An astonishing number of petitions have been presented to the Supreme Court about a matter that, in the

minds of many, should have been settled years ago. Im not referring to the Bangsamoro Basic Law here
or some other equally momentous piece of legislation. Im referring to the implementation of the K-12 law
mandated by the 2013 Enhanced Basic Education Act (RA 10533).
And what is the issue being brought before the nations highest court? The question: should our country
have the same number of years (12) of basic education as virtually the rest of the entire worldexcept for
Djibouti and Angola? For people who love to roll their eyes and exclaim, Only in the Philippines! this puts
basic education right in there with divorce. And it would be bad enough if the situation were merely an
embarrassment.
In fact, the downsides of our globally outmoded 10-year basic education program are all too real, dumping
millions of underage high school grads on our already bloated labor market, requiring three to four
effectively wasted semesters of remedial work on the part of our colleges and universities, and, in the
larger world, damaging the prospects of the nations youth both in foreign universities and foreign jobs.
Though some of the points of the less self-interested petitioners have genuine validity, trying to insistby
court orderthat our educational system should cling to its antiquated K-10 mode of operation for even
another day are understandable, they remain short-sighted. Does our educational system have
problems? Many. Are there rough spots ahead in the implementation of K-12? Without a doubt. Is the
transition going to cost money and cause personal and institutional discomfort? You can count on it. But
does the preponderance of all these issues combined in any way call for a continuation of the presently
inferior K-10 rather than proceedingeven in hasteto the globally accepted K-12 system? Not for a
minute.
We can return to some of these issues below, but first we should get an idea of whats about to happen:
Students in Grade 10 are on their final year in Junior High School as they are set to enter Senior High in
2016 upon the full implementation of RA 10533. That makes them the first batch to embark on the
additional two years of basic education made compulsory by the new law.
Despite five petitions having been filed at the Supreme Court to prevent the implementation of K-12, the
Department of Education (DepEd) is certain that the new curriculumwhich covers Kindergarten, six
years of Primary Education, four years of Junior High School, and two years of Senior High Schoolwill
enhance the quality of education in the Philippines, and they are equally confident that they are prepared
for the pioneering batch of Senior High School students in June 2016.

Official Gazette of the Philippines

So what exactly is the nature of the K-12 curriculum and how does it differ from the previous 10-year
basic education curriculum?
Aside from the additional two years of Senior High School (SHS), the K-12 program totally restructures
the basic education system in the country, aiming to provide some solutions to the widespread
unemployment of the youth. As Isagani Cruz put it, The whole point of the entire K to 12 reform is to
answer the needs of about 30 million young people (those below 24 years of age) who have not finished
Fourth Year High School. Of the out-of-school youth of employable age, more than six million are
unemployed, primarily because they do not have the skills that employers want.
The two years of SHS consists of two parts: Track Subjectscovering the development of skills for
immediate employment or entrepreneurship, and Core Subjectsto ensure college readiness of K-12
graduates. It also facilitates four career tracks for students to choose from: Academic, TechnicalVocational-Livelihood, Sports, and Art & Design.
The four different career tracks provide flexibility. Depending on the goals of the student, as well as the
community and industry requirements in a particular region, the Track Subject Curriculum enhances the
value and relevance of the high school diploma. Equally important, the Core Subject
Curriculum,remaining invariable for all schools,provides an opportunity for everyone to be equally wellprepared for a college education academically.

By integrating the awarding of TESDA National Certificates at the high school level, K-12 studentsnow
of employable age upon graduationwould already qualify for decent entry-level jobs. This also
increases the financial capabilities of high school graduates who desire to pursue advancement through
higher education.
Moreover, the SHS curriculum also addresses the redundancy of college-level general education
programs, which presently cover material that should have already been mastered at the pre-university
level. This can result in higher education institutions being more focused on the specifics of various
degrees, rather that consuming so much of the first two years remedying the inadequate competencies of
the old 10-year program.
The K-12 curriculum is the present world standard and would be too difficult, if not impossible, to
compress into only 10 years. Globally, the Philippines remains far behind, the only Asian countryand
one of only three countries in the worldproviding only 10 years of basic education.
Inevitably, there are also downside implications resulting from this shift in the education system.
With the introduction of K-12, there will be an increase in student population, translating into a
requirement for 20,000 to 28,000 additional classrooms for each additional year-level; 40,000 to 56,000
classrooms for the two years of SHS.Another pressing issue is the retrenchment of teaching and nonteaching college personnel. An estimated 25,000 are being held at bay.
DepEd, however, says that it has closed the gap of 66,800 classroom shortage in 2010 and has built
86,478 classrooms between 2010 to 2014. This year, an additional 27,499 classrooms are on line to be
constructed to cover the SHS implementation in 2016.
DepEd has announced that it will be hiring 39,000 additional teachers in 2016 to meet the personnel
requirements of the program. This demand for SHS teachers is proposed as mitigation for the faculty layoffs in higher education institutions. This is an important point, since many junior faculty look to their
teaching careers for funding to pursue higher academic degrees. Thus, the roughly 50 percent cut in pay
that comes from the move from college to SHS teaching is particularly bad news.

Official Gazette of the Philippines

But, besides student and teacher concerns, there is a third factor: the additional cost to parents for food
and transportation expenses to send their children for two more years of high school.
Worsening parental expenses, well over half5800 out of 7,976of the nations public high schools are
set to implement SHS.As a result, DepEd is in talks with 2,000 private education institutions to
accommodate incoming seniors that would not be able to attend public SHS schools. The current plan is
for DepEd to subsidize the cost of private tuitionbut this is one of the most controversial issues around
RA 10533s implementation. Many parentsand otherscomplain that the proposed subsidizes are too
low and will constitute their childs high school diploma being held hostage to costs they might find
impossible to meet. Still others object to giving a taxpayer financed windfall to private schools.
All these complaints are valid. Until recently, our school system has suffered much neglect in many areas,
including a chronic shortage of classrooms. Likewise, the almost criminally low pay our public
schoolteachers receive is scandalous. There is a very serious loss of junior college teachers as well
many of whom are pursuing higher degrees that will benefit the nation. That they should be forced into
lower paying jobs even as they struggle to advance needs to be dealt withit is an all-too-typical example
of how neoliberal pressures such as privatization can gut the aspirations of a developing country and
force it into the race to the bottom that has become a linchpin of globalization.
Among teachers, there are deep-seated anxieties about the new duties expected of them. DepEd has
been conducting numerous teacher trainings to address these concerns, but there is a sense that things

remain confused and unsettled. Most likely, uneasiness and suspicion among teachers will linger until the
new system is in place and they have a chance to actually work through it and make the needed
adjustments. In addition, there still remains the problem of language: what to do with Filipino, how to
sustain its place in the curriculum, and what will the changes mean for teaching the language in colleges
and universities? For that matter, has the English curriculum been chosen in haste, as some critics
allege? What of the adequacy and quality of some of our textbooks and instructional materials? Can
schools coordinate better to strengthen job placement for their students?
Likewise, tuition costs for parents whose children have no public SHS available should not hold those
students hostage to the financial capabilities of the parents. That is not what we mean when we talk about
public education as a constitutional right. And, sadly, anytime large sums of government money are
being passed out, we come face to face with the ubiquitous problems of potential corruption.

Parents wait for their children outside the gates of President Corazon Aquino Elementary School in
Quezon City at the opening of classes, June 2, 2014. AP/Bullit Marquez
All that said, I still tend toward proceeding with K-12. The K-10 approach is as problematic asindeed, is
part ofthe continued neglect our public educational system has suffered since the Marcos years. It is
time and past time to begin making amends.
We should not ignore the serious challenges of shifting to a K-12 program. At the same time, we should
seize upon its very real potential to improve the lives of everyone. K-12 is obviously a work in progress
that will go through many changes as it is implemented. Top-down planning will invariably be reshaped

and modified by bottom-up concerns and existing practices of teaching and learning.What remains
imperative is that we provide our youth with all the skills they need, especially education, to prepare them
to live meaningful and productive lives. This means, among other things, preparing for the constantly
changing demands of the workplace. But they should also be able to question those changes and craft
alternatives for a better world. There are many problems to be fixed in education and we should pursue
these solutions with zeal. To do so means dealing with the many challenges of K-12 rather than simply
putting them on hold.

reflection on K-12

If nothing ever changed, thered be no butterflies

-(Author unknown)
The onset of the K to 12 Curriculum for this school year 2012-2013 has certainly
rippled the waters of our stagnant pond. Peoples speculations on what would be the
outcome of the K to 12 flocks to the field of inquiries in schools. Even the teachers
themselves are somewhat apprehensive of the implementation of the Grade 1 and
Grade 7 of the K to 12 Curriculum. However, our educational leaders are one with
the teachers in propagating the good news of the K to 12 Curriculum to the farthest
corners of the Philippines. Our leaders are also doing their best in order to achieve
the desired outcome of this change. The people behind this big change in the
educational curriculum are optimistic that the Filipinos will support the said
program. After all, according to Charles Darwin, It is not the strongest of the
species that survive nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to
change.
The following scholarly individuals from the Deped Central Office have enlightened
my mind on the fuzzy side of the K to 12 Curriculum: Bro. Armin V. Luistro, Dr.
Yolanda S. Quijano, Dr. Paraluman Q. Giron and Dr. Marilyn D. Dimaano and Mr.
Edison A. Fermin. They have delivered the fresh picks of the K to 12 so that the
program will be marketable to the stakeholders. Prior to the viewing of the video
clips, Dr. Olga C. Alonsabe discussed about the IPO (Input-Process-Output) model
and what it takes to produce the desired graduate, for example, if I want to open a
school. Several factors were mentioned such as for the input- the choice of faculty,
the facilities, the subjects and the curriculumfor the process- the teaching
strategies, the school practices and culture and between process and output, there
are still more processes in between in order to produce the desired graduate.

Why do we need to change the Curriculum? We need it most in order to be globally

competitive and functionally literate. Such a very idealistic answer but it would not
be impossible, I guess so, if Filipinos will embrace the new program of the Deped.
When the video clip was played with Bro. Armin V. Luistro on screen, I jot down lines
that struck me most. To name a few: SY 2012-2013, roll out the program for grade
1 and grade 7 curriculum; K to 12 is made by Filipinos for the Filipinos, hope for a
sustainable journey, K to 12 is a gift for the 21st century Filipinos and lastly a
challenge: be a part of the undertaking. These remarkable words moved me. I
pondered upon the saying: If nothing ever changed, thered be no butterflies
Yes, it is, butterflies are a sight, they lure our eyes to watch their beauty sway up in
the air, they kiss a flower to another flower in order to propagate the splendor. Why
cant we be like the butterflies? So I thought, we have to metamorphosefrom
Kindergarten to grade1 to grade 12. Sounds good, 12 years of basic education
makes every Filipino one with the rest of the world.
Dr. Yolanda S. Quijano talked about K to 12 graduates being equipped with the 21st
century skills or the life skills. Further she said that it K to 12 curriculum is
outcome-based, filled with child and youth development principles, is learnercentered, geared towards the holistic development of the individuals and is
constructivist in naturevery elaborate, isnt it? But these will really enable the
Filipino graduate become a globally competitive individual employable worldwide.
Inspiring, soul-stirring, heart-throbbing! How excited I am to witness the graduation
of the pioneer K to 12 graduates. That day would be a blockbuster day, I reckon.
The teacher should be a provocateur thats what I caught when Dr. Paraluman
Q. Giron was on the screen. I re-read my notes when I got home. There was a follow
up statementthe teacher must ask thought provoking questions. There it is!
And she also differentiated the 20th century curriculum against the 21st century
curriculum. Some of its differences are: 20th- time-based, memorization works and
fragmented whilst 21st- outcome-based and interdisciplinaryseems different,
right? She further noted: that the k to 12 curriculum is geared towards digital &
multi-media literacy and is research-based. There is really no escape for the k to 12
graduates to become globally employable. However, as the video continued to play,
Dr. Giron made mention about the striking 5 Cs of a K to 12 Teacher. It stands for
Commitment, Competence, Creativity, Compassion and Character. Oh, My! How
intelligent of her to hit the innermost chambers of our heart. Yes, being mentors,
students are in dire need of teachers with the 5Cs. As far as I have realized, being a
teacher is indeed incomparable. CEOs may have the highest salary grades and the
teacher may have the lowest salary compared to other countries but the happiness
and fulfillment to have made a difference in ones life is far beyond compare. What
On Earth Am I Here For? That is the question. And I shyly answered: To touch other
peoples lives
The K to 12 Curriculum Model was presented by Dr. Marilyn D. Dimaano. She had a
comprehensive discussion on the highlights of the new curriculum and shared her

personal feelings about the change that we are all excited commence this coming
June opening of classes. Just as ready as we teachers seem to be, the curriculum
model is on the go for the grades 1 & 7 entrants. I felt excited too because I have
seen the big difference that we will experience regarding the K to 12 program.
An all-embracing discussion about CHANGE was delivered by Mr. Edison A. Fermin.
He talked about the Curriculum Change: The Concept of Change, the Typologies of
Change, Why Changes Fail and Working Towards Change. He enunciated articulately
that everything that he said was well taken. But the most noteworthy is Why
Changes Fail reasons? Plain ignorance, rapidity of change, conformity vs.
innovation, traditions of teaching, discontinuity in professional development and
lack of forms of support. True enough, and I was struck with discontinuity in
professional development. Had I not finished my Masters Degree and if I did pursue
my Doctoral degree, I would have contributed to the reasons why changes fail. If I
did not pursue my professional studies, I would not be able to meet these people
and I wouldnt have grasped the 5Ws and 1H of the K to 12 program and the
advances of the teaching-learning trends, the hottest issues, the trending
innovations, and most especially the life-changing experiences that will help build
the bright future of my students. I really want to change, because I want to be a
Butterfly!

K+12, A Seemingly Inferior & Anti-people

Program
The above is the title from an editorial by Patrick Matthew B. Pooten in the Northern Dispatch
Weekly, a people's newspaper for Northern Philippines. There are other example of
commentaries that scrutinize DepEd's K to 12 and some have been posted on this blog. The
DepEd's response to criticisms of K to 12 is summarized in the following statement:
"The Department of Education (DepEd) hopes its critics and the public will look beyond
criticisms and predictions of doom and instead give the K to 12 Basic Education Program a
chance."
Criticisms against K to 12 are not confined to pointing out its large risk of failure although
there have been commentaries with titles like "Will K+12 Fail?". And Pooten's editorial
illustrates an example of a criticism that relates a problem with the implementation of K to 12:
This year, the failure of the K+12 of PNoy is expected to be of greater heights and proportion.
For aside from the unprepared and inferior kindergarten, is the implementation of Grade 7.
Added to the confusions brought about by PNoys K+12 among teachers, students and parents
are many unclear and unanswered questions. Understandably enough, after the mass training
of Grade 7 teachers last month in Baguio City, many of them find it better and more
implementable the conventional teaching of the different subject areas in First Year, since
students enrolled in Grade 7 are products of the old curriculum.

However, a survey of commentaries against K to 12 (and the editorial from Pooten is no

exception as it likewise highlights this problem) reveals an underlying theme of wrong
priorities on the part of the government. Philippine basic education faces dire shortages in
teachers and classrooms and objections to K to 12 are aimed at the fact that the government is
not addressing these problems first before plunging into a new curriculum which, without
doubt, only stretches further its limited budget on education. Giving K to 12 a chance to
succeed is not an appropriate response to this criticism.
Josh Weinstein wrote in his blog two years ago, "The Problem of Rural Education in the
Philippines". In this essay, Weinstein describes factors outside of the curriculum that currently
plague Philippine basic education. In the photo below, I picture that with every passing year
that we decide not to address the problems directly, a generation is lost.

The Walk to School

Downloaded from http://joshweinstein.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/the-problem-of-education-in-the-philippines/

However, even if the government manages to fill these input gaps in education, there are
commentaries against K to 12 that go far beyond the budget. There are objections against K
to 12 that dwell not only on the finances but also on the substance and structure of the new
curriculum. For example, Pooten cites the following:
"Module 1 of Grade 7 Science expects the teacher to say to the class: In Grade 6, you
have learned about mixtures and their characteristicsif the parts of a mixture can be
identified, it is heterogeneous. What is funny is that the 7th graders in a certain school are
not graduates of the same elementary school nor had the same science teacher the year
before. Why the assumption?"
The above predicament is inherent in the spiral approach, in which each year is expected to
be a step up from the previous year. It relies heavily on teachers coordinating their subjects
from year to year. It is drawn on false assumptions on what students have already
mastered. And as described in a previous post in this blog, "DepEd K to 12 Modules, For
Sale", the proper sequence of topics can be compromised. In this specific case, being able
to identify the parts of a mixture is not really a good operational definition of a

heterogeneous mixture. Properly understanding mixtures requires a background in

methods of separation and different phases of matter. These are supposed to have been
covered in the new grade 6 curriculum explaining the first sentence in the above quote. And
with the phased implementation, it will take years before this is taught in grade 6. This is an
example of how a spiral approach loses the advantage of having independent outlines of
study for each branch of science, that have been developed and tested for decades, and
are available from so many sources. The subjects for a spiral curriculum need to be written
from scratch. Furthermore, the coverage of topics are very likely not transferable from one
school to the next even after completing the phased implementation.
Pooten also criticizes the mother tongue based multilingual education component of K to
12. The use of the regional language as medium of instruction for the early years of
education completely misses the important points of including the mother tongue in formal
education. Pooten also writes:
Then comes again the issue on the use of the mother tongue or multi-language teaching.
In the case of the people of Mountain Province where there are various ethno-linguistic
groups, is the community dialect considered a mother tongue? Is the Northern Kankanaey
the mother tongue of the Applai tribes? Is it not that DepEd and Malacanang identified eight
mother tongues? Since Ilocano is one of them, does it mean that Ilocano becomes the
mother tongue in the Cordillera Administrative Region?...
During the administration of Congressman Max Dalog as governor of Mountain Province,
he supported a group of professionals who advocated the writing of local history in support
of the governments thrust of indigenous peoples education or IPED,...a welcome move so
that some public schools started integrating local history and culture in their classes. But
here comes the contradiction in PNoys K+12 because the time spent for Araling
Panlipunan is greatly reduced. Yet it is in this subject area where the values of patriotism,
nationalism, cultural preservation, and feeling of identity are absorbed by the learners. It is
in this subject where geography, history and civics are learned and are first rooted in the
minds and hearts of the future citizens of the land. And it is in this subject that cultural roots,
folklore, mores, and tradition are appreciated.
DepEd is more concerned in its belief that instruction in the mother tongue works better. As
a result, DepEd fails to see the real importance of saving and nurturing one's culture.
Otherwise, DepEd's efforts would have been more in line with Dalog's vision, where
indigenous materials are in fact part of what is being learned and taught inside the
classrooms. Subjects on the mother tongue and culture are needed and using these as
media for instruction is tangential to the objective of preserving and nurturing the cultural
heritage.
Commentaries against K to 12 also focus on the two years added to high school. From the
vague outlines DepEd has provided regarding these two years, it seems there are two
tracks - vocational and pre-college preparation. The first four years in high school seem to
be drawn along these lines as well - these will contain subjects that target both vocational
and pre-college tracks. Since there are two additional years for pre-college preparation, the
first four years will no longer fully prepare students for tertiary education. As a result, both
science and mathematics subjects will be treated in a superficial fashion. Subjects that will
provide mastery in the science and math fields are going to be confined in the two senior

years of high school. The huge error in this thinking is that biology, chemistry and physics
are not only for those who intend to go to college. These are basic sciences that need to be
covered in any country's basic education program. Subjects in basic education are not
supposed to be selectively provided to students based on what we perceive as the student's
future inclination. Along this line, Pooten's comments are:
In a Teachers Congress held at Sagada, Mountain Province, a consultant on PNoys K+12
explained that Grades 11 and 12 or senior high school would be a choice between skills
development or academic tertiary education by the concerned students. This brings the
question if PNoys K+12 purpose is to produce semi-skilled or skilled workers to join the
ballooning number of OFWs. If the last two years of high school education would provide
the learners technical/vocational training, shall we not be adding problems to the fast
growing number of underemployed and unemployed?
Are we made to understand that tertiary education is now for the rich and well-to-do? Could
this be the reason why the government is reducing the budget of state colleges and
universities where the greater majority who comes from the lower classes can afford to get
college education?
Proponents of DepEd's K to 12 always insist that the Philippines is one of the few remaining
countries with only ten years of basic education. International standards or agreements
which have nothing to do with basic education are often cited. Claims are made that
graduates from Philippine education do not enjoy the same rights and privileges as
graduates from other countries because of the shorter pre-university education system in
the Philippines. This has nothing to do with years. Adding two years does not solve the
problem if the underlying reason behind a low accreditation of Philippine programs is quality
and substance, and not years of education. If a transcript of a student does not show the
subjects admissions officers of colleges and graduate schools in other countries expect as
prerequisites then adding years does not solve the problem.
The above are some of the points raised by Pooten in his recent editorial. There are other
points. This blog likewise presents other commentaries on K to 12, which discuss additional
important considerations regarding Philippine basic education. DepEd has no response to
these commentaries except that people should stop criticizing and simply give K to 12 a
chance.
Articles like the one described here by Pooten provide the public with a deeper perspective
of K to 12. These are necessary. As pointed out by Pooten, the public has not been given an
opportunity to scrutinize K to 12. Some orientation or discussion meetings on K to 12 in the
past month degenerated into general sessions of Parents Teachers Associations, in which K
to 12 was hardly discussed.
These commentaries, unfortunately, do not appear as simple sound bites. These do take
time to read and digest. These commentaries are dismissed by those who support K to 12
as mere annoyance and a refusal to change. These indeed can be annoying since these
commentaries not only say that K to 12 is doomed to fail. More importantly, these
commentaries say "K to 12 is wrong".

A reader of this blog writes the following comments in a forum where updates to this blog
have been regularly posted:
"The philbasiceducation posts were like dishes on a platter ready for enjoyment without
fishing or hunting first, served with appetizers so one can decide whether to read on or not.
Not every one has the ability nor luxury of time to find those arguments, let alone digest
them.
They are reminders of the current struggle we are going through affecting not just our
educational system and economy but in shaping the future of our children and community
as a whole. Such information need to be heard in every household. One can choose to
argue or not to read them at all, but posting them is a big service to our people. Only a few
interested parties will be likely to follow the blog, but posting them here provides the
opportunity for everyone."

Plato once said: The state is essentially an educational community. It is created by

education and can survive only on condition that all its citizens receive an education
that will enable them to make rational political decisions.

We may appear to be a society divided on so many issues but we have remained

united in the belief that investing in the education of our children shall lead to the
success of our nation. Unfortunately, notwithstanding such commitment, our
education system remains deceased and plagued with the same ills that have been
ravaging it for generations: lack of teachers, classrooms, books, defective facilities,
inefficient instruction, etc. Now comes the governments K to 12 Program. Is it boon
or bane?

The K to 12 Program which covers Kindergarten and 12 years of basic education (six
years of primary education, four years of Junior High School, and two years of Senior
High School) aims to prepare graduates for tertiary education, middle-level skills
development, employment, and entrepreneurship. Ironically, colleges and
universities began dismissing even tenured employees in anticipation of the impact
of the governments K to 12 Program in 2016 when the supposedly fourth year high
school students by then could not yet enter college because they have to take
additional 2 years of Senior High School. An estimated 30,000 teachers could be at
risk of losing their jobs by 2016.

At the House hearing held a few weeks ago, Commission on Higher Education
(CHED) officials discussed the proposed P29-billion stabilization fund over five years.

P10 billion is earmarked for higher education institutions, P17 billion for displaced
teachers and P2 billion for the non-teaching personnel to be affected. School
officials actually take this fund as just a palliative measure. The question is where
will the P29 billion come from?

Close ad X

Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo, who is the chairperson of the House Higher Education
committee asked CHED and labor officials to iron out the details concerning the use
of the funds. He also urged them to formulate and finalize the plans related to the K
to 12 Program to address the growing pains of the transition period. By the way,
where are the Implementing Rules and Regulations of this program?

The government shifted to the K to 12 Program to be at par with the world because the Philippines used
to be 1 of only 3 countries worldwide left with a 10-year basic education program. Of course, we need to
elevate our status to be at par with the rest of world. But it seems that we are doing everything in great
haste, hence, the lack of foresight resulting in various problems bound to affect the efficient
implementation of the K to 12 Program.
First of all, we should have started with pilot schools. Second, we should have analyzed the problem first.
With the old 10-year basic education program we already had an edge in the world market. Many Filipinos
who graduated with the 10-year basic education program and who received college degrees equally
qualified with their counterparts from different countries who underwent the 12-year program. Our
engineers, our nurses, our teachers, our IT graduates are in demand. Sure our educational system
maybe deteriorating but why change the whole system abruptly?
Right now, DepEd seems ovewhelmed with all the concerns in public education not to mention the
number one problem classrooms. It has difficulty focusing on the planning of the K-12 program. Dont
forget, when this new program was introduced a few years back, the government boldly declared that all
input shortages will be wiped out before the end of 2013. A 1:1 ratio for student-to-textbook and studentto-seat will be achieved within SY 2012-2013. Shortages in classrooms, teachers, and toilets will be fully
addressed. Was this done? Looks like a long shot to me!
Public schools now have to master the art of shifting schedules, with children of tender age having to go
to school at 5 oclock in the morning. Some schools are trying a shortened school-week because of lack
of classrooms and facilities. With 2 additional years of basic education under a system that could not cope
with a simple roadmap in terms of solving the backlog of classrooms, facilities, instructional materials,

teacher training, etcetera, the government seems to have added 2 layers of inefficiency to its perceived
inefficient basic education program.
It has also been argued that the K to 12 Program is a standard for recognition of Filipino students
intending to do further studies or work in European countries who are members of the Bologna Accord
and in the United States under the Washington Accord.
The Washington Accord prescribes 12-years basic education as an entry to recognition of engineering
professionals while the Bologna Accord requires 12 years of education for university admission and
practice of profession in European countries.
Out of the 553,706 students who graduated this year, how many will actually do further studies or work in
Europe or America? Why should we drag our whole population into this mess right now? As it is, the
Philippines is one of those countries holding provisional status in the Washington Accord. As such, we are
still in the process of qualification accreditation or recognition. Eventually, we can reach that goal of
achieving signatory status. But this cannot be done right away.
Shifting to a 12-year program is very expensive and may be detrimental to our economy and national
growth. We should take it slow because we really do not have the capacity nor the means to implement
such a program in the entire archipelago. Sure it sounds good and very ideal. The question is, are we
implementing this new program correctly?
The dangerous effect this program has caused within a 2-year period is that schools have interpreted it in
different ways. They have come up with their own solutions actually contradicting the goal of the
government. For instance, there are schools that have created acceleration programs allowing a Grade
6 student to jump to Grade 9, thus skipping 2 years of middle school. And mind you these are big private
schools in the metro. They have used the Philippine Educational Placement Test (PEPT) as a tool to
bypass Grades 7 and 8. Is this part of the K to 12 advocacy?
Why has DepEd allowed such a jump when they are increasing the number of years? Is this actually
valid? The PEPT is intended to determine the grade or level placement of out-of-school children and
youth and open the door for them to go back to formal schooling. Thus, a 16-year old who had to drop out
in grade 2 due to say poverty, shall have the option to skip the grade or year levels he would normally be
required to complete for as long as he can prove that his competency is equivalent to students of his age.
Without going back to grade 2, he can be admitted to high school or even college. Yet, if DepEd will allow
the PEPT result to take the place of grades 7 or 8, will this not run counter to the intent of the K to 12
Program? Or must DepEd allow this transitory shortcut because it is not really prepared to immediately
implement the K to 12 Program? Boon or bane?

The birth pains that marked the launching last year of K + 12a bold program
meant to align the Philippines with the global 12-year basic education cycleare
not going away soon, along with the usual problems encountered at the beginning
of each school year.

A quarter of the Philippines nearly 100 million population are studentssome 21

million of them enrolled in more than 46,000 public schools and the rest in private
facilities, according to statistics from the Department of Education (DepEd) for the
school year 2011-12. (Figures from the last school year remained unavailable.)
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Classes in public schools begin Mondayin some impoverished areas under the
trees and still in others under tents, particularly in the Compostela Valley, where
buildings were flattened in the devastating onslaught in December by Typhoon
Pablo and remained unbuilt.
On May 15, President Aquino signed into law the program mandating Filipino pupils
to attend kindergarten, six years of elementary school education, four years of
junior high school and two years of senior high school. The signing officially ended
the countrys 10-year basic education cycle, which now exists only in Angola and
Djibouti.
New learning materials under the revised curriculum for Grade 2 and Grade 8
(formerly second year high school) will again be delivered late, as in last year when
the K + 12 program was rolled out. As in the previous year, teachers did not have
enough time to prepare. They only had a five-day mass training just before the start
of classes.
Still, this second year of the programs implementation should be better as the
DepEd gains experience, said Armin Luistro, the education secretary and former
president of De La Salle University, in a recent interview.
Its not generally understood and quite hard to explain that the K to 12 is a
curriculum reform that involves changes in textbooks, changes in classrooms,
retooling of teachers, etc., said Luistro. Even if there is no K to 12, we have to
address the backlog in classrooms, toilets, teachers, etc.
The DepEd started revising the basic education curriculum the past school year in
Grades 1 and 7.
In any undertaking the first year of implementation is faced with a lot of glitches,
challenges, said Education Assistant Secretary Jesus Mateo when asked about the
rushed training of teachers and the long delays in the delivery of the learning
materials.
For the new curriculum for Grades 2 and 8 this year, the learning materials would
again be delivered late, although Mateo promised these would reach the teachers
and students earlierby the end of June or early July.

We made (the curriculum change) gradual, so we will improve as we move along

the full implementation. This year will not be as problematic as last year, he said.
A major change this year was the decision to tap the DepEds own experts in the
field and in the main office to develop and train the teachers for the new curriculum.
The department previously sought the help of mostly university educators as
subject area convenors to develop the teachers and learners materials.
Training
This time, the DepEds Bureau of Elementary Education (BEE) took the lead for the
Grade 2 curriculum development, while the Bureau of Secondary Education (BSE)
handled the Grade 8 curriculum, working with DepEd teacher experts.
This is a lot better than last year. We learned. The training was better-planned.
There was even a chief trainers training before the trainers training. We learned
from the experience last time, said BEE education program specialist Galileo Go.
The trainers attended a seven-day program in April. The national training for the
Grade 8 trainers was held in Baguio City on April 14-20. Three sets of training were
held for the Grade 2 trainers: in Quezon City for Luzon, Cebu City for VisayasMindanao, and in Iloilo City for a special training session for the province.
The mass teachers training started after the May 13 elections.
Leversia Rivera, an English teacher at Manila Science High School for the last 14
years, said the training had improved but it was still not enough.
She took part in the training for Grade 8 teachers from Manila, Caloocan and Pasay
City public schools on May 20-24 at Philippine Normal University. She said the
teachers who underwent the mass training last year appreciated the exercise this
time.
Incomplete materials
However, the teachers were handed only a curriculum guide consisting of a few
pages, and teaching modules contained lessons only for the first quarter, Rivera
said. Its hard to see the continuity when you do not know where youre supposed
to go by the end of the school year, she said.
We cant blame the trainers since these were the same materials given to them.
They assured us the lessons up to the fourth quarter period have been completed.
Maybe its in the production, she went on.
The teachers nevertheless pooled their resources to get soft copies of all the
materials available and reproduced these at their own cost.

Go, who was the lead trainer for the revised Grade 2 English subject, said the
teachers guides were ready by December last year so the bureau had more time to
plan and prepare the training modules.
Unlike in the pilot year when the subject area convenors developed all the Grade 1
learning materials, including those for the various Mother Tongue subjects, the
Grade 2 learners materials were devolved to the DepEd regional offices.
Using the learners guide developed by the BEE in Filipino, the DepEd regional
offices tailor-fitted the materials per subject according to their language and cultural
context.
K + 12 reverted to a multilingual education with the use of the mother tongue (the
language a child uses at home) as a medium of instruction from kinder to Grade 3
and as a separate subject from Grade 1 to Grade 3.
The DepEd is employing 12 major local languagesTagalog, Kapampangan,
Pangasinense, Iloko, Bikol, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray, Tausug, Maguindanaoan,
Maranao and Chabacanointroduced as a subject in Grades 1 to 3 in select schools.
The teachers guides, however, are all written in English.
Not enough training
Five days of training is admittedly not enough, Go said, especially since teachers in
the lower grade levels usually handle most if not all of the subjects in their grade
level.
The same teachers who underwent the Grade 1 curriculum training also turned up
for the Grade 2 curriculum training.
Grade 1 and 2 teachers can teach all the subjects, said Go, who had taught all
grade school subjects as a teacher and acting principal in Mogpong, Marinduque,
before he joined the DepEd in 2004.
BSE education program specialist Marivic Tolitol said the Grade 8 curriculum was
completed earlier than last year.
A physical education teacher before she joined the DepEd in 1998, Tolitol said she
used to simply follow the lesson outline of the textbook.
Before, I did not know there was a framework. I did not know why I was teaching
these topics. I thought the textbook was it. But in fact you have to adjust the
textbook according to the scope and topics you are teaching, she said.
She said the topics in the new curriculum were arranged to build on skills that had
been acquired.

If you simply follow the textbook, you do not understand the prerequisites, she
said. There is a very big change (in the new curriculum). Now the focus is to teach
for understanding, not for facts or low level information.
The Grade 8 learners guide, or learners material, per subject area is a thick pile of
loose sheets bound together, Tolitol said. The learners material for Filipino has
about 500 pages.
Real-life applications
With a revised curriculum, the existing textbooks in schools are no longer the
primary source of materials but have instead become supplements to the new
learning concepts developed by the DepEd.
The textbooks are references but the exercises are already included in the
materials. There are built-in readings, Tolitol explained.
The emphasis on real-life applications of learning also opens the door to tapping
resources outside the classroom.
We have very rich resources, like people, parents and the people in the community.
The Internet can be a resource. If you depend on the textbook youre not even sure
if it was printed correctly, she said. Dont get me wrong. Textbooks are important.
All were saying is we should not be limited to the textbook.
The Grade 2 learners materials, on the other hand, are in book form.
Go said the department had taken note of the activities in the existing textbooks
that the teachers could still use in the new curriculum.
If the learners materials are not yet there, they make their own on Manila paper,
he said. If I will teach again, its better now because we have a lot of materials.
Before, when I was in the mountains, I had no textbook. We were using Manila
paper. I did everything.
Spiral approach
Rivera said she appreciated the curriculum framework, including the spiral
approach in tackling lessons, but believed the new curriculum would work only
under ideal school conditions.
In itself, the spiral approach is good and will ensure understanding so students can
apply knowledge and competencies and be lifelong learners. Given favorable
conditions, it will really work. But there are the realities. In some schools there are
80 students in a class, she said.
As a specialized school, Manila Science High School has the ideal class size of 35
students.

Rivera said teachers would cope even if the implementation was in a trial-and-error
stage.
Teachers are inherently creative and resourceful. Thats how it is when youre a
teacher. Well do our part. We hope DepEd central [office] would do its job and
ensure the basic inputs, she said.
Mateo said the result of the K-to-12 reform would be known when pupils who
entered kindergarten in school year 2011-12 had been through the new curriculum.
The impact will be seen after six years because for those who will enter kinder, the
assessment is when they finish (elementary school), he said.
Planning senior high
The DepEd, meanwhile, has its eye on the fast-approaching 2016, when the added
senior high school kicks in nationwide.
Luistro outlined general plans to give high school graduates viable options other
than having to get a college degree to land a good job.
High school education is currently a one-size-fits-all program that assumes all
graduates are meant for college, the department says. High school graduates who
cannot afford college cannot land good jobs.
To help plan for the major infrastructure needs, Luistro said the department tapped
the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to map out the capacity of private high schools
as well as colleges and universities to absorb senior high students.
The government cannot build all the classrooms and hire all the teachers needed for
senior high school, what with the need for classrooms and teachers going up each
year in public schools.
Luistro said he was hoping for a 60:40 ratio between public schools and private
schools in accommodating the more than 2 million senior high school students
expected in 2016 and 2017.
Subsidizing students in private schools is less costly than if these students are in
public schools.
In principle, the government saves more if there are more students absorbed by
private schools. But the question is, not all can be absorbed by private schools,
Luistro said.
2-year college vacuum

He said that extending subsidy to private schools would not only address the
governments logistical problem but also the concern of private colleges and
universities, which would not have freshman enrollees in 2016 and 2017.
More importantly, the ADB mapping will also look into the senior high school
programs that private schools plan to offer, whether in the regular academic track,
the technical-vocational programs, entrepreneurial or the sports and arts courses.
Luistro wants senior high school programs to be tailor-fit for the locality in order to
afford graduates who will not pursue college a good chance at employment or
entrepreneurship.
What we want in senior high school is specialized. If we will offer the same kind of
programs, then all our graduates will compete for the same kind of jobs, he said.
Senior high schools have to localize their technical-vocational or entrepreneurial
programs, Luistro said.
It will be easy if the province has a development plan, like Batangas has piers so it
needs welders. The problem is if the province has no development plan, we have no
basis to plan, he said.
We do not want a situation where since there is a fad for Tesda (Technical
Education and Skills Development Authority) courses in beauty care, cosmetology,
manicure and pedicure, youll have so many such graduates in a barangay. What
will you all do? Thats the problem, he said.
Luistro has suggested to Tesda the development of courses for scuba diving and
surfing and others related to local tourism.
Dive spots in the provinces are a draw for tourists who stay for several weeks, he
said, but the country has no diving academy.
23 tech-voc courses
During a recent visit to Siargao, Luistro said he saw three youths aged between 13
and 14 years who were not attending school because they were serving as surfing
guides.
Luistro suggested a surfing academy in Siargao where the young guides could gain
professional certification while attending school.
There are core competencies, but the training should result in skills that can land
them jobs, he said.
Tesda said it had developed curriculum for technical-vocational courses, including
automotive servicing, mechanical drafting, computer hardware servicing,
horticulture, shielded metal arc welding, consumer electronics servicing, aqua

culture, dressmaking/tailoring, masonry, care-giving, household services, plumbing,

agricrop production, fish capture, handicraft, carpentry, electrical installation and
maintenance, bread and pastry production, tile setting, animal production, fish
processing and beauty care.

For the specialized technical-vocational courses in senior high school, the DepEd
plans to tap practitioners as part-time teachers.
Republic Act No. 10533, or the Enhanced Basic Education law, more popularly
referred to as the K to 12 law, allows schools to hire nonlicensed teachers as parttime teachers in high school.
We can hire a bemedalled surfing coach who can teach surfing, or a Mangyan elder
who has not finished college or high school but recognized as one who teaches
values. The law allows this Mangyan elder to teach values education in the Mangyan
communities, Luistro said.
Luistro said the DepEd hoped to finish the mapping by November. We have time to
prepare, he said.

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