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‘The Benefits of K-12 Curriculum Program in the Philippines’
MA. FATIMA L. CASIHAN
BSTM-IV
KEYWORDS: K-12 Curriculum, benefits, advantage, education, students
ABSTRACT
‘All who have mediated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth’- Aristotle. Education is one of the necessary needs that every people must have possessed. On the other hand, Filipinos are known to be competitive in the international community. However, our current education system hinders us from becoming even more competitive. In connection to these, K-12 Curriculum Program is one of the intriguing issues today as it has been implemented last 2011 to our country’s educational system under the provision of the former President of the Philippines Mr. Noynoy Aquino. With the help of this program, our country will step forward toward achieving the higher quality of education standards. This program will also be their guide to attain their chosen career with an advanced training and skills towards competing to other countries. Knowing the benefits of this program will encourage the Filipino parents to support this newly implemented educational system within our country. By realizing the nature of K-12 Curriculum on how it differs from our old educational system, our country would be able to look for potential new student recruitment markets in the near future.
INTRODUCTION
The implementation of the K-12 plan in the Philippine Basic Education Curriculum is the key to our nation’s development. Though the government faces many problems as it implements the program over the course of several years, it is a necessary improvement since increasing the quality of our education is critical to our nation's success.
Education as an integral part of a country is an important aspect to measure the intellectual capacity of an individual especially for the students. The current educational system that has been implemented to our country known as the K-12 Curriculum Program served as a bridge to a higher quality of education which the Filipino students can acquire. Through this program, our country can be more competitive in terms of labor force and can exceed the expected level of knowledge and skills in any chosen related vocational fields that the students will choose before going to universities and for the undergraduates who can apply for work.
According to Department of Education, the Philippines is the last country in Asia and one of only three countries worldwide with a 10-year pre-university cycle (Angola and Djibouti are the other two). Knowing that our country is getting ready for the expected development in our educational system, a 12-year program is found to be the best period for learning under basic education. Furthermore, it is also the recognized standard for students and professionals globally.
With the new 12-year curriculum in place, future Filipino students will be ready and better equipped to join overseas universities at the undergraduate level. And with a K-12 student population of 20.67 million, which will only increase over the next 20 years (see ICEF Monitor’s article New 2035 enrolment forecasts East Asia and the Pacific in the lead), the Philippines is shaping up to be an attractive recruitment destination.
ADVANTAGES OF IMPLEMENTING K-12 CURRICULUM
The program aims to uplift the quality of education in order for graduates to be easily employed. It also aims to meet the standards required for professionals who would want to work abroad. Most importantly, the system aims to fully enhance and develop the students in order for them to be well-prepared especially in emotional and cognitive aspects. Through this, graduates will be able to face the pressures of their future workplace. There may be a lot of factors to consider for the K-12 Education to succeed. But as long as we open our minds to charge and we will take it on a positive way, we will definitely attain our most’aspired educational standards which will play a great role in our country’s development and will therefore, uplift us from poverty.
Through the implementation of this program, it can enhance the quality of basic education in the Philippines is urgent and critical. The poor quality of basic education is reflected in the low achievement scores of Filipino students. One reason is that students do not get adequate instructional time or time on task. International test results consistently show Filipino students lagging way behind practically everybody else in the world. In the 2008 mathematics exam, for example, we came in dead last.
The congested curriculum partly explains the present state of education. Twelve years of content are crammed into ten years. This quality of education is reflected in the inadequate preparation of high school graduates for the world of work or entrepreneurship or higher education. If ten years were adequate, how come employees do not hire fresh high school graduates? How come most high school graduates flunk the UPCAT? Most graduates are too young to enter the labor force. Since most children start Grade 1 when they are 6 years old, they do not reach the legal employable age of 18 when they graduate from high school today. The current system also reinforces the misperception that basic education is just a preparatory step for higher education. Why prioritize the minority of high school graduates that go to college?
EFFECTS OF K-12 CURRICULUM TO EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
The K-12 Basic Education Program aims to provide every Filipino child with the education he/she needs to compete in a global context.
In May, the former President Benigno Aquino of the Philippines signed into law a basic education curriculum that will see a mandatory kindergarten year and two additional senior high school years added to what was a 10-year education curriculum to make basic education 12 years. The program has been adopted not only in schools in the Philippines, but also in Filipino schools abroad that follow the department curriculum. Gulf news reports:
‘According to Aquino, the K-12 program will pave the way for an even brighter future for young Filipinos by equipping them with basic education up to international standards’.
The main goal of this new curriculum is to give Filipino students enough time to master skills and concepts in order for them to be ready for tertiary education when the time comes. Kindergarten was previously optional, and advocates of the K-12 program argue that students who went to kindergarten are better prepared for primary education than those who did not. In addition, the K-12 program provides for the use of the ‘mother tongue’ language as the medium of instruction for students in the basic and lower years to facilitate and expedite learning.
The move to the K-12 policy comes as part of the 10 Point Education Agenda which was set out by the current government administration. The K-12 Basic Education Program, universal kindergarten and instruction in mother-tongue languages are but three of the ten points Aquino’s administration want to implement in order to implement the overall quality of education in Filipino schools.
The other seven points include establishing the Madaris Education as a sub-system in the current education system; to make every child a reader by Grade 1; to improve science and mathematics; expand government assistance to private education; better textbooks; build more schools in cooperation with local government units (LGU’s); and to re-introduce technical and vocational education in public high schools.
‘Last October 8-9, 2012, Dir. Aliah P. Cali-Pascan of Bureau of Madaris Education participated in the Workshop about ‘Madrasah Curriculum development in Mindanao’ to identify ways to improve the curriculum of Madrasah school in Mindanao. The workshop was organized by Office of Education and Culture Attache, Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia and Madrasah University of Jakarta’.
Nowadays, there have been numerous changes and adjustments with regards to the said agendas to fulfill the gap of our country’s old educational system compared to other countries. Even though our government might face some problems such as the insufficient budget to construct additional classrooms, additional instructors, and other school supplies and necessities in implementing this program, there are some developed countries that are willing to help the Philippines to attain and achieve the high quality education standards for the Filipino students. In line with this, one of the developed countries is Australia. Australia extends a helping hand to support our country. Australia has long been a friend to the Philippines by means of donating time, funding and other resources, as well as working with the nation to develop and ensure quality.
Last July 2013, the country granted PHP 8.4 billion (nearly US $193 million) ‘to address basic education issues and support the implementation of the K-12 program’. They have also funded a project to ‘enhance the skills of school officials in managing school processes and turn schools into learner-centered institutions that continually improve and build on the best practices’. In return, Australia is surely hoping Filipino students will select Oz as their destination of choice for partnerships and study. As ICEF Monitor reported in February, the Philippines is one of the top ten student markets for Australian schools, colleges and universities.
On the other hand, there are some negative opinions with regards to this new implemented educational system especially to the parents. Their major concern is the additional two years of their children causing to an additional expenses to them instead of graduating within the 10-year educational system. Yes, there may be some disadvantages with the implementation of this program but there are also advantages that might uplift their children’s skills towards an advanced orientation and trainings to their chosen career in the future.
In regards with the effects, one of the main effects is obviously the additional two years to the basic education curriculum entails additional costs for students and their families. It is estimated that a senior high school student in a public school will need to shell out roughly P100, 000 to cover expenses for the additional two years. A student in a private high school will need double that amount, or 100,000. Another effect of this program is the additional classrooms and adding teachers. As mentioned, one of the ten points on the Education Agenda aims to address severe overcrowding in Philippine schools and the shortage of classrooms.
In October of 2012, the Department of Education signed an agreement ‘with two winning consortia which will undertake the construction of close to 10,000 classrooms.’ The department’s Public Private Partnership for School Infrastructure Project (PSIP) will give schools the physical space they need and ‘provides the private sector the business opportunity to invest in the design, construction and maintenance of classrooms.’
Philippine Education Secretary Armin A. Luistro has said he hopes that by doing so, the classrooms would stand as a testament to Filipino capability and efficiency. Progress is well underway; construction of more than 9,000 classrooms began in March of this year.
‘But making more room for students is only half the solution; someone has to teach them and as of early last month, the Department of Education still hadn’t filled over 61,500 teaching positions’.
While the government hopes that the changes to the K-12 education system will leave its students better equipped for employment and further study, the effort has been widely critiqued by Filipino students, parents, teachers, and others. Fear of financial hardship is at the heart of many the concerns. Some parents, for instance, oppose the reforms because the cost of keeping children in school and out of the workforce for two additional years will be a financial strain. The Philippine Supreme Court received at least six petitions seeking to block or delay the reforms. One petition argued that more than 70,000 staff at colleges would lose their jobs as a result of the changes. Others point to inadequate staffing levels and classroom space, insufficient attention to the curriculum, and even to school buildings that lack electricity and a water supply. The Court has rejected these arguments, however, and in March 2016 refused to issue a restraining order or writ of preliminary injunction.
The move to add two years of advanced studies to high school has also forced revisions to curricula at the tertiary level. Required credits for the entry-level General Education curriculum, for instance, have been cut by almost half, from 64 to 36. The move has further amplified job-related concerns among faculty responsible for teaching entry level courses. The Filipino Commission on Higher Education, which is tasked with ensuring the quality of the tertiary sector aligns to international standards, has moved to counter these concerns, putting in place several programs aimed at helping faculty navigate the transition, while also enhancing the overall quality of research and scholarship within HEIs. Such programs include the creation of development grants available to both institutions and individuals, and of a scholarship program that will provide affected faculty with 8,000 scholarships to study at the master’s degrees and another 7,000 at the doctoral level.
BENEFITS OF K-12 CURRICULUM IN THE PHILIPPINES
Through K-12 curriculum system, students can enhance and acquire higher quality education. In today’s generation, it can prove that youth will be the hope of the country in terms of education and skills in any profession. This will also fulfill the gap of the insufficiency of acquired knowledge by the last implemented curriculum. Every Filipino child now has access to early childhood through Universal Kindergarten. At 5 years old, children start schooling and are given the means to slowly adjust to formal education. Research shows that children who underwent kindergarten have better completion rates than those who did not. Children who complete standards-based Kindergarten program are better prepared for primary education.
Furthermore, with K-12 education, students will have sufficient instructional time for subject-related tasks, making them more prepared in every subject area. With the old system, Filipino students were consistently behind on achievement scores. In 2008, for instance, international test results revealed that Filipinos were behind compared to other countries when we finished dead last in math.
Another reason to support K-12 education is because the graduates of this program will be more prepared to enter the labor force. High school graduates of the 10-year curriculum were not yet employable since they were not competent or well-equipped enough for the workplace. In addition, high school graduates of the 10-year curriculum are not yet 18. With the new curriculum, senior high school students can specialize in a field that they are good at and interested in. As a result, upon graduation they will have the specific job-related skills that they need even without a college degree. When they graduate from high school, these young people will be 18 and employable, adding to the nation’s manpower.
Finally, with K-12 education, Filipino graduates will be automatically recognized as professionals abroad because we are following the international education standard as practiced by all nations. There will be no need to study again and spend more money in order to qualify for international standards. With the K-12 education, Filipino professionals who aspire to work abroad will not have a hard time getting jobs in their chosen field. Furthermore, they will be able to help their families in the Philippines more with remittances, property purchase, and small businesses.
Though Filipinos are known to be competitive in the international community, our current educational system hinders us in becoming more competitive among other countries. The K-12 education plan offers a solution to that problem. However, it is undeniable that there will be problems that arise as we implement the program, which could include a lack of budget, classrooms, school supplies and teachers. That said, the long-term effects of K-12 education will be very beneficial to us Filipinos. Therefore, we must support the K-12 education plan to help improve our educational system and our economy. Remember that change in our society starts with education.
CONCLUSION
Practically, this newly implemented educational system can help the undergraduates to be prepared and make them see the job opportunities they can work or apply even though they are not a degree holder or a college graduate. Despite of all the doubts that some of our fellow citizens are throwing upon this issue, let us give our country a chance to achieve and reach the right and high quality education not only for the Filipino students but for the next generation of youth in our country.
Yes, there will be a lot of risks we might take in order to successfully implement this program but taking risks is part of our lives. We can never know it, if we never try. If the other countries have successfully implemented this program to their countries, we can also attain it if we all have the courage to believe that there’s still a chance that our country can even notch up and compete over the developed countries by supporting this program. It is the time to begin making amends and it must start with our education. This is due to the fact that there is an urgent need to enhance the quality of basic education in our country as seen in the education outcomes of Filipino students and the comparative disadvantage of the Philippines with regards to other countries.
On the other hand, we should not ignore the serious challenges of shifting to a K-12 program. At the same time, we should seize upon its very real potential to improve the lives of everyone. K-12 is obviously a work in progress that will go through many changes as it is implemented. Top-down planning will invariably be reshaped and modified by bottom-up concerns and existing practices of teaching and learning. What remains imperative is that we provide our youth with all the skills they need, especially education, to prepare them to live meaningful and productive lives. This means, among other things, preparing for the constantly changing demands of the workplace. But they should also be able to question those changes and craft alternatives for a better world. There are many problems to be fixed in education and we should pursue these solutions with zeal. To do so means dealing with the many challenges of K-12 rather than simply putting them on hold.
References
Article in a newspaper or popular magazine
ICEF Monitor Philippines creates opportunities in overhaul of K-12 education system, August 9, 2013. http://monitor.icef.com/2013/08/philippines-creates-opportunities-in-overhaul-of-k-12-education-system/
Marjohara Tucay, Philippine Daily Inquirer Additional costs, K-12: Who loses, who profits, November 6, 2016. http://opinion.inquirer.net/85551/k-12-who-loses-who-profits
Ashley Craddock, Editor; Philippines K-12 Reforms Poised to Transform Higher Education System June 7, 2016. http://wenr.wes.org/2016/06/philippines-k-12-reforms-poised-transform-higher-education-student-mobility
Website
Philosophy of Education/ Teaching of Philosophy, ‘Education’ Accessed August 28, 2016. http://www.spaceandmotion.com/Philosophy-Education.htm
K-12 General Information, Accessed November 05, 2016. http://www.deped.gov.ph/k-to-12/faq
Blog entry or comment
1. Aliah Cali, Madaris Education, October 29, 2012 (12:14 a.m). http://depedarm.blogspot.com/