K to 12: Boon or Bane?

A warm welcome to all present. As we all know Department of Education

had implemented a new curriculum called K-12 education system under
the administration of P-Noy

which

guess

is

very

crucial

step

of

his administration. Today I Fatima Q. Lagapa will discourse about what K-12
Education system has in store for us.
The Aquino administration proposed two-year extension of the 10-year
basic education cycle to lift the quality of education. In addition to kindergarten,
the new program will set 6 years of elementary education, 4 years of junior high
school (grades 7 to 10), and 2 years of senior high school (grades 11-12). The
curriculum will also allow specialization in science and technology, music and
arts, agriculture and fisheries, sports, business, and entrepreneurship, and
others. Students will be graduating around the age of 18, and will be expected to
be fully armed to enter the work world without even without a college degree.
Why this K to 12 Program was implemented? Because there is, an urgent
need to enhance, improve and to elevate the quality of basic education in the
country. Would you believe that Philippines is the only country in Asia and is one
of only three countries in the world with a ten year basic education cycle? Yes!
It is really insufficient. The ten year basic education curriculum cannot suffice the
needed skills, knowledge and competence of our students and this is actually the
first

identified

problems

in

the

system

of

Philippine

Education.

Second, according to the study conducted by SEAMEO Innotech, they

affirmed, that Philippine Basic Education is congested compared to the
curriculum of other countries like Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore. The core
subjects like Mathematics, Languages and Sciences are overfilled, crowded and
jam-packed. Usually, the students do not get enough time to master the skills in
the said subjects. So, as a result, they got low scores in the National Achievement
Test and International Test like TIMSS or Trends for International Math and
Science Study. Unfortunately, we got 4th place in the bottom rank. It is so
disgusting

and

really

disappointing.

Third, In relation to the congested Basic Education Curriculum, our

Overseas Filipino Workers are not automatically recognized as professionals in

other foreign countries. Since, they lack mastery of their subjects; they are not
prepared for the world work. Most of our high school graduates are too young
and they are minors or below 18 to enter the labor force. So the tendency, our
graduates who will not go into college, would be unemployed or worst, they
would

fall

into

illegal

labor

practices.

As a solution to this deteriorating system of our Education, President

Benigno S. Aquino III, said, that we need to add two more years to our basic
education to give our public school students an even or equally chance of
succeeding

in

their

future

lives.

According to Br. Armin Luistro, the secretary of Education said, that K to 12

Program is one concrete response to reverse the steady decline of our economy
and correlated to it is the deterioration of the educational system of our
government. He added that, the central feature of K to 12 Program is the
upgrading of the basic education curriculum. The mandatory of kindergarten,
plus 12 years of basic education is to ensure that every learner will acquire the
relevant knowledge and skills they will need, to become productive members of
the

society.
What else could K to 12 do to improve our education? It decongests the

academic workload and gives time to students to master their competences, co

curricular activities and community development, so the result would be a
holistic

developed

learners

with

the

21st

century

skills.

What are these 21st century skills? These are the skills needed by our future
generation for them to be globally competitive and not be left behind by the
progressive countries in the world. K to 12 will develop graduates with 4Cs of the
21st

century

such

as

Critical

thinking,

Creativity,

Collaboration,

and

Communication. If these 4Cs are developed by every Filipino, I believe that we

would be competent enough and we can fairly compete with other Westernized
countries

and

not

only

Asian

countries.

Next, for those K to 12 graduates without entering College, they will earn
Certificate of Competency, or National Certification to be able to recognize by the
other countries. These graduates will be accredited in their areas of specialization

which

include

Technical,

Vocational,

Sports

and

Arts.

And finally, the graduates who will enter in college will be more qualified to the
standards

set

by

the

institutions

in

the

tertiary

level.

So K to 12 will surely contribute to the economic growth of our country,

thus eradicate poverty, and K to 12 will contribute to the development of
progressive humane society, by then, I believe, that every citizen of this country
would be so proud to be called Filipino.