K-12 review to streamline curriculum, says DepEd

by Janvic Mateo (The Philippine Star), 8 Jul 2021

MANILA, Philippines — The results of a review on the basic education curriculum in the country have been submitted to Education Secretary Leonor Briones, according to a Department of Education (DepEd) official.

Education Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan did not provide details on the results of the review, but said it validated concerns on the congestion of the curriculum.

“This will result in the streamlining of the curriculum. There were certain prerequisites and subsequent (learning competencies) that are missing in this curriculum and things like that,” Malaluan said in an interview with “The Chiefs” on One News/TV 5 on Tuesday.

He said the curriculum review was one of the programs initiated by the department to address issues on the quality of education in the country.

In April, Briones said DepEd had set a roadmap for the review and updating of the curriculum for Kindergarten to Grade 10. She said the curriculum review would be finalized this year, with consultation sessions to be conducted in early 2022.

Undersecretary for curriculum and instruction Diosdado San Antonio earlier said the review would cover the most essential learning competencies included in the curriculum this school year, which has shifted to distance learning due to the pandemic.

DepEd last year reduced the number of learning competencies to simplify the process of learning given the limitation of distance learning.

San Antonio said they would assess if these are sufficient for learners to acquire knowledge and skills.

“The initial agreement was only for kindergarten to Grade 3, with the objective of strengthening reading, computation and social emotional skills. We want something simple but we will ensure that (the students) are knowledgeable,” he said in Filipino.

“What we expect is for the curriculum after COVID-19 will focus on the most essential. We will make sure that it will not be congested like what we see now,” he added.

Slow fund utilization

In a related development, the Comission on Audit (COA) has called out the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) over slow utilization of P3.3 billion intended to help state universities and colleges (SUCs) and poor students adapt to the online learning setup amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In its 2020 annual audit report on CHED released yesterday, the COA noted that out of the P3.3-billion budget alloted to the agency under Republic Act 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2), only 40.61 percent or P1.33 billion was obligated as of yearend, leaving a balance of P1.96 billion.

“The low utilization rates of the allotted budget for the year prevented the timely and efficient implementation of the major programs of the CHED,” the audit body said.

The COA’s breakdown showed that P3 billion of the total alloted funds was intended for the provision of financial and material assistance to SUCs in the development of their respective “smart campuses” through investments in information and communications technology infrastructure and acquisition of learning management system and appropriate equipment, including 20,000 units of mid-range laptops.

COA said of this amount, only 34.67 percent or P1.04 billion was obligated as of end-2020, leaving a balance of P1.96 billion yet to be extended to SUCs.

On the other hand, of the P300 million intended for subsidies and allowances of qualified students of public and private tertiary education institutions, almost 100 percent or P299.986 million was already obligated, leaving a balance of just P13,380.

Among the reasons cited by the CHED for its low fund utilization was the shortage of staff and technical experts to review the technical aspects of grants to SUCs.

The CHED said that aside from the coronavirus pandemic, Typhoons Rolly and Ulysses that hit the country last year also contributed to delays in its fund utilization. – Elizabeth Marcelo