K-12: More Ladders to Attain Success

K-12: More Ladders to Attain Success

“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.”
-President Benigno S. Aquino III

Pres. Benigno S Aquino III, in his statement, clearly emphasizes on the advantage of our country’s new basic education curriculum – K to 12. But, what exactly is the K to 12 curriculum? The K to 12 curriculum is the recently started program of the Department of Education 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). The central feature of the K to 12 Program is the upgrading of the basic education curriculum to ensure that learners acquire the relevant knowledge and skills they will need to become productive members of society. It seeks to introduce relevant skills development courses and special interest subjects that will suit the personality, strengths and career direction of each learner. According to the Department of Education Secretary, Bro. Armin Luistro, this curriculum designed by Filipinos for Filipinos that can stand up to any curriculum existing in the world. By and large, the program is adapted from proven educational systems abroad. This is not unprecedented. In fact, our present public-school system was based on the one put up by the Thomasites. Why implement K to 12? According to Ericka de los Santos, before the implementation of the K-12 program began, the Philippines is one of the very few countries remaining that provide only ten years of basic education, six years in elementary and four years secondary. This short period makes it difficult for Filipinos to be competitive with countries like Japan or Korea, that have at least 12 years of basic education under their belt. In most cases, the extra years spent in basic education should enable students to tackle subjects like mathematics and science in more details, instead of the rushed manner used in the old education system.
People can also expect that the new K-12 system will produce graduates who are more prepared for college education. The program is expected to provide a clear view of which career they would take. This may lead to less drop-outs, and more chances of success in graduating from whatever course they choose.
Elena Ruiz, Education Assistant Secretary for Programs and Projects said in an interview of the Manila Times that for the curriculum to be responsive, it has to be changed, and that is one of the main reasons why we have a new curriculum implementation.
The intention of the implementation, however, importantly enhances the basic education curriculum since it provides sufficient time for mastery of concepts and skills, develop lifelong learners, and prepare graduates for tertiary education, middle-level skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship. Figue 1: Schematic implementation plan of K to 12.
What happens to the curriculum?
In the new curriculum, there is a continuum from Kindergarten to Grade 12, and to technical-vocational and higher education.
The Department of Education said an enhanced curriculum would decongest academic workload, giving students more time to master competencies and participate in co-curricular activities and community involvement, thus allowing for a more holistic development.
Under the K to 12 curriculum, the elementary grades will focus on the core learning areas—languages, math, science and social studies.
Science will be introduced as a subject only starting Grade 3, but will be integrated in other learning areas in the earlier grades. The subject Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan will be taught starting Grade 4.
One of the highlights of the K to 12 curriculum is the use of eight major languages in the country to teach pupils kindergarten to Grade 3 starting this schoolyear. DepEd adopted the "Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education" after pilot tests showed students learn better when the language used at home is also used in the classroom.
The new junior high school curriculum, which begins with Grade 7, will give students a chance to choose from the Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE) subjects--Agri-Fishery, Industrial Arts, Home Economics, and Information and Communication Technology--to be offered on top of the required subjects in the core learning areas.
By School year 2016-2017, when the current batch of seventh graders reach Grade 11 or the first of the two-year senior high school, they will focus on science, math, English and contemporary issues, plus choose their area of specialization: academics, vocational-technical or sports and arts.
Marilyn Yap, a teacher at the Ernesto Rondon High School in Quezon City agreed that there is much to address under the present curriculum.
“Educational facilities like school rooms, laboratory rooms and laboratory equipments and apparatus, computer rooms, voc/tech rooms complete with equipments and many other things are needed for the effective implementation of the new curriculum,” she says.
So, how is the curriculum implemented? Are there sufficient materials such as textbooks, classrooms and teachers that can fully address to its implementation?
To answer this, Bro. Armin Luistro, Education Secretary affirms that DepEd has enough budget. DepEd got the biggest chunk of the budget with P238.8 billion, including P2.4 billion for kinder. They estimated the total funding requirement to procure all needed resources at P150 billion for 152,569 new classrooms, 103,599 more teachers, 95.6 million more books, and 13.2 million more seats. In its presentation to the House of Representatives in March, the department said that to implement K to 12, it would need at least P363.29 billion in 2013; P361.17 billion in 2014; P377.21 billion in 2015; P423.04 billion in 2016; and P443.55 billion in 2017. As the two additional years in senior high school will be offered for free in public schools, as announced by the DepEd, the additional budget is expect to be used to absorb the Grade 11 enrollees in 2016, which is expected to number to 1.2 million students. Acknowledging the need for resources for K to12, the DepEd called on the local government units and private partners to support the infrastructure development. Another scheme it is eyeing is to front-load all needed capital investments, take a grant or loan from government and private banks based on annual budget, and pay the amortization yearly. It also proposed the following:
* Private partners can donate through our Adopt-a-School program that provides them a 150 percent tax rebate for their contribution.
* Individuals and institutions can take part in the TEN Moves! Campaign to build 10,000 classrooms by donating P10 per day for ten months.
* LGUs can follow the front-loading scheme using their Special Education Fund as collateral and the allocation as amortization.
* For teacher items, LGUs also help by hiring qualified teachers for our public schools and paying honoraria for them. COCOPEA, which is composed of five associations of higher education institutions and with around 2,000 member-schools, is also at hand to offer possible solutions to the need for resources for K to 12.
Estrada opens the possibility of public-private partnership in constructing new buildings for Senior High School and helping provide additional teachers for the new Grades 11 and 12 students. He says that leasing out some of the classrooms of colleges to government is also a possibility.
Luistro further exclaimed that there is no more back log in textbooks and school furniture. They have also procured over one million school chairs that would have closed two of the five input gaps haunting the public school system.
The President said the government is also striving to address the shortage in classrooms and will push for tablet-based reading materials for public school students.
He said errors in electronic readers or tablet-based textbooks can be easily corrected and there will be no need to recall them as in the case of paper books.
Aside from financial security, the concern for the scarcity of skilled teachers is highly stressed. DepEd says that additional special teachers will be hired and existing teachers will be trained, even retooled, to teach core academic subjects and electives that will be offered in Grades 11 and 12. This said training of teachers in DepEd has already being done and the government especially the DepEd will step up training for public school teachers. Regarding to the teachers additional workload for the K to 12 implementation, as the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers provides that teachers should teach only up to six hours a day.
How is the grading system of the new curriculum?
According to Bro. Luistro, DepEd will now use level of proficiency in grading system abbreviated below:
A - Advanced (grade of 90% and above)
P - Proficient (85%-89%)
AP - Approaching Proficiency (80%-84%)
D - Developing (75%-79%)
B - Beginning (74% and below) So instead of using numerical data, the current curriculum uses descriptive ratings in giving grades to their students. How can this new curriculum affect college enrollees and promotion of labor-export policy? The enrollment gap will affect finances of colleges and universities. With the K to12 in place, COCOPEA expects to have greatly-reduced enrollment, if not zero enrolment, by 2016, when the first batch of students finishes Junior High School. Estrada says zero enrolment will continue until 2018 because those who took Junior High School will need two years to finish Senior High School before they can go to college. The trend of low enrollment can continue, he added, because some student may prefer to work and not anymore study in college. According to Estrada, there are three streams under the new curriculum: one is be an entrepreneur or work right after graduating from Junior High School; two is proceed to Senior High School; and three is enroll in a college or a university, or work, after finishing Senior High School. At present, CHED is developing college readiness standards and revising the General Education curriculum in keeping with the new basic education curriculum. It will soon be revising the curricula in the various programs and foresees the need to shorten them. Tinio and Palatino are alarmed that the new curriculum is oriented more toward the global labor market, which they say only feeds the labor-export policy orientation of the government. Despite all these problems, Luistro is positive the K to 12 is the right step towards getting education right. He acknowledges that teacher training will take years, and the new curriculum remains a work in progress. The Enhanced K+12 Basic Education Program will be instrumental in achieving the nation’s vision of a high school graduate. The benefits of the K+12 proposal far outweigh the additional costs that will be incurred by both government and families. Some of the benefits are the following:
To Individuals and Families
• Graduates will possess competencies and skills relevant to the job market. The K+12 proposal will be designed to adjust and meet the fast-changing demands of society to prepare graduates with skills essential for the world of work.
• 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.
• 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.
• Graduates could now be recognized abroad. Those who intend to study abroad will meet the entrance requirements of foreign schools.
For the Society and the Economy
• The economy will experience accelerated growth in the long run. The objective of the K+12 program is to improve quality of basic education.
• 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.
• 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. What are the expectations in the new curriculum? People can expect that the new K-12 system will produce graduates who are more prepared for college education. The program is also expected to provide a clear view of which career they would take. This may lead to less drop-outs, more chances of success in graduating from whatever course they choose and produces more productive and responsible citizens equipped with the essential skills for both life-long learning and employment.
Now on its first year of implementation, the K-12 program is not without challenges, but it is an endeavor worth pursuing if we truly intend to improve the Philippine education system.
The government’s K-12 program is a much-needed change for the country’s education system. By investing more time and resources in our education, people may expect better-trained citizens who could have the knowledge and skills of people trained abroad and become competitive in the global business arena, and bring more success that would contribute towards building our nation.