DepEd prepares transition to K+12 curriculum

THE Education department (DepEd) said on Friday that all current programs being implemented by the department are now being studied in preparation for the upcoming roll out of the Enhanced K+12 program.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro added that experts from the department, Commission on Higher Education and the Technical Education Skills Development Authority including educators from public and private schools are now looking at programs, which can be integrated to the draft curriculum.

“What we want is a seamless transition from the current to the enhanced curriculum that is more responsive to learning needs of students and the community. This is why we are seriously considering the inclusion of all the best features of our current programs,” Luistro said.

The K+12 is an education reform program, which will seeks to declog the present education curriculum and include various career options that students can choose from.

It is set to follow a K-6-4-2 model—making kindergarten mandatory for all 5-year olds in public school, six years of elementary education, four years of junior high school and two years of senior high school where students will be given various career tracks to master.

This is following one of the recommendations under the Basic Education Reform Program (BESRA) calling for the expansion of the current 10 year basic education curriculum to 12 years in an effort to better prepare students for work, higher education and global employment.

“The same holds true under School-Based Management [SBM] which gives school heads greater elbow room to provide for the needs of their schools and be answerable for the educational outcomes,” Luistro stressed, adding that SBM and BESRA will become even more relevant when K+12 is implemented.

Multilingual education will also be part of the newly drafted curriculum encouraging children from pre-school to Grade 3 to speak their mother tongue or the language used at home.

Alternative delivery modules of the department— such as the Drop-out Rate Reduction Program and Alternative Learning System— will also be continued as these targets learners with specific needs not provided by the formal schools system.

“K+12 is inclusive, which means it will reach out to all kinds of learners regardless of age, gender, ethnicity and social status which is in keeping also with the goals of United Nations—initiated Education For All,” Undersecretary for Programs and Projects Yolanda Quijano said.

The department is also advocating the strengthening of the 250 technical-vocational schools nationwide, which cater to the development of skills and talents of students. Also changing the attitude towards non-degree courses being inferior to a college diploma.

Luistro said DepEd is continually combating resource gaps in basic education, including teacher shortage, classroom backlogs, quality textbooks, information communication technology equipment and other learning materials.

“It’s a two-pronged approach to address what ails the country’s public school system,” Luistro said. –Maria Nikka U. Garriga, Manila Times

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