12 - K-12 Implementation: Solution or Complication?

According to Department of Education, K−12 Curriculum covers Kindergarten and 12 years of basic education (six years of primary education, four years of Junior High School, and two years of Senior High School) to provide adequate time for mastery of perceptions and skills, improve learners, and prepare graduates for tertiary education, middle-level skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship.

The foundation

Before K−12 curriculum was implemented, our country was one of only three countries in the world and the only one in Asia that had still follows the Basic Education Curiculum (BEC). For scholars who are trying to compete in a progressively developing worldwide corporate market, this was been seen as a disadvantage.

For the students

The change began in 2011, when the universal kindergarten was introduced. Starting in 2012, several schools implemented the curriculum in accordance to DepEd’s memorandum. Public schools began having half-day classes for grade one students, with the Filipino as the medium of teaching, and private schools also made alterations in their own recognized syllabus. As follows, K−12 curriculum also means that students will graduate a bit older compared to those who graduated under the 10-year education system, but the two added years in the curriculum will let the students apply in any vocational jobs once they graduate. In relation with that, DepEd stated that future graduates under this curriculum will be more ready to take their tertiary education which suits their capabilities along with their established skills.

Implementation

Transition for Private Schools

Real situation

Despite the praises received upon the program by the government, K−12 program of the US has not even been able to improve the education system; with lesser resources in our country, we can say that this program will give challenge to the future.

There are too many graduates unprepared to go on higher education and even technical vocation. Many politicians said to cure all those insufficiencies – where until now, there is no appropriate teacher-student ratio that can support the incoming senior high school to learn new skills. Some of the requirements needed for K−12 are laboratories, computers, textbooks and more classrooms. Private schools have some of these materials and facilities, and can afford to support new amenities if needed, but how about the public schools? These are some of the concerns that are not openly addressed by K−12, and if we implement additional years, we can expect it will bring another burden to the never ending problems of the education sector.

If we will look in all sides, K−12 curriculum is definitely an idealistic program because of what it can give to its future graduates. But on the other hand, we should also look upon our capabilities in implementing this since we just focused on what we can get from it, rather than its whole requirements.

In the coming year, which we will now see its application to the first batch of senior high school prior to the implementation of the curriculum, we hope to see the affirmative response of the people along with the government’s efforts to solve all these shortages in order to make this K−12 curriculum be a true stake of our educational system, instead of the problem that so many now perceive it to be.

Sources:

http://www.gov.ph/k-12/

http://ph.theasianparent.com/advantages-new-k-12-curriculum/

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/33727/ready-or-not-k-to-12-curriculum-starts