President Aquino flagship education program: K to 12

April 24th, 2012 by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado

The new education curriculum will be implemented starting this June. It will have 12 years of basic education instead of the current ten year model. The goal of the changes is to better equip our graduates “for recognition of professionals abroad.”

Critical thinking will be another aspect of the program. This will be a much needed life long skill that students can better use in life, instead of memorizing data that won’t have much use upon taken a test or upon graduation.

The President himself has said that the current system is “force feeding” students to “swallow, chew…and there is no chance for students to savor knowledge”. This is why information goes in one ear and out the other.

According to Education Secretary Armin Luistro, with the new curriculum, each Filipino child will be given the necessary abilities requisite of the our century – also called 21st-century skills.

Basic technical competency skills taught at Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) will now be taught as part of the high school program. At the same time, Commission on Higher Education (CHED) will now move some of the general education subjects that are commonly taught in college to the last years of high school. Those that complete year 12 will be given a national certification by TESDA, certifying that the student has the technical and vocation skills to become employed.

Kindergarten at 6 years old will officially kick off a child’s education program. Although this is still not mandatory by law, the DepEd decided to take initiative and has started this in 2011.

From aged 6 to 11, a student will be in elementary school for 6 years. The difference in the new program will be the introduction of a junior high school and senior high school program.

Junior high school will be considered grades 7 to 10, which accounts for 4 years. The next phase will be a senior high school program lasting 2 years, creating grade 11 and grade 12. This will make the child complete his basic education at 17 or 18 years of age, which is in keeping with the rest of the world.

Each phase of the changes will be introduced in stages, with a year of school being added as time goes on. By 2018, the country should have its first batch of graduates under the new program.

Change is intimidating

When the plans to overhaul the education program of the country were announced, there were mixed reactions. For the parents and students, it seemed like the next few years would be a period of uncertainty. The batches most affected by the changes are those who are currently in grade 5, 6 and 7. Who can’t help but feel like a guinea pig being experimented on?

Many parents simply can’t wait for their kids to get out of school so they can work and help out with the family finances. Our graduates are some of the youngest in the world, at 15 to 16 years of age.

We are left behind

In Asia, we are the only country that still has a 10 year basic education program. In the rest of the world, only two other African nations have a ten year basic education program.

Future plans

President Aquino revealed that in the future, all the reading materials used in the country’s public schools will be “tablet based.” This sounds like a pipe dream since many private schools in the country don’t even have this capability yet. If the President is able to pull this off successfully, then that is another feather on his cap, and certainly a major leap towards the 21^stcentury. Let’s hope the students don’t sell the tablets for quick cash instead.