By Merlina Hernando-Malipot
With the K to 12 curriculum review ongoing, the Department of Education (DepEd) said on Tuesday it will be ready to release initial results of the review by next month.
Department of Education (MANILA BULLETIN)
DepEd Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction Diosdado San Antonio told the Manila Bulletin that the results of the initial findings of the K to 12 program review, particularly the Intended Curriculum (IC), will be submitted to Education Secretary Leonor Briones in March.
San Antonio said by March, the initial findings on the Intended Curriculum will be completed and a transition curriculum “could be implemented in the field as early as the next school year” or school year 2020 to 2021.
Asked when the review of the entire K to 12 curriculum will be completed, San Antonio said that this “will take some time” because the review is being done in stages or phases.
Based on the initial findings, San Antonio noted there might be a need to adjust certain levels of competencies to achieve a more desirable learning outcome. He also noted that the partial review pointed out that “there is still congestion in the curriculum,” among other factors.
Intended, Implemented, and Attained curricula
The Intended Curriculum, San Antonio explained, specifies what students are expected to learn in school in terms of knowledge, understanding, skills, values, and attitudes to be acquired and developed. It also involves how the outcomes of the teaching and learning process will be assessed that are embodied in curriculum framework.
Aside from reviewing the Intended Curriculum, San Antonio noted that the review of the Implemented Curriculum or the “actual teaching and learning activities taking place in schools through interaction between learners and teachers as well as among learners” is also a necessary step and is also ongoing.
DepEd will then proceed to review the Attained Curriculum, which indicates the knowledge, understanding, skills, and attitudes that learners actually acquire as a result of teaching and learning, assessed through different means and/or demonstrated in practice.
As an end result, San Antonio said DepEd is looking forward to an “enhanced curriculum which is no longer congested” and where cognitive demands will match the competencies required.
Curriculum review background
Last October, the House of Representatives expressed its intent to review the effectiveness of the K to 12 basic education program. DepEd welcomed the planned review, noting that Congress and DepEd have worked closely together since the previous budget hearings to address the issues of the K to 12 program.
“A dedicated review session will provide an appropriate venue to comprehensively discuss concerns about the Program and plot out corresponding solutions,” DepEd said in an earlier statement.
Teachers’ groups
Teachers’ groups have also been urging DepEd to review the K to 12 program. The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines noted that a “comprehensive” review of the K to 12 program is “very much needed” in order to address challenges and problems in its implementation.
What is K to 12?
The K to 12 Program paved the way to a shift from a 10-year basic education cycle to 13 years. This was possible with the signing into law of Republic Act (RA) No. 10533, otherwise known as the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, by former President Benigno Aquino III in May 2013.
The need for K to 12 was premised on the Philippines being “the last country in Asia and one of only three countries” with a 10-year pre-university cycle in the world, along with Angola and Djibouti.
In implementing the program, DepEd noted that a 12-year program is “found to be the best period for learning basic education” since it “is also the recognized standard for students and professionals globally.”
The K to 12 Program covers 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 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.”