THE IMPACT of K-12 in PHILIPPINE EDUCATION

ABSTRACT The objective of this research paper is to know what is the impact of K-12 in Philippine Education. This study aims to answer these following questions; (1) what are the advantages and disadvantages of the K-12 program or the additional 2 years to Basic Education? (2) Will the parents agree or disagree to the K- 12 program? This research would be able to help the parents of the students who are affected by the K-12 program, this will give them an idea of what will be the advantages and disadvantages of the program, and if it will help their children grow from the academic nature. The students will benefit from the study by letting them know how they are going to be able to understand the addition of 2 years from their schooling. Students will know how it will provide a better quality of education to them. This study will benefit the teachers from the school, for them to be prepared for the additional two years to the basic education. It is important for them to know the advantages and disadvantages of the program, because they will be the one providing the knowledge to the children. This research will also benefit the school, so they will anticipate the additional cost to the program, also the additional teachers and everything that they should be anticipating for. This paper attempted to determine the advantages and disadvantages and the perspective of the parents regarding K12 program. This research design used in this study is the descriptive research method wherein data from documents were used to answer the research question posed.
Education in the Philippines has and always been a treasure for all Filipinos who wish to improve life a little bit especially those belonging to the middle and low income group. But with the advent of the K+12 Basic program of the Department of Education where formal education starts from Kindergarten, six years in elementary, three years junior high school and two years senior high school. Counting the number of years that parents will devote to spending for their children 's education means more work, more efforts to exert, more waiting years before they will finally see their children graduate from basic education. Parents think of the longer period before they can witness their children earn their living, a common dream of a typical Filipino parent.
However, if this program will be fully materialized, Filipino graduates of basic education become highly comparable and competent as with their other Asian and global counterparts. Parents may shell more for school needs but they just have to think that their children can already enroll in other countries, if they wish to, because of the competitive basic education curriculum. This should be the thinking of a rational parent, a must for a progressive country like in the Philippines

INTRODUCTION The Philippine education system pursues the achievement of excellent undergraduates in the elementary and secondary level. The Department of Education pronounces the addition of two more years in the basic education of students, which according to them will benefit not only the Filipino youth but all the Filipino in the Philippines.
The administration asserts that with the implementation of such program, the problem of unemployment in the country will be resolved. In as much as employment in the Philippines is concerned, the K12 education also responds to the fact that most countries in the world already have the same plan in their educational institutions. With this, the standards of these countries go a notch higher than what the country has, thus, creating an expansion in the global competency.
“We need to add two years to our basic education. Those who can afford pay up to fourteen years of schooling before university. Thus, their children are getting into the best universities and the best jobs after graduation. I want at least 12 years for our public school children to give them an even chance at succeeding.” (Aquino III, 2011)
K12 educational systems are additional years to secondary level. This research contains some information about curriculum of K12. This means that the present four years in high school will be called Junior High School and additional two years as senior High School. The model, which is being proposed, is K-6-4-2 where K means Kindergarten (5 years old), 6 means six years in elementary (6 to 11 years old), 4 means four years in Junior High School (12 to 15 years old) and 2 means two years in Senior High School (16 to 17 years old.
Kindergarten will start in school year 2011 – 2012. The new and enhanced curriculum in Grade 1 and first year high school will start in school year 2012 – 2013. The first year senior high school or the eleventh year will begin in school year 2016 – 2017. The first graduates of the 12- year curriculum will be in 2018.
Enhancing the quality of basic education in the Philippines is urgent and critical. The poor quality of basic education is reflected in the low achievement scores of Filipino students. One reason is that students do not get adequate instructional time or task.
Our children deserve to receive the best education our country can provide for them and our economy depends on an educated and skilled workforce to be successful in the global market.

STUDY This study focuses only on the perception of the parents’ students affected by the K-12 program since it has been implemented this year the study will only focus on what the parents think and how it will affect them. It will also focus on the circumstances that will put one in favorable position, and those circumstances that will put one in unfavorable position. The study will only ask the parents about K-6-4-2 and not go beyond asking them if they’ll still let their children continue to study or not. This research utilizes the descriptive method since the researcher aims to discuss and to know the perception of parents regarding to the additional years of basic education. The main goal of this type of research is to describe the data and characteristic what is being studied.
The idea behind this type of research is to study frequencies, averages, and other statistical calculations. Although this research is highly accurate, it does not gather the causes behind a situation. Descriptive research is mainly done when a researcher wants to gain a better understanding of a topic.
Interview, books and newspaper were researchers’ major instrument in gathering information and were augmented with other data collected through readings

RESULT
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the K-12 program or the additional 2 years to Basic Education?
ADVANTAGES
To Individuals and Families; (1) An enhanced curriculum will decongest academic workload, giving students more time to master competencies and skills as well as time for other learning opportunities beyond the classroom, thus allowing for a more holistic development. (2) Graduates will possess competencies and skills relevant to the job market. The K+12 proposals will be designed to adjust and meet the fast-changing demands of society to prepare graduates with skills essential for the world. (3) Graduates will be prepared for higher education. Due to an enhanced curriculum that will provide relevant content and attuned with the changing needs of the times, basic education will ensure sufficient mastery of core subjects to its graduates such that graduates may opt to pursue higher education if they choose to. (4) Graduates will be able to earn higher wages and/or better prepared to start their own business. There is a strong correlation between educational attainment and wage structure and studies specific to the Philippine setting show that an additional year of schooling increases earnings by 7.5%. This should also allow greater access to higher education for self-supporting students. (5)Graduates could now be recognized abroad. Filipino graduates, e.g. engineers, architects, doctors, etc., could now be recognized as professionals in other countries. Those who intend to study abroad will meet the entrance requirements of foreign schools.
For the Society and the Economy; (1) the economy will experience accelerated growth in the long run. The objective of the K+12 programs is to improve quality of basic education. Several studies have shown that the improvements in the quality of education will increase GDP growth by as much as 2%. Studies in the UK, India and US show that additional years of schooling also have positive overall impact on society. (2) The Philippine education system will be at par with international standards. K+12 will facilitate mutual recognition of Filipino graduates and professionals following the Washington Accord and the Bologna Accord. (3) A better educated society provides a sound foundation for long-term socioeconomic development. The Enhanced K+12 Basic Education system will contribute to the development of emotionally and intellectually mature individuals capable of pursuing productive employment or entrepreneurship or higher education disciplines.
DISADVANTAGES
(1) Parents have to shell out more money (for transportation and food) for education of their children. (2) The government does not have the money to pay for two more years of free education, since it does not even have the money to fully support today’s ten years. DepEd must first solve the lack of classroom, furniture and equipment, qualified teachers, and error- free textbooks. (3) Filipinos right now are accepted in prestigious graduate schools in the world, even with only ten years of basic education. (4) As far as the curriculum is concerned, DepEd should fix the current subjects instead of adding new ones. The problem is the content, not the length, of basic education. As an editorial put it, we need to have better education, not more education. (5) A high School diploma will not get anybody anywhere, because business firms will not hire fresh high school graduates. (6) Every family dreams of having a child graduate from college. (7) While students are stuck in Grade 11 and 12, colleges and universities will have no freshmen for two years. This will spell financial disaster for many private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). (8) The drop-out rate will increase because of the two extra years.
Will the parents agree or disagree to the K- 12 program?
The additional two years in basic education may not be the only answer to the quality of the educational system. Quality may also depend on the curriculum, the quality of educators and the facilities provided for by the school campuses. With the continuing increase in school tuition, the upgrade on quality education should have already been included. The additional two years will only be to the advantage of the schools and will only make education a more lucrative business. The question remains. Will the new system assure graduates of employment after graduation? If not, the DepEd should instead enhance what we already have and not add to the burden of education.
K-12 will give more job opportunities to high school graduates. It will make more globally competitive Filipino students and it will maximize their time on choosing their career base on their ability.
I agree in K+12 it is because that students will have more time to choose the right course that best suits in their skills and they will be more capable and matured to confront college career, which is a new special field endeavor.
It depends on the value of education, not on the duration. Why not give more support and develop the schools and students ' potentials? I think it is more effective to attain the excellent literacy of every Filipino youth.
This is part of President Benigno "NoyNoy" Aquino III 's Educational Reform Program. The P-Noy Administration believes that adding more years to basic education in the Philippines could help solve the problem of unemployment, keep up with global standards, and help Filipino students to have more time to choose the career that best suits their skills.
It’s a given fact that the Aquino administration has good intentions in implementing this K-12 plan. But no matter how good these intentions are, there would still be parts of the society who would give them a hard time making this education amendment. Sadly, the Philippine education system is far behind other countries’. If this K-12 plan would push through, help the concerned parties have that optimism that this would bring our education system a few notches higher. Make everybody realize that yes, we do have quality education here and we are able to produce skillful, well-rounded, and competent young citizens.

CONCLUSION
According to the study, the following conclusions are proven; (1) The parents of the students that are involved in the study said that the implementation of the K12 program that it is a must, because the primary objective of the program is to improve the quality of education so that, when the students finished the basic education they will be more productive. (2) The most important contribution of the program to the students is to improve their abilities, and revolutionized the Philippines in terms of educational attainment.
RECOMMENDATIONS
After drawing the conclusion, the researcher suggests; (1) there should be a researcher having the comparison between the curriculum with K+12 rule and the other traditional 6 years in Elementary 4 years in High School. (2) After some time -2018 to be exact- A researcher conducts a study the effectiveness of the program.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOK
• Seamo-Innotech (2010, August 25). Additional Years in Philippine Basic Education:Rationale and Legal Bases. Deapartment of Education, 7(2), 79-80.
WEBPAGE
• Luistro, M. (2010, October 6). Youth Philippines on the K-12 Proposal: We are giving our Conditional Suports. Retrieved October 1, 2011 from http://spokespersonabdl.blogspot.com/2010/10/youth-philippines-on-k-12-proposal-we.html?showComment=1300190604098#c518705997496408288

• DepEd (n.d). The Implementation of the K+12 Systems In The Philippines. Retrieved September 30, 2011 from http:// www.oppapers.com/essays/The-Implementation-Of-The-K-12-Systems/613651

• DepEd (2010). Discussion Paper on the Enhanced K+12 Basic Education Program. Retrieved October 1, 2011 from http:// www.deped.gov.ph/cpanel/uploads/issuance/K12new.pdf

• Guiterrez, M. (2010, October 6). K12 education. Retrieved October 5,2011 from http:// www.allvoices.com

• Aquino III, B. (2010). Discussion Paper. Retrieved September 26, 2011 from http:// www.deped.gov.ph

Bibliography: BOOK • Seamo-Innotech (2010, August 25). Additional Years in Philippine Basic Education:Rationale and Legal Bases. Deapartment of Education, 7(2), 79-80. WEBPAGE • Luistro, M. (2010, October 6). Youth Philippines on the K-12 Proposal: We are giving our Conditional Suports. Retrieved October 1, 2011 from http://spokespersonabdl.blogspot.com/2010/10/youth-philippines-on-k-12-proposal-we.html?showComment=1300190604098#c518705997496408288 • DepEd (n.d). The Implementation of the K+12 Systems In The Philippines. Retrieved September 30, 2011 from http:// www.oppapers.com/essays/The-Implementation-Of-The-K-12-Systems/613651 • DepEd (2010). Discussion Paper on the Enhanced K+12 Basic Education Program. Retrieved October 1, 2011 from http:// www.deped.gov.ph/cpanel/uploads/issuance/K12new.pdf • Guiterrez, M. (2010, October 6). K12 education. Retrieved October 5,2011 from http:// www.allvoices.com • Aquino III, B. (2010). Discussion Paper. Retrieved September 26, 2011 from http:// www.deped.gov.ph