduates are
 Since this is a public debate, Cruz contends there is something compelling it may take another taking into account the different terminal goals of a
that “we have to move from constructive speeches to generation to surpass the United States. Learning in graduate—work, entrepreneurship, and higher
rebuttal”. the United States has one simple principle: access to education. At the locus of the enhanced curriculum is a
many fields of interests through a multitude of media, special leaning towards liberal education that fosters
I think we really don’t have a compelling need
to listen to rebuttals. What we need are objective, and experts available to help kids in high school. analytical and critical decision-making, formation of
actual (empirical) cost-benefit and pedagogical studies These are the better issues to address now. Without a sound judgment, and an informed citizenship. DepEd
to support or debunk the claims of either side. A significant transformation of the support needed for has created a steering committee to undertake the
promising start would be to read Length of School kids to attain excellence, K-12 is just a waste of time. complicated mandate of putting in the details in the K-
Cycle and the “Quality” of Education. 12 framework it has initially established. For months,
We do realize that there are many college the two other agencies— TESDA and CHED—were
The disadvantages of the K-12 program are
graduates who are launched quite early in the not involved in the formulation of a curriculum until
the lack of classrooms and the bloating of the
curriculum - you simply stretched the 10 years of the employment game and they are often without jobs. But recently. The Technical Working Group, comprised of
current curriculum to 12 years of curriculum - there is this all the more argues for the strategy that the representatives from the three different agencies, met
no improvement in content - and lack of teachers. employment problem must be resolved. K-12 but since the first meetings have not yet met again
graduates will only face the same problem. because of logistics-related concerns and an
There are no advantages. An extra 2 years unquestionable problem on coordination. This poses
deprives a family of income in a society where the The ideal way of proceeding is to have a an insurmountable problem in the eventual
issue of poverty has not been addressed. collaborative effort among the three education implementation of the policy considering that what the
agencies (CHED, DepEd, and TESDA) along with the K-12 envisions is a well-coordinated, well-thought out,
If I may add, there is no disadvantage today.
other stakeholders seamless and integrated basic education curriculum
Most of those who finish college will find that they need
such as the that equips the graduate for work, technical education,
massive corporate training to keep up with the
academe and or higher education. If TESDA and CHED would be left
demands of professional life. In technical fields, you
industry. It is out in the planning and curriculum formulation, there is
might be slow but you will learn as you go along. One
indispensable that a great likelihood that the curriculum will not feed in
cannot be thoroughly prepared in 10 or 12 years of
the basic seamlessly to either technical education or higher
education.
education education. Dr.Isagani Cruz, an education expert, noted
curriculum be a that changing the curriculum is a daunting task. He
The goal of education in the Philippines must
seamless and enunciated that “it is not just a matter of adding a
be defined. Does the Philippines want to become like
coordinated whole subject here and removing a subject there” (Cruz,
the United States as a technology center? Unless
2010) or introducing a new strategy but it involves a capacity. The choice of career track will define the  Introduction to philosophy of the human
more holistic approach that takes into consideration a content of the subjects a student will take in Grades 11 person/Pambungad sa pilosopiya ng tao
lot of factors such as the duration, the content, and the and 12. Each student in Senior High School can  Physical education and health
competencies expected, among others. To date, there choose among three tracks: Academic; Technical-  Personal development/pansariling kaunlaran
has been no proclamation yet of any finalized K-12 Vocational-Livelihood; and Sports and Arts. The  Earth science (instead of Earth and life
basic education curriculum. This missing element will Academic track includes three strands: Business, science for those in the STEM strand)
create a spill over problem with the target Accountancy, Management (BAM); Humanities,  Disaster readiness and risk reduction (taken
implementation for next year. The curriculum still has Education, Social Sciences (HESS); and Science, instead of Physical science for those in the
to be Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM). STEM strand)

CORE CURRICULUM SUBJECTS

APPLIED TRACK SUBJECTS
There are seven Learning Areas under the Core  English for academic and professional
Curriculum: Languages, Literature, Communication, purposes
Mathematics, Philosophy, Natural Sciences, and
 Practical research 1
Social Sciences.
subjected to serious evaluation and pilot testing in  Practical research 2
order to test its effectiveness and viability. The target  Oral communication  Filipino sa piling larangan
date of initial implementation for next year will not be  Reading and writing o Akademik
plausible. There appears to be a structural failure in  Komunikasyon at pananaliksik sa wika at o Isports
the three agencies 76 K-12 Education Reform which kulturang Filipino o Sining
impedes the advancing of curriculum design. Unless o Tech-voc
 21st century literature from the Philippines and
this problem on coordination is addressed, at most,  Empowerment technologies (for the strand)
the world
only DepEd will have the full hand in the formulation.  Entrepreneurship
 Contemporary Philippine arts from the regions  Inquiries, investigatories, and immersion
 Media and information literacy
SENIOR HIGH (GRADES 11-12)
 General mathematics SPECIALIZED SUBJECTS
Senior High School is two years of specialized upper  Statistics and probability  Accountancy, business, and and management
secondary education; students may choose a  Earth and life science strand
specialization based on aptitude, interests, and school  Physical science  Humanities and social sciences strand
 Science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics strand
 General academic strand