Serious Problems with the K-12 Senior High School Curriculum

Posted on February 18, 2014by Joel Tabora, S.J.

During the DepEd-CEAP Mindanao Summit organized by CEAP’s National Basic Education Commission
(NBEC) and co-hosted by Ateneo de Davao University on 17-18 February, the intention was to
appreciate progress attained in the implementation of the K-12 educational reform and to understand
the requirements of the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013 (RA 10627) for the Mindanao schools.

The presentation on the content of the Anti-Bullying Act was straightforward. Atty. Joseph Estrada
combined competence with humor – overcoming an irksome cough! – to describe the content of the law
and clarify its requirements for the schools.

But the presentations on the K-12 were more problematic. Brother Armin Luistro, FSC, DepED
Secretary, who’d come to the Mindanao Summit despite an injury sustained in a basketball match
among Cabinet members, spearheaded the presentations with an update on where K-12 is. He
reminded all of a prior commitment: basic education was not merely to be reformed, but
transformed. It was to be genuinely “learner centered”. He pointed to a nearly-completed K-12
curriculum that would allow for creativity, innovation, and in Mindanao, a “Mindanao
perspective.” Therefore, such features as the mother-tongue based education, and an assessment
system based on the conviction, “No child is a failure!” were to be appreciated. He encouraged Catholic
schools in Mindanao to return to their original religious charisms to understand how each might
contribute uniquely to the success of the educational reform. In Mindanao, special challenges that
Catholic schools might address would be the educational needs of the Indigenous Peoples, of the out of
school youth, and even of the street children.

Over-Congested Curriculum

No problem with that. When Mr. Elvin Ivan Y. Uy, DepEd’s K-12 Program Coordinator, presented the
status of the Senior High School curriculum, problems began to emerge. He echoed Bro. Armin’s
summary of the reform as “Learner-centered” education. But from the Power Point Presentation
entitled: “The K-12 Curriculum: CEAP-NBEC Summit” he spoke of “31 total Subjects” required for Senior
High School, 15 of which were “Core Subjects” and 16 of which were “Track Subjects,” the latter broken
down into 7 “Contextualized” subjects and 9 “Specialization” subjects. From the same slide came the
“non-negotiable” announcement: “Each subject will have 80 hours per semester.”

The latter came as a shocker to curriculum planners from within the assembly like Dr. Gina Montalan,
Dean of the College of Education Ateneo de Davao University, who was quick to point out that this
would mean 6.5 hours of contact hours daily in the senior high school for the DepEd’s required
courses. If this were to be reckoned in today’s college units, this would be the equivalent to a whopping
32.5 units – where college students – who need time to read and study outside of class – should be
taking no more than about 20 units. The heavy daily 6.5 hours of required DepEd courses allowed little
room for “mission-driven” schools – as all CEAP schools are! – to add courses required by their
educational mission. These include subjects such as religious education or theology, philosophy, and
special formational courses such as in leadership training.

From the floor, Dr. Montalan suggested that the 80 hour per semester per course requirement be
tempered into 80 hours for some courses, and less for others. She even suggested that if the 80 hours
per course be truly required then classes be allowed on Saturday in order for the mission schools to be
able to accommodate their subjects. Bro. Armin, sensitive to the learner, was not too enthusiastic
about the latter, and suggested that some of the mission courses might be the content of the required
DepEd courses. How that might sit, however, with zealous guardians of disciplines or DepEd officials
more sensitive to the letter of rules than their spirit is a serious concern.

It was because of this that the CEAP-DepEd Mindanao Summit unanimously passed a resolution that the
DepED, in consultation with Mindanao educators on the ground revisit the 80 hours per subject
requirement.

Tec-Voc Track Won’t Prepare Students for Work as Industry Requires

A similarly serious problem came with the presentation of Fr. Onofre G. Inocensio, Jr., SDB,
Superintendent of Don Bosco Schools and TVET Centers, on “Implementing the SHS – Tech-Voc
Track.” All know that the Don Bosco schools are long-time recognized experts in technical vocation
educational training. Basically, Fr. Inocensio explained that the senior high school “core curriculum”
requirement is so heavy that there would be no time to develop the hands-on skills in the students that
such as the manufacturing industry requires. There is adequate time to train manicurists and
pedicurists, but shall these provide the skills necessary for industrial development of the nation. Within
the time-constraints of the senior high school, Fr. Inocensio’s thesis is that it is not possible to truly
develop the multi-skilled students needed for industry. He confirmed his thesis in recent dialogues with
industry: what is important is not that the student has gone through a required number of hours in
vocational training, but that the student actually have the skills required by industry. His solution: for
the Don Bosco schools, they will focus on teaching the skills as required by industry, using skilled
teachers and the industrial machinery and equipment required to impart them, and insure thereby that
the student be employed. To do so they will set aside the DepEd requirement of the core
curriculum. Once employed – without having graduated from senior high school! – the student will be
given the opportunity to come back to school and finish the academic requirements that might also
qualify him for college.

For the K-12 program, however, this position is disastrous. The K-12 program was precisely supposed
to either prepare students for gainful work after basic education orprepare students for
college. The either/or has become a both/and. It intends both to equip the students with the skills
necessary for gainful employment and to prepare them for college within the same time
constraint. And because the designers are all college graduates with PhD’s from the best of higher
educational intentions, but without the experience of training students in handling a lathe or a welding
machine, we now have a policy which has effectively shut out meaningful skills development in favor of
pre-college preparation. The K-12 program has been reduced thereby to pre-college preparation whose
“core curriculum,” according to Mr. Elvin Uy, will prepare the student for college according to the
College Readiness Standards of the CHED.

Originally, there was supposed to be a pre-work track and a pre-college track. Pre-work would equip
students with industry-required skills. The pre-college track (not the core curriculum common to all!)
would prepare students for college according to CHED’s college readiness standards.

Despite the fact that the K-12 reform was inspired by the conviction that not all need to go to college, it
is designed so that all can go to college. This either disrespects the requirements for work, or
disrespects the requirements for college. DepEd has chosen to disrespect the requirements for
work. For Fr. Inocensio to continue respecting the requirements for work, he must sacrifice the DepED
requirements for senior high school.

In fact, in the presentations given by Dr. Tina Padolina on the Science, Technology and Mathematics
(STEM) strand and by Dr. Maria Luz Vilches on Humanities in Senior High School, many of the subjects
like Qualitative Research and Quantitative Research “sounded very HEI” – like belonging more to college
or even graduate school education rather than to basic education. I squirmed to find out that future
nurses shall be categorized under STEM and so be required to take even modified calculus. Is this really
necessary?

So again, the participants of the CEAP-DepED Summit in Mindanao unanimously resolved that the DepEd
revisit the requirements for the Tech-Voc Track.

Flexibility Required: Less May Be More

Of course, putting together curricular requirements for the K-12 reform is one thing. Teaching them is
quite another. A curriculum is like a wish list, but all the components of curricula need real
teachers. Here is, I think, where reality will demolish the conceptual castles some may be taking
satisfaction in in the formulation of these curricula. For K-12 to succeed in being truly “learner
centered” if must be realistically teacher and region sensitive.

In the implementation of the K-12 reform, it must be clearly set in policy that these curricular
“requirements” for a long time cannot be decreed “‘FYI’ – for your information” (as was asserted by one
speaker at the Mindanao Summit), but shall have to be “tentative” and subject to the educational,
pedagogical and industrial realities of the country’s many different regions – including the actual skills
sets of our available teachers. The outputs of a relatively high concentration of highly-qualified
educators in the Metro Manila areas cannot be expected in provincial areas. Tec-Voc training in
industrial areas will have to be different from that in rural areas. Policy must be set so that there is
ability to put the senior high school together and operate with the limited resources of particular
regions.

At this point, DepEd needs to take more of a dialogical rather than a prescriptive stance; it must be
encouraging and empowering, not over-demanding and discouraging. It must capitalize on the good will
of people who want this reform to work.

In this sense, less may truly be more.

https://taborasj.wordpress.com/2014/02/18/serious-problems-with-the-k-12-senior-high-school-
curriculum/
PAASCU Commencing its 60th Year of Service to
Quality Education
Posted on February 12, 2016by Joel Tabora, S.J.
[President’s Report to the General Assembly of the Philippine Accrediting Association of
Schools, Colleges and Universities, Finster Hall, ADDU, Feb 12, 2016]

PAASCU commences its 60th year in a period of great transition.

Towards Quality Senior High Schools

For the first time, senior high school becomes mandatory in the Philippines. That affects
all our schools. We may have once thought adding two years to basic education to
decongest its curriculum would be a rather straightforward task. But we have since
learned otherwise. Adding two years to basic education invited colleges to push back
subjects they felt belonged to basic education. What was decongested became
recongested. We may have once thought we would be preparing senior high school
students for either the workforce or college. We now understand we are preparing them
all for college but also to be “hirable” – especially if they get TESDA Certificates of
Competencies and National Certificates – or even to become entrepreneurs.

Senior high school involves four tracks, the academic, technical, sports and the
arts/design. The Core Curriclum is for all the tracks. But under certain tracks there are
specializations or strands. For instance, under the academic track there is the general
academics track (GA), the humanities and social sciences (HUMSS), the sciences,
technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and the accountancy, business and
management (ABM).

We have all struggled to understand what all this means based on the many DepEd
issuances that have appeared, but also based on our realities on the ground. We have
read, studied, deliberated, consulted. We have gone through periods of confusion,
disorientation, fear, then sometimes moments of insight, understanding, and hope.
Despite persisting uncertainty, yet appreciating probablities, and trusting in God and
one another, we have made our decisions, some of them big and nervewracking – to
open or not to open senior high school, to enter this or that track, to offer this or that
specialization, to set this larger or that lower target, to hire or to fire faculty, staff or
administrators, to build, to renovate or to innovate. It is at the threshold of this great
transition in the same year that PAASCU commences its 60th year of operation that we
come together still alive, still smiling – knowing that in this implementation we are not
alone, that through PAASCU we shall help one another to weather the storms, and that
through PAASCU we can hope that in time all our senior high schools will thrive as
quality schools through our system of voluntary accreditation.

Towards Quality Higher Education

As our elementary schools and basic education schools, we know, are quality schools!

And as we continue to journey together towards higher quality in our colleges and
universities. As the Philippines transitions in political leadership this coming May,
through discussions in the Coordinating Council for Private Educational Associations
(COCOPEA) we hope to come to consensus on a Philippine Roadmap for Higher
Education where the ultimate goal of our shared journey would be: a “complete,
adequate and integrated system of quality higher education” for ALL in the Philippines
composed of public (SUCs, LCUs, academic and technical) and private HEIs (sectarian
and non-sectarian, public and private) working in necessary and achieved
complementarity in the pursuit and communication of truth in academic freedom
through instruction and formation, research and outreach (service to the community),
where this system is governed autonomously (free from ephemeral [party] political
interference, the control of stakeholder interests, the control of the economic elite) and
supported appropriately by public funds and reasonable government regulation.

There are many stimulating talking points pertinent to this roadmap concerning
academic freedom, quality education, the essential complementarity between public and
private education, the healthy governance of HEIs based on autonomous self-
governance and supported by public funds, and even personal development, social
justice and the common good.

As PAASCU commences its 60th year of operation, allow me to cite the pertinent talking
points on quality education:
We must engage in a national dialogue towards achieving consensus on “quality” in
higher education. We advocate: minimum standards, academic excellence,
implementation of HEIs’ Vision and mission, and responsiveness to our stakeholders.
Academic freedom without quality assurance is reckless; quality assurance without
academic freedom is empty.
Quality assurance must be equally applicable to private and public HEIs, including
technical HEIs.
Private (non-government controlled) external quality assurance bodies are necessary
for quality assurance.
The role of stakeholder demands in HE programs must be clarified. (i.e. stakeholders
must benefit, but educators must educate.)
We are suggesting that those who aspire to political positions in our local and national
governments, in their councils, the congress and the senate, take position relative to
these talking points. But perhaps we too may have to ask ourselves how we stand
relative to yet unresolved issues in our policy environment pertinent to academic
freedom, quality assurance, “quality”, governance, public funding not only of public
schools but also of private schools, the importance pf public private partnerships for the
future of quality education in the Philippines. Academic freedom and all it entails is not
vested in the CHED; it is vested in the HEIs. In freedom, we must govern ourselves
wisely, using voluntary accreditation as the guarantee of our program and institutional
quality.

In this context (as your handouts will show) PAASCU has continued its labors for
quality education through accreditation. In the last year, it visited 45 basic education
schools and 95 HEIs, and has processed 45 programs in basic education and 271
programs on the tertiary and graduate education levels, plus five basic medical
education programs.

It has conducted training workshops for medical-education accreditors, for team chairs,
and for tertiary accreditors (PWU and Benilde in Manila, ADDU and UIC in Davao).
With the Philippine Medical College Foundation (APMC), it gave an orientation
meeting on quality assurance for Philippine Medical Colleges. 64 participants
representing 38 medical schools throughout the country came, establishing the unique
national strength of PAASCU medical school accreditation with international
recognition.
Also in your handouts you will find an update on our complaint against Dr. Patricia
Licuanan and Leo Querubin filed with the Ombudsman through our lawyers led by Atty
Joseph Estrada in defence of the interests of PAASCU. The case is now submitted for
resolution.

Towards International Recognition and Global Reach

As it commences its 60th year, PAASCU continues to contribute to and benefit from its
international relations.
***Two quality assurance officers from PAASCU-accredited institutions were chosen to
participate in the regional training course on internal quality assurance (IQA)
coordinated by the Centre for Quality Development of the University of Potsdam. Ms.
Lucila Calairo of De La Salle University-Dasmariñas and Dr. Julita Robles of De La Salle
University-Manila participated in the TrainIQA Project which supports a group of 32
Southeast Asian universities to build up systematic quality assurance structures and to
promote quality culture within their own organisations.

Closely mentored by the European and ASEAN quality assurance experts, they are
engaged in an online learning platform and face-to-face workshops with 30 other QA
officers from ASEAN Member States.

***Concepcion V. Pijano, PAASCU Executive Director is part of the ASEAN technicsl

team of experts who provide inputs and advice to the participants. The project was
launched in November 2014 with the ASEAN-QA High Level Information Visit held in
Potsdam, Germany. The first TrainIQA [Train Internal Quality Assurance] workshop
took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from February 23-27, 2015. The Final Conference
for the project will be held from February 23-27, 2016.

The TrainIQA Program is supported by the German Rectors’ Conference, ASEAN

Quality Assurance Network, ASEAN University Network, SEAMEO-RIHED, German
Academic Exchange Service and the European Network for Quality Assurance in order
to promote regional quality assurance in Southeast Asia.
***The project “European Union Support to Higher Education in ASEAN Region”
(SHARE) is a joint initiative of the European Union (EU) and the ASEAN. Its
overarching objective is to strengthen regional cooperation and to enhance the quality,
competitiveness and internationalisation of ASEAN higher education institutions and
degrees At the core of this action is the aim to enhance cooperation between the EU and
the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and to create lasting benefits from the
harmonisation of higher education across ASEAN.

In order to achieve its strategic goals, two expert working groups were created, namely
the “ASEAN-European Expert Group of Qualifications Framework (QF)” and the
“ASEAN-European Expert Group of Quality Assurance (QA)”. The PAASCU Executive
director is one of the member experts of the latter tasked with reviewing the current QA
framework in ASEAN and providing stimuli for updating it. (Imagine what will happen
to CMO 46!).

***Finally, the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) is the largest
institutional higher education membership organisation in the US. It is the most
influentual voice for promoting academic quality through accreditation. It has an
international division, “the CHEA International Quality Group (CIQG) focusing on
international Quality Assurance. PAASCU has been a member of the CIQG since Dec.
2012, contributing to its thought leadership in internationa QA issues and policies and
convening acdemicians and others on issues international quality assurance. Last
November 2015, PAASCU’s Executive Director was invited to serve on the CIGQ
Advisory Council. During the CHEA 2016 Annual Conference held on Jan. 25-27, 2016
in Washington DC, the PAASCU Executive Director spoke on the CIQG International
Quslity Principles and how these influence the intgernational dialogue about acaademic
Quality. She is the lone representative from ASEAN and one among three
representatives from the Asia Pacific Region which includes Australia and China.

As PAASCU commences its 60th year, in the midst of the confusing challenges of the K-12
implementation, in the midst of the national search for a Philippine President and for
national leaders that understand the challenges and nuances of education, especially
higher education, in the midst of a world that cries out for change leaders blessed with
quality education, I am happy to report to you that through your hard work at quality
improvement of your schools through accreditation, PAASCU is healthy and well. From
the original 11 members, it now has 505. From the original coverage of just Metro
Manila and Cebu, it has gone not only national but global. With over a thousand
volunteer accreditors, it continues to promote quality assurance through accreditation
not only in the Philippines but now literally throughout the world. There is no other
accreditation group in the Philippines that enjoys its international recognition. This
means that once accredited by a PAASCU the quality of your school is recognized
thoughout the globe. Thank you all for being part of PAASCU. Thank you members of
the Board and the various commissions, present and past, for being part of PAASCU.
Thank you Fr. Jim Meany SJ and Bro. H. Gabriel Connon, FSC. Thank you, Chita. You
are its strength. You are PAASCU!
https://taborasj.wordpress.com/2016/02/12/paascu-commencing-its-60th-year-of-service-to-quality-
education/
Pass “K to 12” into law!
Posted on September 19, 2012by Joel Tabora, S.J.
The Philippine Daily Inquire carries today a full-page ad published by the Coordinating
Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA) appealing to legislators to pass
the K-12 legislative reform into law. Understanding that the global situation today
already does not just look at end degrees in the assessments of graduates from the
Philippines for properly paying jobs, but also checks for twelve years of basic education,
the Aquino administration through its Department of Education, has begun
implementing the K-12 reform based on a wide consensus of its necessity and
anticipating this legislation. We don’t want our graduates of engineering, for instance,
who do much of the engineering work in the Asia Pacific region, to be discriminated
against and paid less for their competent work because they do not have twelve years of
basic education.

Happily the two current yet-unnumbered bills in the Senate and in the House provide
for the basic requirements of the K-12 reform as envisioned by DepEd after many
rounds of dialogue with key educational stakeholders like COCOPEA, and are more
similar than dissimilar; the collaboration between senators, congressmen and the staffs
in crafting these drafts has been wise, admirable and effective. It is for this reason that
the five major private educational associations under COCOPEA – the Catholic
Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP), the Association of Christian Schools,
Colleges and Universities (ACSCU), the Philippine Association of Private Schools,
Colleges and Universities (PAPSCU), the Philippine Association of Colleges and
Universities (PACU), and the Technical Vocational Schools Association of the
Philippines (TEVSAPHIL) – formally recommend today the passage of this legislation.

In embracing the necessary K-12 reform, private colleges have much to lose financially
as years are foreseen when there will be no freshmen enrolling in the colleges. The view
that private educational institutions are supporting this legislation to increase their
profits is simply wrong. Our studies predict losses to the private educational sector in
billions of pesos. The K-12 reforms are embraced in responsibility to our future
generations of youth in a tough global world. The overdue legislation of K-12 legislation
will allow private schools to seriously plan their implementation of this law – and to
mitigate losses.
From within the National Advocacy Commission of the CEAP, it is appreciated that:

Article XIV, section 2(1) of the 1987 Constitution provides for the duty of the State to
“establish, maintain, and support a complete, adequate, and integrated system of
education relevant to the needs of the people and society.” This is an obligation our
government must fulfill, one that is recognized, especially by the Aquino
Administration, as an urgent concern of our youth and one that is vital to the
development of our nation.

With the advent of globalization and the rapidly evolving modalities in information-
gathering and dissemination, we must realize that the existing ten (10) year education
cycle we offer to our Filipino students in both the public and private educational
institutions is not enough. Times are changing and so must we.

This is not solely an issue that concerns the upper and middle class Filipino families.
This is not just about more tuition and other fees and an extension of two (2) more years
in school. This is not just about the rising cost of expenses an average Filipino family
would have to allocate in the monthly budget for their child’s education.

More importantly, it is about affording adequate instructional time with a new

curriculum that would prepare Filipino students, in both the public and private schools,
with essential competencies relevant in today’s fast-paced world. It is about enabling
Filipino students, who graduate from their respective public and/or private educational
institutions, to compete with other graduates by having a basic education system that
can be “at par” with other educational institutions in the global market. It is about
placing our Filipino students on “equal footing” with other graduates in the area of labor
employment by providing them life-skills and foundations for learning throughout their
lives. It is about making education more relevant to the needs of the times and more
responsive to the constitutional mandate.

It is a herculean undertaking but it must be done. With these positive developments in

both houses of Congress, the CEAP is of the belief that authentic reforms in education is
on the way. However, CEAP shares the concern that the “K to 12” program embodied in
the “Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2012” is of primary importance — at this point in
time – that all government agencies in the field of formal education and alternative
instruction must be one with the DepED in ensuring its effective implementation. For
now, government has to direct its full attention in making the “K to 12” program a
successful initiative before moving on to other areas in education reform.

With these premises, The Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP)
affirms its support in the passage of a law that will enhance the Philippine basic
education system by strengthening its curriculum and increasing the number of years
for basic education. CEAP also lauds the efforts of both the House of Representatives
and the Senate in consolidating and in their efforts to constantly consult with all the
concerned stakeholders in the crafting of their respective versions of the “Enhanced
Basic Education Act of 2012” – one that puts into law the “K to 12” program.

Finally, CEAP joins in pushing for the approval of this proposed legislation by the
Aquino administration – believing that this is perhaps the most important, if not
significant legacy that President Aquino can leave behind as it impacts not only today’s
youth who yearn for quality education but for generations to come.

https://taborasj.wordpress.com/2012/09/19/pass-k-to-12-into-law/
“Senior High School.” Or: “Career Academies”?
Posted on December 5, 2010by Joel Tabora, S.J.
I was late to Facebook, later to Twitter, and latest to Blogging. But better late than
never.

I have no idea about where this blog will lead me. Nor exactly about what I’ll be blogging
about. But that’s supposed to be part o the deal of this thing, isn’t it? Not everything
needs to be planned, and not everything needs to be in perfect shape.

Amen.

**Education Reform

For the meantime, the focus will be on educational reform in the Philippines. So much is
going on. Perhaps this blog will help me to clarify and share my reflections on it. And
invite others to do similarly.

Under President Noynoy Aquino, who ran as an “Education President,” we suddenly

have a welcome “window for change” in educational reform. With his appointment of
Bro. Armin Luistro, FSC, as Secretary of the Department of Education (DepED) , and of
Dr. Patricia Licuanan as the Chair of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), we
suddenly have two key government officials who are not only talking with each other,
but in broad strokes agreeing with each other. There is also excellent rapport with the
Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) under its President, Fr. Greg
Bañaga, CM, and Executive Director, Dorris Ferrer, as well as with the Coordinating
Council of the Private Educational Associations in the Philippines (COCOPEA) under its
current President, Dr. Ben Malayang of Silliman University.

**Two More Years in Basic Education: K+12

The focus of the current flurry of activity is the recognition that this country lacks two
years of basic education. Under the Aquino administration, there is finally recognition
that correcting this problem means adding two years not to tertiary education (or
variations of this like a “Pre-College” under the CHED), but to basic education. Thus, to
a required pre-school kindergarten (K), the resolve is to add two years to the existing 10.
Therefore the shortcut: K+12.
There were those who suggested earlier that we add one year to the existing primary
education and a second year to the existing secondary education, or: K+7+5. This
suggestion has meanwhile been set aside in favor of a clearer, less invasive, less costly
K+6+4+2. Adding two years on top of an enhanced 10 years of basic education is the
most elegant way of correcting the deficit.

Much work is already going into “enhancing” the first ten years. This will involve taking
advantage of studies made on curriculum enhancement in the past, and applying what is
relevant to the current reform. It will involve trying to simplify all the material our
pupils need to deal with. We will have opportunity to discuss this in later blogs.

**Senior High School. Or: “Career Academy”?

It is in the two years that shall be added to the system that we have a genuine
opportunity for creative leadership in education in the Philippines.

Bro. Armin has called these two years “Senior High School” (SHS).

The idea, happily, is not just to create a “Pre-College” which will give all its participants
the impression that they are all really meant to go to college.

For Bro. Armin, SHS is, on the one hand, an array of educational activities that will
allow the student at 18 years of age to work , get married, and raise a family after
graduation. Benefitting from coordinative dialogues with industry, the SHS will prepare
students for employment after its two years. Already, dialogues with employers and
industry are calling forth willingness to employ SHS graduates. For these graduates and
their parents the proposed educational reform will mean not “plus two” but “minus
two.” They will be employable after only two years of SHS, not four years of college.
Therefore, in real time, minus two years.

On the other hand, SHS, is an array of educational activities that will prepare a pupil for
college. Until the architects of the enhanced curriculum give planners of SHS better
projections on how pupils will finally be prepared for SHS through the enhanced K+10,
these activities might be determined by what shall be required for tertiary-level General
Education.
For now, there seems to be no way of avoiding two streams in the SHS: the first to
prepare for careers that do not need college preparation, e.g., call centers, business-
processing, basic entrepreneurship, office management; the second to prepare for
careers that require college preparation, e.g. engineering, law, medicine, teaching. Both
streams are dealing with career preparation.

Thus, my suggestion that the added two years be called not “Senior High School” but
“Career Academy” (CA).

This will take the new institution away from the high school environment, which is
necessarily “below” the collegiate, even though the CA shall still be administered or
supervised by the Department of Education. It will be an institution in its own right that
can be defined as parallel to the current college system. Should the senior high schools
eventually have to be populated by teachers coming from the tertiary level, the
movement will be lateral, not downward. It will also be free from the compensation
scales of both the high school and the college in order to determine its own rates.

We discussed this recently in a committee meeting headed by Drs. Rey Vea of Mapua,
Tina Padolina of Centro Escolar, and Rhoda of Baguio Colleges on Grades II and 12 (Dec
2, 2010). When we shared the idea that afternoon with the COCOPEA Board, this
seemed to be a welcome suggestion.

**Pilot It.

Since we are creating in the CA a completely new and exciting level in Philippine
Education, the more concrete we become in conceptualizing it, the better. This may
involve allowing selected schools the permission to pilot these CAs. But more about this
in a future blog.

https://taborasj.wordpress.com/2010/12/05/senior-high-school-or-career-academies/
Perspectives on Deciding to Run Senior High Schools.
Posted on November 19, 2013by Joel Tabora, S.J.
Some personal perspectives on Senior High School (SHS) – not with an intention of
carving anything in stone, but of inviting discussion on them.

With the approval of the K-12 law (RA 10533) on May 15, 2013, kindergarten and Grades
11 and 12 are now requirements of basic education in the Philippines. The latter is called
Senior High School.

The implementing rules and regulation (IRR) for the K-12 law were promulgated on
September 4, 2013,

Graduates of Junior High School will go to Senior High School in SY 2016-17. In this
school year, no college will accept freshmen, since graduation from SHS is a
requirement for College.

All SHSs will prepare their graduates either for work in the labor mainstream, or to
enter college.

The DepEd curriculum for Grades 11-12 should be finalized by the end of November,
2013. Private schools, however, enjoy flexibility in the implementation of this
curriculum as long as they achieve the College Readiness Standards promulgated by
CHED Enbanc Resolution 298-2011 .

At the last meeting of the COCOPEA Board on 15 Nov. 2013, its President, Dr. Pat
Lagunda, announced that interested schools should manifest their intention to put up a
Senior High School (SHS) to the DepEd by December. To date, I have not been able to
confirm this from the DepEd. However, all administrators at this time ought to be
deciding the issue. DepEd needs to know the private sector commitment to SHS.

Of the 1.1 million cohort of junior high school (JHS) graduates in 2016 who will join the
first cohort SHS in SY 2016-17, DepEd’s working estimate is that ca. 40% of these – or
ca. 440,000 students – will be taken on by the private sector. According to Bro. Armin,
the working estimate is not based on a budgetary shortage to provide public schools for
all, but on a calculated decision to provide an optimum educational environment to our
students by providing them access both to public and private schools.

In the past, based on the Expanded GASTPE Law (RA 8545), government assisted
financially challenged students through the educational service contracting (ESC)
system. Here, government contracted the schools to give access to these students. The
ESC specified a number of slots per school, and the slots were worth a certain amount of
money of the slots were actually filled. In Region XI, these slots were worth PHP 6,000
each. If a school had a hundred ESC slots, it would receive 600,000 for filling those
slots with qualified students.

Things will be different for students going to SHS. Each graduate of public JHS and
each private JHS graduate who had benefitted from ESC will be given a voucher with a
certain monetary value. The student who wishes to go to a private school will use the
voucher for education in a private school. The voucher empowers the student to choose
the school, even if it is not so that the voucher will necessarily cover the entire cost of
education in a private school.

The value of the voucher is still to be determined after public hearings in the early 2014.

For now, it is arrived at by calculating for each region, including the NCR, what it would
have cost to build the school on newly purchased land and to actually educate 40% of
the entire student cohort. The cost of land therefore becomes a key determinant of the
value of the voucher. Where land costs are high, as in the NCR, the voucher value is
relatively high; where they are low, as in CARAGA, the voucher value is low.

The value of the voucher is also determined by whether the student opts for an academic
track, which leads to college, or for a vocational technology track, which is normally
more expensive than the academic track, and therefore is higher than the academic
voucher by approximately 25%.

However, for national priority academic programs with high costs such as for competent
teachers, laboratories and libraries, it is possible that DepEd provide “riders” directly to
the schools for offering these programs. Such programs include the natural sciences,
pre-engineering course, and mathematics.
Full voucher values therefore swing from PHP 14,000 in the tier that includes CARAGA,
and PHP 28,000 for the NCR tier. Full voucher values in region XI is calculated to be
about PHP 17,500.

Within a tier, some students will get full value vouchers, others less. The value of the
voucher of a JHS graduate of public school will be full, while the value of a private JHS
graduate will be partial. This is because it is assumed that the graduates of public JHSs
are needier than the graduates of private JHSs.

Vouchers would be valid only for the year in which they are issued. They would be
issued not only for the K-=12 “transition years” (2016-20) but even beyond.

Should the providing private school charge more than the value of the voucher, the
student is allowed to “top up” the voucher. For instance, should the value of the voucher
be PHP 18,000 but the cost of education in St. Stanislaus School is PHP 25,000, the
student may top up his voucher with PHP 7,000 pesos to study there.

For SY 2016-17, in place of the number of paying students it has normally received into
freshman college year, ADDU expects to receive the same number of paying students
into its mainstream SHS. Since it charges close to three times the value of the vouchers,
it is not likely that many public school students will use their vouchers here.

On the assumption that there will be a shortage of private schools addressing the SHS
needs of the 105,000 JHS graduates in SY 2016-17 in Region XI, ADDU is considering
offering special SHS program parallel to its mainstream SHS program to receive public
high school graduates with vouchers without a top up charge – at least for the transition
years when the regional capacity to provide competent SHS education may be
limited. This would be possible if ADDU would engage a phalanx of its graduates to
teach as “volunteer teachers” in this special ADDU SHS. Fresh college graduates
are qualified to teach in the SHS on the condition that they pass the LET within five
years.

In a DACS sponsored event entitled, “Conversations on SHS”, presidents of DACS

schools came together and in an unprecedented manner shared with each other what
they were doing towards implementing a SHS. The sharing was candid and rich.
Among the resolutions of this day was to work together with the DepEd schools to
systematically establish a network of SHSs in Region XI. The schools would
complement each other, not compete against one another. Preparation for this
collaboration would include a DACS-DepEd “K-12 Readiness Survey and Expanded
School Mapping Exercise” that would be carried out jointly by DACS and DepED
researchers and form the basis for the regional collaboration.

I was happy yesterday when representative of the Samahan led by its President Robin
Toncua came to my office to ask me about my call for volunteer teachers. I was
delighted they were already willing to start next year!

In discussing this meanwhile in an encounter with Br. Armin Luistro, FSC, he

commented that this type of integrated public-private collaboration, which he called a
“consortium,” is the best way to go.

I too think that the private sector must participate to the maximum in educating public
school JHS graduates. Through our private schools, we have been prized for offering
higher-quality education. Through our Catholic schools, we have combined excellence
in academic instruction, often against great odds, with Catholic formation. That is a
mission and tradition we struggle to preserve.

https://taborasj.wordpress.com/2013/11/19/perspectives-on-deciding-to-run-senior-
high-schools/
K to 12 Senior High School
Asian Institute of Computer Studies will be offering Senior High School (SHS) in 2016 which
aims to provide quality education and produce Innovative Professional Leaders. Our students
will be trained by expert and highly qualified instructors. Our curricula is focused on relevant
industry courses to ensure employability and better career options.
We accept VOUCHERS FROM DEPED

SPECIALIZED TRACKS
ACADEMIC TRACK

 Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM) Strand

This course integrates all the key concepts and processes of Accounting, Business and Management as
applied in real-life activities following the business cycle: business opportunity search, product/service
development, business formation and organization, business implementation and control, business wind-up,
and relevant management reporting in the context of ethical standard and social responsibility.
A person who has achieved this Qualification is competent to be a: Bookkeeper, Accounting Clerk, Cashier,
Marketing Executives, Management Trainee, Customer Service Representative, Administrative Assistant,
General Office Staff or pursue/enroll in B.S. Entrepreneurship/business degree programs for a college
diploma.

ABM CURRICULUMTUITION FEE

 General Academic (GA) Strand

Undecided which of the three Strands (ABM; STEM and TVLE) to take, then General Academic (GA)
specialized subjects can be an option.
A person who has achieved this Qualification is competent to be a: Customer Service Representative,
Administrative Assistant or a General Office Staff.

GA CURRICULUMTUITION FEE

 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Strand

The STEM education is defined as an integration of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
It focus on innovation and likewise prepares students for advance technological changes in the modern
world. It serves as a vehicle for discovery and independent problem solutions in different aspects through
the use of Modern Computer laboratories. Students equipped with STEM education can enroll in B.S.
Computer Engineering and can hurdle major subjects and finish the course in minimal time
A person who has achieved this Qualification is competent to be a:
Computer Technician for various companies in the business of hardware and software services or to open
their own business such as computer shops, internet café, etc.

STEM CURRICULUMTUITION FEE

TECHNICAL VOCATIONAL LIVELIHOOD TRACK

 Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

PROGRAMMING NC III Qualification consists of competencies that a person must achieve to develop or
write program codes using a personal computer or workstation as part of a systems development team.
Specifically, it includes specialized competencies on .NET technology, PL/SQL and JAVA programming
language.
This is delivered in cooperation with Oracle’s Workforce Development Program (WDP). WDP training
will prepare students for Oracle certification testing. With the widely-acclaimed credential of Oracle
certification, WDP students are readied for a variety of entry-level Oracle job-roles as well as career
advancement.
A person who has achieved this Qualification can be employed in any or more of the following: Front-end
Web Developer, Web Application Developer, Instructor/Professor, JAVA Programmer, Software
Developer, Application Developer, User Interface Developer, Forms Developer, Functional Implementer,
PL/SQL Developer, Portal Developer, Reports Developer or a Technical Consultant.
Likewise, he/she is eligible to pursue a four-year bachelor degree program in Computer Science or BS
Computer Science being offered in AICS Commonwealth, Caloocan, Bicutan and DAU.

ICT CURRICULUMTUITION FEE

o a. Computer Programming
o b. Animation

 Industrial Arts

ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS ASSEMBLY AND SERVICING NC II (EPAS)

This TESDA Course is consists of competencies that a person must possess to assemble electronic products,
prepare printed circuit boards (PCB) modules and to install and service consumer and industrial electronic
products and systems.
COMPUTER SYSTEMS SERVICING NC II (CSS)
This TESDA Course is consists of competencies that must possess to enable to install and configure
computers systems, set-up computer networks and servers and to maintain and repair computer systems and
networks
A person who has achieved this Qualification is competent to be a:
Electronic Products Assembler, Domestic Appliance Service Technician, Audio-Video Service Technician,
Industrial Electronic Technician, Electronic Production Line Assembler, Factory Production Worker,
Computer Assembler, Computer Service Technician, Network Technician or Computer Maintenance
Technician.
Likewise, he/she is eligible to pursue a five-year bachelor degree program in Computer Engineering or BS
Computer Engineering in AICS Commonwealth branch.

http://www.aics.edu.ph/programs/k-to-12-senior-high-school/
A Comparative Study of the Attitudes between the Students and Teachers of Two Public Elementary
Schools in Northern Mindanao toward the K to 12 Curriculum Shift Lourd Greggory D. Crisol, MAELS1
and John Brian L. Alamillo2 1Mindanao State University- Iligan Institute of Technology 2Mindanao State
University- Naawan Campus *Lourd Greggory D. Crisol: crisol.lourdgreggory8@gmail.com *John Brian
Alamillo: zushiki24@gmail.com Abstract: The Philippines being the only country in Asia with a 10-year
basic education cycle has recently shifted to a 12-year cycle just this June of 2012. This curriculum shift
is called the K-12 educational policy. This study was thus conceived to determine the attitudes of the
major stakeholders of the two rural public elementary schools from Northern Mindanao, Philippines
toward this very novel curriculum. Moreover, this seeks to answer the following questions: 1. What is
the attitude of the students of Karaos Elementary School and Rufino Santos Sr. Elementary School
towards the implementation of the K to 12 program? 2. What is the attitude of the teachers of the two
schools to the implementation of the said program? 3. What is the overall attitude of the respondents to
the implementation of the program? To answer the above questions, the researchers used survey
method as well as personal interviews. The responses were consolidated, tallied and were analysed.
Results obtained revealed that majority of the respondents are positive towards the implementation of
the program for they believed that the added years will provide them ample knowledge and skills and
enable them to become globally-competitive graduates. Further, it was recommended that: (1) The
students should continue to pursue their studies despite the change in the curriculum, (2) orientations
about the K - 12 program should be given to the students for them to be motivated to continue their
education, (3) Teachers should find ways for professional growth, especially with the current trends in
education for them to be effective in their fields and (4) Future researchers should consider looking into
the other aspects of the K - 12 curriculum shift such as cognitive preparedness, environmental
conditions and others. Keywords: Philippine education system; k-12 curriculum; public elementary
schools; comparative study; affective domain 1. INTRODUCTION The Philippines is at an academic
disadvantage. According to Quismundo (2010), The Philippines is the only country with a 10-year cycle,
according to UNESCO. One only has to see public school students’ achievement test scores to see that
the system has failed the Filipino student, said Dina Ocampo, associate dean at the University of the
Philippines College of Education. If one would look at the data, achievement scores are very low. So if
one would think about it, it’s really not working. We can’t keep it as it is because the curriculum is too
crammed, Ocampo said. Furthermore, Education Undersecretary Alberto 2 LLI-II-012 Presented at the
DLSU Research Congress 2014 De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines March 6-8, 2014 Muyot said
the scores were really scary. Average National Achievement Test (NAT) scores of elementary school
students are at a failing 64 percent. The number further slides in high school, with the national average
at 46 percent. Filipino students fade even deeper into the background on the international stage, as
reflected in results of the 2003 TIMMS (Trends in International Math and Science Study). Results of the
test, taken by second year high school students, placed the country 41st among 45 participating
countries, lagging at the bottom with African countries. Filipino students scored an average 35 percent,
barely above students from Ghana and Botswana. The present curriculum is described as congested.
This means that students do not get enough time to perform tasks because the curriculum is designed to
be taught in a span of 12 years and not 10 years. The more obvious result of this is the fact that most
high school students graduate without the readiness to take upon higher education or employment.
These students are not equipped with the basic skills or competencies needed at work. Furthermore,
the short duration of our basic education program puts Filipinos who are interested to either work or
study abroad at a disadvantage. This is because other countries see our 10-year program as incomplete,
which then, causes Filipino graduates to not be considered as professionals abroad(Velasco, 2012).
Given all these supporting facts, there is indeed a need to improve the quality of basic education by
enhancing it and by expanding the basic education cycle (Velasco, 2012). As stated by Bilbao (2002), one
of the most often repeated definition of a curriculum is that curriculum is the total learning experience.
This description implies that the crux of a curriculum is the different planned and unplanned activities
which have been lived, acted upon or done by the learners with the guidance of the teacher. Hence in
curriculum development, the teaching and learning are actions necessary to accomplish a goal in
education. As presented in the article of Velasco (2012), President Benigno S. Aquino announced : “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.” In line with this, the 1987 Philippine Constitution states that, “The State shall establish,
maintain, and support a complete, adequate, and integrated system of education relevant to the needs
of the people and the society.“ Such mandate gives justice to the basic rights of every Filipino child: the
right to quality education and the right to a quality life. According to the K to 12 Deped Primer (2011),
“K-12 means “Kindergarten and the 12 years of elementary and secondary education.” Kindergarten
points to the 5-year old child who undertakes the standardized curriculum for preschoolers. Elementary
education refers to 6 years of primary school (Grades 1-6) while secondary education means four years
of junior high school (Grades 7-10 or HS Year 1-4). In addition to this, two years are now allotted for
senior high school (Grades 11-12 or HS Year 5-6). Prof. Lorina Calingasan of the College of Education in
UP Diliman explains that “K-12 means extending basic education by two years, so instead of having a
high school graduate at 16 (years old), we will have high schoolers graduating at 18.” The DepEd
discussion paper (2010) on the enhanced K-12 basic education program explains that this new setup
“seeks to provide a quality 12- year basic education program that each Filipino is entitled to” (p.5).
Furthermore, the purpose is not simply to add 2 more years of education “but more importantly to
enhance the basic education curriculum” (p.5). With the K-6-4-2 model, the 2 years for senior high
school is aimed at giving the students time to strengthen competencies and academic skills. The
curriculum will also provide specializations in the following: science and technology, music and arts,
agriculture and fisheries, sports, business and entrepreneurship, etc, depending on the occupation or
career that they intend to pursue. These two years will build on skills that are essential to their chosen
field (DepEd discussion paper, 2010). Records will show that as early as 1925, there were already efforts
to improve the basic 3 LLI-II-012 Presented at the DLSU Research Congress 2014 De La Salle University,
Manila, Philippines March 6-8, 2014 education curriculum and recommendations have been put forward
since then. Thus, this idea of adding years to the present curriculum is not new (DepEd discussion paper,
2010). The K-12 Curriculum envisions “holistically developed learners with 21st century skills” (Deped
Primer, 2011). At the core of this basic education program is “the complete human development of
every graduate” (DepEd discussion paper, p.6). This further means that every student would have an
understanding of the world around him and a passion for life-long learning while addressing every
student’s basic learning needs: “learning to learn, the acquisition of numeracy, literacy, and scientific
and technological knowledge as applied to daily life” (p.6). In addition to this, every graduate is
envisioned to have respect for human rights and would aim to become “MakaDiyos, Maka-tao,
Makabansa, Maka-kalikasan” (p.6) The K-12 vision aims to have relevance in the socio-economic realm,
as well. This means that the students would understand their role as productive members of the
country. Such vision can only be possible through an enhanced curriculum (Deped Primer,2011).
However, for any shift to succeed or fail, one should also look into the attitudes of the people towards it.
As stated by Russel (1978), attitude is the readiness to respond. A state of readiness, organized though
experience, which exacts a directive or dynamic response to all objects and situations to which is
related. According to Brown (1994), Affect refers to emotion or feeling. The affective domain is the
emotional side of human behaviour, and it may be juxtaposed to the cognitive side. The development of
affective states or feelings involves a variety of personality factors, feelings both about ourselves and
about others with whom we come into contact. According to Allport (1935), an attitude is an expression
of favor or disfavor toward a person, place, thing, or event. Furthermore, an attitude can be defined as a
positive or negative evaluation of people, objects, event, activities, ideas, or just about anything in a
person’s environment. Eagly and Chaiken (1998), for example, defines an attitude as "a psychological
tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor."
Moreover, as defined by Jung, attitude is a "readiness of the psyche to act or react in a certain way"
(Jung, [1921] 1971:par. 687). Attitudes very often come in pairs, one conscious and the other
unconscious. And lastly, as defined by Sarong (2009), attitude is an inward feeling expressed by outward
behavior. People always project on the outside what they feel on the inside. A person’s attitude colors
every aspect of his/her life. It is like the mind’s paintbrush. It can paint everything in bright, vibrant
colors –creating a masterpiece. Or it can make everything dark and dreary. There is not a single part of a
person’s current life that is not affected by his/her attitude. Thus, researching about attitudes of the
different stakeholders is an important factor when looking into the K-12 curriculum shift because it is a
domain which is less researched upon and it could also determine the success or failure of such shift.
Furthermore, according to Hilgard (1963), purely cognitive theories of learning will be rejected unless a
role is assigned to affectivity. This study aims to compare the attitudes of the faculty and students of
Karaos Elementary School, San Francisco, Agusan del Sur and Rufino Santos Sr. Elementary School
Poblacion, Bacolod, Lanao del Norte on the implementation of the K - 12 program. 2. METHODOLOGY In
order to obtain the needed data, the researchers used the educational survey method. A set of
questionnaires were distributed to each of the schools. They were collected immediately after each
respondent had finished answering. The instrument used for this study consisted of two types of
questionnaires. The first type was for the teachers while the second one was for the students. Each
questionnaire consisted of items related to their attitudes towards the K-12 curriculum shift. The
answers were then tabulated. Percentage and frequency were used to treat the collected data. 4 LLI-II-
012 Presented at the DLSU Research Congress 2014 De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines March 6-
8, 2014 This study involved the faculty members and students of Rufino Santos Señor Elementary School
and Karaos Elementary School. Rufino Santos Señor Elementary School is a small public elementary
school located in the coastal area of Poblacion, Bacolod, Lanao del Norte. This school was founded on
June 1979. This school’s principal is Mrs. Clariss G. Crisol. The faculty force of this school is eight while
the student number is 181 including the the kindergarten pupils. The students of this school come from
low-income families whose parents work as farmers, fishermen, motorcycle (habal-habal) drivers, and
small scale vendors. While Karaos Elementary School is also a small public elementary school located in
the rural areas of San Francisco, Agusan del Sur. It has two administrators, a faculty force of ten and a
student number of 323. These students come from low income families having a monthly income of less
than P10,000.00. These two schools were purposively chosen by the respondents since there was a
notion that the first institutions to be affected by this curriculum shift would be the public schools. Also,
these schools were chosen since the respondents have connections inside these two schools. 3. RESULTS
AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Responses of students towards K-12 Program The following are the responses of
the students to the questions asked to them: Do you agree on the K - 12 education system? Yes % No %
Total % Students 109 66.5% 55 33.5% 164 89% Teachers 17 85% 3 15% 20 11% Total 126 68% 58 32%
184 100% Figure 1: Students’ and Teachers’ approval on K-12 Figure 2: Students’ and Teachers’
assessment whether K-12 will be successful. Figure 1 presents the attitude of the respondents (students
and teachers) on the implementation of the K -12 program. As reflected in the total response, 109
(66.5%) out of 264 students from the two schools approve the implementation of the K - 12 program.
The remaining 55 (33.5%) students do not agree its implementation. As to the teachers’ response, 17
(85%) approves the implementation and only 3 (15%) of them are negative on the program’s
implementation. Figure 2 also presents the students’ and teachers’ perspective on the program as to its
success. 128 (78%) out of 165 students believe that the program will be successful in the long run, while
the remaining 36 (22%) students are negative about its success. On the other hand, the teachers are as
well positive on the success of the progam. There are several factors that they believe that would
contribute to the success or failure of the program. The first is the budget of the government to the
materials such as books, facilities and equipment for the courses that will be added in the curriculum.
Another factor is the socio economic status of the Filipino families, especially those who are living in the
rural areas. Some reasons why these students do not agree on its implementation is that the parents
have no enough budget to send their children to school for to additional years. Figure 3: Teachers’
perception whether the program will become successful in achieving its goals. Do you think that K - 12
will be successful? Yes % No % Total % Students 128 78% 36 22% 164 89% Teachers 16 80% 4 20% 20
11% Total 144 78% 40 22% 184 100% Are you prepared for K - 12? Yes % No % Total % KES 0 0% 11 100%
11 55% RSSE 2 22% 7 78% 9 45% Total 2 10% 18 90% 20 100% 5 LLI-II-012 Presented at the DLSU
Research Congress 2014 De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines March 6-8, 2014 Figure 3 presents
the teachers’ responses on the question “Do you believe that the curriculum will become successful in
achieving its goals?” There were 8 (73%) out of 11 teachers from Karaos Elementary School believes that
the program will become successful while the remaining 3 (27%) of them said no. On the other hand,
there were also 8 (88%) out of 9 teachers from Rufino Santos Sr. Elementary school who believe that the
program will be successful while 1 (12%) does not believe the program will be successful. Out of the 20
respondents from the two schools combined, there were 16 (80%) teachers who agreed that the
curriculum will become successful while only 4 (20%) of them disagreed. This defines the teachers’
attitude as to their perception on the success of the K - 12 program. The teacher respondents are
positive that the program will be effective in achieving its goals. This finding provides an overview on the
success of the program. Since these teachers are the ones who will receive trainings on the additional
two years of the curriculum, the administration then would find it easy to train these teachers since they
already have a positive impression on the program. Figure 4: Self-assessment of the teachers as to their
preparedness for the K-12 Figure 4 presents the teachers’ self-assessment with regards to their
preparedness on the program. As reflected, all (100%) the respondents from Karaos Elementary School
believe that they are not yet equipped for the program. Similar results were also taken from Rufino
Santos Sr. Elementary School where 7 (78%) out of 9 teacher respondents believe that they are not
prepared for the program. The remaining 2 (10%) of the teachers believe that they are prepared for the
new curriculum. These teachers believe that they are not prepared for the implementation of the K - 12
program because they think they are not equipped with trainings and facilities that will make effective
for the program. Do you believe that the curriculum will become successful in achieving its goals? yes %
No % Total % KES 8 73% 3 27% 11 55% RSSES 8 88% 1 12% 9 45% Total 16 80% 4 20% 20 100% 6 LLI-II-
012 Presented at the DLSU Research Congress 2014 De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines March 6-
8, 2014 Figure 5: Students’ Perceptions as to whether they will land a better job in the future. Figure 5
presents the students’ response on the question “Do you think the K - 12 will help you better in getting a
job in the future?” As revealed, out of 102 respondents from Karaos Elementary School, 92 (90.2%)
agreed that the education that they have obtained under the program will help them get a good job
while only 10 (9.8%) disagreed. In parallel to their responses, 55 (88%) out of 62 students agreed while 7
(11.3%) disagreed from Rufino Santos Sr. Elementary School. A great percentage 89.6% of the
respondents of the two schools combined welcomes the idea that the additional years in education
would help them land into a better job. This result agrees with Primer (2011) that the K-12 vision aims to
have relevance in the socio-economic realm, as well. This means that the students would understand
their role as productive members of the country. Likewise, the students will become more mature in
dealing with the problems that they encounter daily, thus enabling them to become effective members
of the workforce. This strengthens the statement of DepEd (2011) that every student would have an
understanding of the world around him and a passion for life-long learning while addressing every
student’s basic learning needs: “learning to learn, the acquisition of numeracy, literacy, and scientific
and technological knowledge as applied to daily life”. So instead of having a high school graduate at 16
(years old), the schools will have high schoolers graduating at 18 (Calingasan, 2011). 4. CONCLUSIONS
The following are the findings of this study: The students were positive to the implementation of the K -
12 program, they also Do you think the K-12 will help you better in getting a job in the future? YES NO
Total KES Count 92 10 102 % Within school 90.2% 9.8% 100% % within Do you think the K-12 will help
you better in getting a job in the future? 62.6% 58.8% % of total 56.1% 6.1% RSSES Count 55 7 62 %
Within school 88.7% 11.3% % within Do you think the K-12 will help you better in getting a job in the
future? 37.4% 41.2% % of total 33.5% 4.3% TOTAL Count 147 17 164 % Within school 89.6% 10.4%
100.0% % within Do you think the K-12 will help you better in getting a job in the future? 100.0% 100.0%
100.0% % of total 89.6% 10.4% 100.0% 7 LLI-II-012 Presented at the DLSU Research Congress 2014 De La
Salle University, Manila, Philippines March 6-8, 2014 are optimistic that it will be successful in achieving
its goals. Moreover, the students are willing to invest their time and resources to undergo the program.
The teachers also approve the implementation of the program. They believe that the program will
effectively equip the students in the fields and careers that they have chosen. Although they are willing
to embrace the program, still they find themselves not equipped to teach the students since they
believe that they need more trainings. Furthermore, the following are recommended: The students
should continue to pursue their studies despite the change in the curriculum. Orientations about the K -
12 program should be given to the students for them to be motivated to continue their education.
Teachers should find ways for professional growth, especially with the current trends in education for
them to be effective in their fields. Future researchers should consider looking into the other aspects of
the K - 12 curriculum shift such as cognitive preparedness, environmental conditions and others. 5.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, the researchers would like to thank all the students and
teachers who participated in this research for without them, this research would not come into
realization. Next, the researchers would like to thank their Management of Language Programs teacher
Prof. Venus R. Parmisana. Finally, the researchers would like to thank MSU-IIT and MSU-Naawan for all
their support during the conducting of this research. 6. REFERENCES Department of Education. (2010).
Discussion Paper on the Enhanced K +12 Basic Education Program. Department of Education (2011). K to
12 Basic Education Program Primer DepEd Updates. Retrieved from http://www.deped.gov.ph/
Department of Education. (2010). Briefer on the enhanced k12 basic education program. Retrieved from
http://www.gov.ph/2010/11/02/briefer-on-theenhanced-k12-basic-education-program/ Quismundo, T.
(2011, October 7) DepEd readies K +12 curricula for next year. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved from
http://multilingualphilippines.com/?p=5350 Velasco, P.T. (2012). A Primer on the new K-12 Philippine
Education Curriculum. Retrieved: http://www.philippinedailyinquirer.com.

http://www.dlsu.edu.ph/conferences/dlsu_research_congress/2014/_pdf/proceedings/LLI-II-012-FT.pdf
Senior high schools offer maritime
curriculum
1
BY NEIL ALCOBER ON MAY 7, 2016BUSINESS

IN a bid to further boost the country’s maritime education, the Department of Education
(DepEd) has crafted a new curriculum primarily designed for students who wish to pursue a
career in the shipping industry.

The maritime curriculum, which was divided into two specializations, will be taught to
incoming senior high school (Grades 11 and 12) students where they will have the options
to work after graduation or to pursue further maritime education in college.

“In the senior high school, we actually have two specializations in order to respond to two
things: one is what we are known for but also to bring maritime industry to the next level or
the technical-vocational-livelihood (TVL) maritime specialization,” Education Secretary
Armin Luistro told The Manila Times.

Under the TVL maritime specialization, senior high school students who graduate from the
said track will secure certifications allowing them to work as members of a ship’s crew.

They will be qualified for a job in the maritime industry after graduating and acquiring
required certifications.

“This is a program that will allow our graduates of senior high school even without going to
college to take the certification of ratings and then they are part of deck and engine,” Luistro
explained.

“Part of their training is to allow them to go on board after graduating from senior high
school. Unlike other senior high school programs, the specialization and immersion in the
industry is during the senior high school years because the training hours required in the
shipping industry is quite long,” he said.

“They will comply with everything after graduation including their so-called on-deck
immersion because they will spend long hours of training and that whole period they can do
it after and then hopefully they can qualify [for the job],” the DepEd Secretary added.

In the pre-baccalaureate maritime specialization, which is a modified program of the

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics or STEM strand under the academic
track, six specialized subjects of the STEM strand were retained and three were replaced
with maritime-related subjects.
This specialization aims to encourage senior high school graduates to pursue maritime
studies in college. This, Luistro said, will enable the country to produce more seafarer
officers.

At least 54 private schools and six public schools applied for certifications to teach the
maritime program. They were given provisional permits to offer senior high school maritime
specializations in the next school year.

The DepEd chief said that they will closely monitor schools offering maritime specializations
that do not comply with the standards set by the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina).

“To run a senior high school with a specialization track in maritime, the permit is given by
DepEd in collaboration with Marina, but the actual permit is a DepEd permit. They’re
allowed to open but during the year, for example, after one-quarter we found out that they
are actually making fool of the students, we will revoke the program,” Luistro said.

http://www.manilatimes.net/senior-high-schools-offer-maritime-curriculum/260710/
Starting School Year 2012-2013, the Department of Education (DepEd) implements the enhanced K
to 12 (Kindergarten to Grade 12) Basic Education Program, adding two more years to the existing
10-year basic education curriculum. (Last school year, the mandatory kindergarten education was
put in place through a law that requires all five-year-olds to enrol and finish kindergarten education
before going to Grade 1.)
The new program seeks to cure what ails the Philippine basic and secondary education system. But
not everyone agrees that the additional years will result in better-educated, competitive, and
employable graduates.
The K to 12 program starts this year against a backdrop of perennial woes: lack of teachers,
shortage in classrooms, school buildings, and textbooks, a curriculum that needs overhauling, and a
budget that even education officials call a “survival budget.”
Inadequacies of the basic education curriculum have been observed for many years. Proposals to
restore Grade 7 or add an extra year to basic education have been put forward to the President Task
Force on Education in 2008.
But even as Congress has yet to pass a law, the government is pushing forward K to 12. The public
can simply put their faith on the government providing the necessary budgetary support to address
the various infrastructural, instructional, and institutional reforms needed to make K to 12 work.
I. K to 12 basics
What is it?
K to 12 has kindergarten as base, to be followed by six years of elementary (Grades 1 to 6), four
years of junior high school (Grades 7 to 10), and two years of senior high school (Grades 11 and
12).
Who will be affected?
The incoming Grade 7 this school year will be the first batch to graduate as junior high school in
2016, and if they decide to pursue their studies, they would graduate as senior high school in 2018.
Who are exempt?
Incoming second year, third year, and fourth year high school students will not be covered by K to 12
and will graduate when they finish fourth year. They can proceed to college after graduating from
high school.
II. Why K to 12?
The Department of Education cited dismal statistics in pursuing the K to 12 program. As of School
Year 2009-2010, National Achievement Test (NAT) passing rates for Grade 6 and 4th year students
are only 69 and 46 percent, respectively.
In the Trends for International Math and Sciences Study (TIMSS), the Philippines often placed fourth
from last.
A 2009 World Bank Study also found that employers considered graduates with only 10 years of
basic education wanting in essential work skills, like problem-solving and initiative.
K to 12 hopes to decongest the curriculum by spreading the lessons of subjects over 12 years,
instead of 10 years.
President Benigno Aquino III succinctly compared the 10-year basic education program to force-
feeding: “You are given ten years to take in, to chew on, and to digest the lessons. There is no time
for the children to savor the knowledge they are receiving. You just keep feeding and feeding them.”
“The result: information is not processed as well as it should be, context is not a given and thus not
applied, and the implications on the greater majority of Filipinos are not explained. Which is why,
sometimes, information enters one ear and exits the other; in a matter of days, what has been
learned has been forgotten,” he said during the launch of the program in April.
Reality Bites: Additional years not equal to quality education
In an in-country study conducted by Abraham Felipe and Carolina Porio on the Length of School
Cycle and the Quality of Education, they concluded that “there is no basis to expect that lengthening
the educational cycle, calendar-wise, will improve education.”
Felipe, a University of the Philippines professor and former deputy minister of education, and Porio,
executive director of the Fund for Assistance to Private Education (FAPE), focused on the TIMMS
(Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study), where 4th and 8th grade students in
several countries were tested for science and math.
For many years, the Philippines has ended up near the bottom of the list for all the tests, the dismal
scores used to justify the additional two years in basic education.
Felipe and Porio presented many tables and graphs, but what’s glaring is their conclusion: Some
countries with short cycles (years of education) had high TIMSS results; others with long cycles also
had low TIMSS results. For example, Singapore and South Korea, with 13-year cycles, did better in
the test scores that the United States, which has a 15-year cycle.
They further analyzed the statistics to show for example that a pre-school cycle seemed to be
related to better scores for 4th grade, but not for 8th grade. But they also warned against concluding
that pre-school inputs will improve competencies in math and science.
“Nothing is known about the relation of experiences during these early periods to competence in
mathematics and the sciences, which are the subject of TIMSS. The importance of the pre-school
sub-cycle is better interpreted to mean the presence of a strong economy and the value and support
for good teaching,” they said.
Finally, they said that, “Many educators seem to expect too much of the 12-year educational cycle.
More likely, lengthening the cycle is so concrete a step that it gives them the feeling they are doing
something about a faulty system.”
“A friend who learned of the plan to adopt this proposal was reminded of the following Howie Mandel
joke: ‘My wife does not know how to cook. So she went out and bought herself a microwave oven.
Now, she does not know how to cook -- faster!’
“If the plan is hastily adopted, pretty soon the problem would be how to cut short a poor quality 12-
year cycle,” the authors said in the study.
III. Is K to 12 sustainable?
Education Secretary Armin Luistro has hailed President Benigno Aquino III for having the political
will to fully back K to 12.
“When the structure of K to 12 is set in place and it becomes law, then K to 12 will already be the
framework of Philippine basic education,” Luistro says.
With K to 12 in place, the Philippine education system would be at par with international standards,
following the Washington Accord and the Bologna Accord, and contributing to the development of a
better-educated society capable of pursuing productive employment, entrepreneurship, or higher
education disciplines.
Reality Bites: No law yet
Until a law on K to 12 is passed, sustainability of the program could not be guaranteed. What if the
President changes his mind and decided he wanted another model? What if the President’s
successor has other plans in mind?
While included as one of the legislative agenda during the February 28, 2011 Legislative-Executive
Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting, Congress has yet to pass the law on this.
For two years in the current 15th Congress, the administration-supported bills that aim to increase
the number of years for basic education remain pending at the committee level.
Among these are Senate Bill 2713 of Senator Ralph Recto, House Bill 4219 of Speaker Feliciano
Belmonte Jr. and House Bill 4199 of Salvador Escudero III.
Lawyer Joseph Estrada, legal counsel of the Coordinating Council of Philippine Educational
Associations (COCOPEA), says the lack of legislation is one of the worries of higher educational
institutions in the private sector.
“One of our greatest worries is the lack of law to institutionalize K to 12. It’s now the 15th Congress,
one year more and this Congress will finish, but this is crucial because next year is election year,” he
says.
IV. How to fund the program?
For 2012, DepEd got the biggest chunk of the budget with P238.8 billion, including P2.4 billion for
kinder.
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.
The DepEd also vows to close the gap on seats and classrooms by School Year 2012-2013.
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.
“The government still needs the private education sector because they cannot do it alone in terms of
resources to absorb all students and retain them for another two years,” Estrada says.
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.
“I think we can partner with government, they can spend less by tapping the resources of the private
sector for Grades 11 to 12,” he says.
Reality Bites: Shortage everywhere
According to Representatives Antonio Tinio of Act Teachers partylist and Raymond Palatino of
Kabataan partylist, the government has yet to present a convincing program to remedy existing
shortages in the education sector.
“Without first addressing these problems, the K-12 proposal would inevitably appear as a giant step
in the wrong direction,” Palatino says.
“How can basic education qualitatively function in the context of the dire shortages? What benefit
would K-12 bring if students, in the first place, have no sufficient classrooms to study in, chairs to
seat on, teachers to learn from, and textbooks to read?” he asks.
ACT partylist said that as of School Year 2010-2011, the steady decline in education budget has
brought about a glaring shortage of teaching manpower and supervisory personnel, translating in
54,060 teachers, 4,538 principals, and, 6,473 head teachers. The lack of budget also resulted in
shortage in education resources and capital outlay in the form of 61,343 classrooms, 816,291 seats,
and 113,051 water and sanitation facilities.
“While we value the intention of K to 12, we have some major concerns. One, we have existing
problems in our public school system that have to be plugged, there’s the shortage in teachers,
classrooms, etc., which are not yet resolved, not by a long shot,” Tinio says.
“Two, we have problems too in terms of performance of the10-year basic education system that is in
place. For example, those who enrol in Grade 1 and finish high school only have a 50 percent
completion rate. One of the most important challenges is still the completion of high school,” Tinio
adds.
There are around 37,000 elementary schools in the country, 8,000 public high schools, and 5,000
private high schools. Tinio says that the government still has a lot to do to close the gap between the
number of elementary schools and high schools to ensure that it can absorb students finishing
Grade 6.
Another problem, he says, is that public high schools are built mostly in populated centers, making it
difficult for those who live in a number of rural communities to have access to education.
“These are concerns that are not directly addressed by K to 12, and if you implement additional
years, expectedly, the education sector’s problems will just pile up,” he says.
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.
“If these officials will only visit schools instead of having meetings with the superintendents, they will
know the roots of deteriorating education,” Yap adds.
V. Where will more, better-trained teachers come from?
The country currently has 510,000 public school teachers in elementary and high school who will
need to go through some adjustments with the new curriculum.
From May to June this year, a total of 73,655 Grade 1 teachers and 70,227 Grade 7 teachers from
public schools who will teach the new K to 12 curriculum have undergone training.
Teachers will not get an additional workload for the K to 12 implementation, as the Magna Cart for
Public School Teachers provides that teachers should teach only up to six hours a day.
DepEd says that additional special teachers will be hired and existing teachers will be trained to
teach core academic subjects and electives that will be offered in Grades 11 and 12 (Senior High
School).
The department says it is exploring the possibility of utilizing existing technical and higher education
teachers to teach Senior High School, particularly during the transition period.
Reality Bites: Exploitative condition, threat of displacement
As to the condition of teachers, Tinio goes back to his theory that current problems will not be
addressed by the K to 12 program.
The rollout of the kindergarten program last year was best proof that the DepEd was ill-prepared for
its implementation, he says.
For the one million kinder pupils who went to school, Tinio says the DepEd should have at least
30,000 teachers in place. Because of lack of budget, however, he said some public school instead
hired volunteer teachers to teach, and who were paid only P3,000 per month, or P6,000 if the
teacher took the morning and afternoon sessions.
“Imagine, P6,000 a month. The requirement is they should be education graduates, but I got reports
that many of them are licensed teachers as well, and they do that in the hope that they will be
absorbed as regular teachers,” he said.
“But it’s such a highly exploitative condition, pati paghuhugas ng pwet ng mga bata sila ang
gumagawa, hindi lang sila nagtuturo (they even clean up after the kids, they don’t just teach). In
other words, the K (kindergarten) program at the moment is possible only through the gross
exploitation of these so-called volunteer teachers,” Tinio said.
According to him, DepEd has currently around 2,000 regular kindergarten teachers who receive at
least P17,000 per month plus benefits.
COCOPEA is also worried about the displacement of private school teachers and personnel
because of the expected lack of enrolment in colleges and universities in 2016 and 2017, when the
first batch completes Junior High School.
Instead of going to a college or to a university, students will have to enroll for Grade 11 to finish
Senior High School before being eligible to go to college.
“What will the college teachers do during those periods? The displacement of faculty and personnel
is a real threat, and we’re not talking only of two years because it could be a continuous thing if
students just opt to finish junior high school and then work, and no longer finish college,” Estrada
says.
As a survival measure, Estrada says COCOPEA hopes that the DepEd would consider their
proposal of allowing college instructors to teach in Senior High School even without a license.
Under DepEd regulations, all elementary and high school teachers must first pass the Licensure
Examinations for Teachers to be able to teach. College instructors, meanwhile, need not get this and
can teach as long as they are holders of any masteral degree course.
“In transition, we hope DepEd will extend the exemption of the licensure requirement for teachers so
college instructors can teach in Grades 11 and 12, even just the core subjects like math, english,
and science.
VI. Will K to 12 solve the country’s employment, development problems?
Vocational/technical education takes center stage in the K to 12 curriculum as it is institutionalized in
the basic educational system. Starting Grade 9, the new curriculum will offer as an elective
Technology and Livelihood Education that will give the students the option to take technical vocation
subjects.
The goal, according to DepEd, is for a student who completes K to 12 to be “equipped with skills,
competencies, and recognized certificates equivalent to a two-year college degree.”
After finishing Junior High School (Grade 10), the curriculum will enable students to acquire
Certificates of Competency (COCs) and National Certifications (NCs) in accordance with the training
regulations of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
“This will allow graduates to have middle-level skills and will offer them better opportunities to be
gainfully employed or become entrepreneurs,” according to DepEd.
There will be a school–industry partnership for technical–vocational tracks to allow students to gain
work experience while studying and offer the opportunity to be absorbed by the companies, it added.
Reality Bites: Lack of college enrollees, promotion of labor-export policy
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.
“In this sense, you can expect that only one-third of those who will finish Junior High School or
Grade 10 will eventually pursue a college course,” he said.
Dr. Jose Paulo Campos, COCOPEA chairman, says that private tertiary schools in the country
stands to lose about P128 billion over five years because of the K to 12 program.
“The effect is not so good, yet we are supporting it because there’s something bigger that we need
to address than the concern of the individual schools. If we don’t do K to 12 now, it could backfire on
us because our graduates would find it difficult to land jobs,” Estrada says.
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.
“Whenever one thinks about the educational system, it should be about national development.
Which path are we taking to become prosperous, is it through the export of our labor or through
developing our own industries?” Tinio asks.
Palatino adds, “What does becoming globally competitive effectively mean in this light? It means
producing a pliant work force to fill in the global demand for semi-skilled and cheap labor.”
“With the absence of national industries and sufficient jobs, many are forced to work abroad.
DepEd’s plan to introduce vocational and technical courses in high school, using as argument the
so-called fact that students no longer want to finish college, is essentially an endorsement for those
students unable to enter college to make do with the voc/tech training and become for-export
laborers,” Palatino says.
EPILOGUE
Despite all these problems, DepEd Secretary 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.
http://interaksyon.com/article/33727/ready-or-not-k-to-12-curriculum-starts