HISTORY

Education From Ancient Early Filipinos

- Children were provided more vocational

training but less academics in their houses
by their parents and in the houses of their
tribal tutors. They were using a unique
system of writing known as thebaybayin.
Spanish Period

- During the early Spanish period most

education was carried out by the religious
orders. The schools focused on the
Christian Doctrines.

 First Republic

-The schools maintained by Spain for more than

three centuries were closed for a short period
but were reopened on August 29, 1898 by the
Secretary of Interior. The Burgos Institute in
Malolos, the Military Academy of Malolos, and
the Literary University of the Philippines were
established.Article
23of
the
Malolos
Constitutionmandated that public education
would be free and obligatory in all schools of
the nation under theFirst Philippine Republic.

 American Period

-Building on the education system created

in 1863, an improved public school system
was established during the first decade of
American rule upon the recommendation of
the Schurman Commission. Free primary
instruction that trained the people for the
duties of citizenship and avocation was
enforced
by
theTaft
Commissionper
instructions of President William McKinley.
-Education
during
this
time
also
emphasized
nationalism,
vocational
education and good manners and discipline.

 After World War II

-In 1947, by the virtue ofExecutive Order No.

94, the Department of Instruction was
changed to theDepartment of Education.
During this period, the regulation and
supervision of public and private schools
belonged to the Bureau of Public and Private
Schools.
Marcos Era

-In 1972, the Department of Education became

the Department of Education and Culture by
the virtue ofProclamation 1081which was
signed byPresident Ferdinand Marcos.

 Fifth Republic

-On February 2, 1987, a new Constitution for the Philippines was

ratified.Section 3, Article XIVof the1987 Constitutioncontains the
ten fundamental aims of education in the Philippines.
-In 1987 by virtue ofExecutive Order No. 117, theMinistry of
Education, Culture and Sports, became theDepartment of
Education, Culture and Sports. The structure of DECS as embodied
in the order remained practically unchanged until 1994.

 Implementation Of The K-12 Program

- The implementation of the K-12 program is "phased". The first phase of the
implementation
will
start
onSY2012-2013.
During
this
school
year,
universalkindergartenwill be finally offered, and will now be a part of the
compulsory education system; and a new curriculum for Grade 1 and Grade 7
students would be introduced. By SY 2016-2017, Grade 11/Year 5 will be introduced,
and Grade 12/Year 6 by SY 2017-2018; with the phased implementation of the new
curriculum finished by the SY 2017-2018. Students in 2nd year to 4th year high
school this SY 2012-2013 are not included in the program. It is only applicable to
students from Kinder to 1st year high school which is now called Grade 7.

EDUCATION SYSTEM
Three Modes On Delivery Of Instructions:
1. Normal Education
2. Alternative Learning System
3. Alternative Delivery Mode

COMPULSORY EDUCATION
(Pattern of Education)
Elementary School

- Elementary school, sometimes calledprimary schoolorgrade

school(Filipino:paaralang elementarya;mababang paaralan), is
the first part of the educational system, and it includes the first
six years of compulsory education (grades 1-6). These grades
are further grouped (informally) accordingly into:primary level,
which
includes
the
first
three
grades
(grades
1-3),
andintermediate level, which includes the last three grades
(grades 4-6).
The elementary school education covers a smaller but wider
than the junior and senior high school because of thespiral
approacheducational technique.

 Secondary School

- Secondary school in the Philippines, more commonly

known
as
"high
school"
(Filipino:paaralang
sekundarya, sometimesmataas na paaralan), consists
of four levels largely based on the American schooling
system as it was until the advent of thecomprehensive
high schoolsin the US in the middle of last century. The
Philippine high school system has not moved much
from where it was when the Philippines achieved
independence from the US in 1946. It still consists of
only
four
levels
with
each
level
partially
compartmentalized, focusing on a particular theme or
content.

 Tertiary Education

-Tertiary
education
in
the
Philippines
is
increasingly less cosmopolitan. From a height of
5,284 foreign of students in 19951996 the
number steadily declined to 2,323 in 20002001,
the last year CHED published numbers on its
website.
Technical and Vocational Education
-Technical and vocational education is offered to
enhance students' practical skills at institutions
usually accredited and approved byTESDA.

Government Sector
The government has 3 main branches
that manage education system in the
Philippines; these are the:
Department of Education (DepEd)
Commission on higher Education (CHED)
Technical
Education
and
Skills
Development Authority (TESDA).

TheK to 12 Program
TheK
to
12
Programcovers
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 [SHS]) to provide sufficient time
for mastery of concepts and skills,
develop lifelong learners, and prepare
graduates
for
tertiary
education,
middle-level
skills
development,
employment, and entrepreneurship.

A.Salient Features
1.Universal Kindergarten Education
Kindergarten has now been integrated
into the basic education system to ensure
that all grade 1 students are ready for
academic
learning.Universal
kindergarten started in SY 20112012
with a budget of P2.3 billion and was
made mandatory starting SY 20122013
through the signing ofRepublic Act No.
10157entitled An Act Institutionalizing
the Kindergarten Education into the Basic
Education System and Appropriating
Funds Therefor on January 20, 2012.

2.
Mother
Tongue-Based
Multilingual
Education.
The mother tongue will be the medium of
instruction from kindergarten to grade 3.
This includes the following: Tagalog,
Kapampangan, Pangasinense, Iloko, Bikol,
Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray, Tausug,
Maguindanaoan,
Maranao,
and
Chabacano. Medium of instruction will be
English and Filipino starting grade4.

3. Core Academic Areas.

The core academic areas include Math;
Filipino; English; Araling Panlipunan;
Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao; and Music,
Arts, Physical Education, and Health
(MAPEH). These are based on the College
Readiness Standardsof the Commission
on Higher Education and are equivalent
to the courses offered under the General
Education
Curriculum
of
Higher
Education Institutions.

Science will be taught in grade 3, but its

concepts will be integrated in other subjects
like Health (under MAPEH), Math, and
Languages in grades 1 and 2. Edukasyong
Pangtahanan at Pangkabuhayan will be
taught starting in grade 4. Technology and
Livelihood
Education
and
technical
vocational specializations, consistent with
the
Technical
Education
and
Skills
Development Authority training regulations,
will start in grade 7.

4. Specializations.
The additional two years (grades 11 and
12) or SHS will allow students to choose
among academic, technicalvocational, or
sports and arts tracks depending on their
interest, the community needs, and the
results of their skills assessment. The SHS
will allow mastery of core competencies
for lifelong learning and preparedness for
work, higher education, middle-level skills
development, or entrepreneurship.

B.Implementation and Transition Management

Program implementation will be in phases starting
this June for SY 20122013. Grade 1 entrants in SY
20122013 will be the first batch to fully undergo
the program, and incoming first-year high school
students (or grade 7) in SY 20122013 will be the
first to undergo the junior high school curriculum.
To prepare teachers for the new curriculum, a
nationwide summer training program for about
140,000 grades 1 and 7 public school teachers will
be held in May. The Department of Education
(DepEd) is also working with various private school
associations to cover teachers in private schools. To
facilitate the transition from the existing ten-year
basic education to 12 years, the DepEd will also
implement theSHS Readiness Assessmentand K to
12 Modeling.

C.Social Benefits of the Program

The perceived benefits of the program
include: i) placing the Philippine
education
system
at
par
with
international standards, following the
Washington Accord and the Bologna
Accord; and ii) contributing to the
development of a better educated
society
capable
of
pursuing
productive
employment,
entrepreneurship, or higher education
disciplines.

D.Ensuring Sustainability of the Program

Enhancing the basic education curriculum and
increasing the number of years for basic
educationwas adopted as a Common Legislative
Agenda during the February 28, 2011 Legislative
Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC)
meeting. The administration-supported bills that
aim to increase the number of years for basic
education are Senate Bill 2713 (Recto), House Bill
(HB) 4219 (Belmonte), and HB 4199 (Escudero).
These bills are pending at the Committee Level.

ISSUES
Budget
* kuwang ang budget nga gihatag sa

government then probably korakoton pa

jd so mao nang na.ay mga issues.
E.g:
Sub-standard textbooks, overworked and
under paid teachers, contractualization of
teachers and mediocer classrooms.

Eurocentric
*sunod-sunod rata sa mga taga gawas..
Wla jud ka.ayo mga laking pinoy. Mas
importante and IMPORTED kay sa LOCAL
E.g:
colonial histography

Fly-by-night educational institutions.

By any measure, the proliferation of fly-bynight educational institutions is counterproductive. In the long run, it produces a
pool of half-baked, unprepared, and
incompetent graduates. Alarmingly, the
country is having an over-supply already.
Some would even consider them as
liabilities than assets. This case is true for
both undergraduate and graduate studies.

Culturally
and
gender
insensitive
educational system.
Women, the common tao and the indigenous
people are almost historically excluded
from the Philippine historiography in favor
of the men, heroes from Luzon and the
power elite. Women are marginalized and
trivialized even in language of education.
Take the case of the terms female lawyer
(as if lawyer as a profession is exclusive
only to men) and manpower (which should
have been human resources or human
capital to be more politically correct).

State abandonment of education.

In the name of imperialist globalization, the
statein
an
incremental
fashionis
abandoning its role to subsidize public
education particularly in the tertiary level.
This comes in the form of matriculation,
laboratory and miscellaneous fee increases
in order to force state colleges and
universities (SCUs) to generate their own
sources of fund. Ironically, the bulk of the
budget (in fact, more than one-third in the
case of 2005 National Budget) goes to debt
servicing.

Sub-standard textbooks.
Some
textbooks
which
are
already
circulation are both poorly written and
haphazardly edited. Take the case of the
Asya: Noon at Ngayon with an identified
total number of more than 400 historical
errors. Unfortunately, it is just one of the
many other similar atrociously written
textbooks which are yet to be identified
and exposed. This is a classic case of
profit-centeredness without regard to
social
accountability.

Widespread contractualization.
In
the
name
of
profit,
owners
and
administrators of several private schools
commonly
practice
contractualization
among their faculty members. Contractual
employees unlike their regular/tenured
counterparts are not entitled to fringe
benefits which consequently reduces the
over-all cost of their business operation.
Job insecurity demeans the ranks of the
faculty
members.

Undue disregard for specialization.

Some colleges and universities encourage their
faculty pool to be generalists (under the guise of
multidisciplinary approach to learning) in order to
be able to handle various subjects all at once. But
some faculty members have turned out to be
objects of mockery and have lost their self-esteem
since some of them were pushed to handle
Technical Writing, General Psychology, Filipino, and
Algebra at the same time. This is prevalent among
some franchised academic institutions even if the
subjects are already off-tangent their area of
interest
and
specialization.

Copy-pasting culture.
Over-dependence to the cyberspace has
dramatically reduced the capability of
students (even teachers) to undertake
research. Copy-pasting has even turned
into
a
norm
among
some
students
whenever they are tasked to submit a
research paper or even a film review.
Needless to say, plagiarism has already
transformed into a more sophisticated form
in the context of todays electronic age.

Mcdonaldized education.
The system, methodology, and even
content of education in the Philippines
are mere haphazard transplantation from
the West. It is therefore Eurocentric,
culturally insensitive, and non-reflective
of the local milieu. This is based on the
xenocentric (foreign-centered) premise
that other culture or system is far more
superior
than
ones
own.

The problem of non-sustainability and

non-continuity.
Teachers, administrators and publishers
are all left in limbo whenever the DepEd
would come up with another totally
different directive from what it used to
have in a rather very sudden interval.
Take the case of the grading system,
timeframe allotted to various subjects,
MAKABAYAN program, readiness test,
and
learning
competencies
(LC).

Poor regard for liberal art/education.

Liberal education is intended to form a holistic
individual equipped with communication, critical
thinking, mathematical, creative, inter-personal and
intra-personal skills. This explains why we also have
Philosophy, Languages, Humanities, Natural Science,
Social Science, Physical Education and even Theology
in our college curriculum, and not only our major
subjects. The curriculum is specifically designed to
produce a total person, and not only a technical
specialist. Unfortunately, the desired objective is not
being met at all since liberal education is regarded
only as a set of minor subjects.

Continuation of Poor Regard For Liberal Art/Education

With the way these subjects are being handled

(taking into account both content and
methodology), students view the entire
exercise as an unnecessary duplication of
what they have already covered in high
school. Equally alarming is the lack of
enthusiasm and motivation exhibited by
some professors to handle the subject
especially if they believe that it has nothing
to
do
with
the
course
or
area
of
specialization of their students (say, Art
Appreciation for Accounting majors or
Algebra for Creative Writing majors).

Education a purveyor of myth.

Education has been very effective in
mainstreaming and perpetuating the social
myths in a subtle and indirect manner.
Some of these myths are the perceived
superiority of white, educated men,
official history as advanced by the
western point of view, globalization as the
only
way
to
achieve
economic
development, and stereotypes against the
minoritized
and
the
disenfranchised.

Further marginalization of the undersubscribed

courses.
In the name of profit and as a response to the
dictates of the market forces, colleges and
universities prefer to offer more courses in line
with the health sciences like nursing, medical
transcription, and care-giving. This is done at
the expense of the already undersubscribed yet
relevant
courses
like
Area
Studies,
Pilipinolohiya
(Philippine
Studies),
Development Studies, Philippine Arts, Art
Studies, Community Development, Social Work,
Islamic Studies, Clothing Technology, and
Ceramics
Engineering.

Monolithic education.
Some
educators
in
the
name
of
conservatism and for the sake of
convenience, prefer the old-style teaching
paradigm where they view themselves as
the fountain of knowledge and their
students as nothing but empty vessels to
be
filled
up
(banking
method
of
education).
Modern
education
has
ushered in learner-centered approach to
education (from being the sage in the
stage to just a guide on the side).

Atrociously boring teachers.

As I always underscore, there are no
boring
subjects,
only
boring
teachers. But at least we should
recognize them because they still
serve a purpose. They serve as bad
examples.