After completing the review of the curriculum for Kinder to Grade 10, the Department of Education (DepEd) released the revised curriculum guide for Kinder to Grade 10 (K to 10) last week.

(DepEd / MB Visual Content Group)

DepEd Spokesperson Michael Poa said that K to 10 curriculum guide has “been published for comments.”

As per DepEd, the draft of the K to 10 curriculum guide is open for comments until May 3.

Need for revision

As stated in the Shaping Paper released by the Bureau of Curriculum Development, while the implementation of the K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum was considered “one of the most significant educational reforms in the country,” DepEd noted that as with any curricular reform, the K to 12 Program is “not without challenges.”

Citing results of both national and international standardized assessments, DepEd noted that there was “no improvement in the academic performance of Filipino learners.”

Along with the need for basic education institutions to “keep abreast of global future trends while addressing the changing needs and learning challenges of children,” DepEd was prompted to re-examine and enhance the K to 12 curricula to “identify points for improvement to ultimately lift the quality of basic education.”

Based on system assessments, DepEd noted the “many issues and concerns” that it needs to address in English, Filipino, Mother Tongue, and Math. “The results imply the need for more improvements in curriculum and delivery,” DepEd said.

Findings of the K to 12 review

The K to 12 curriculum review was initiated by former Education Secretary Leonor Briones.

DepEd noted that significant findings reveal that the current curriculum has a “substantial number of essential learning competencies, indicating curriculum relevance.”

Based on the findings, it was recommended to “further decongest the curriculum.”

The findings of the review also revealed that “only a few teachers reported having adequate time to teach all learning competencies” which hindered the implementation of the curriculum.

DepEd noted that the study highly recommended “reducing the amount of learning required by the intended curriculum to ensure that all learning competencies can be taught with the required cognitive depth in the time available, and revise the sequencing, clarity of expression, cognitive demand of the learning competencies, and associated grade-level standards to ensure prerequisite skills and knowledge are built systematically from one grade to the next.”

New features of the 2022 curriculum

Among the new features of the revised K to 12 curriculum is to “Focus on the Big Ideas” to emphasize the development and mastery of foundational skills and competencies of learners.

“Focusing on Big Ideas provide transferable concepts to other topics, contexts, or inquiries thereby preventing information overload,” DepEd said.

Another new feature is the “Redesigned Kindergarten Curriculum” to produce young Filipino children who are “holistically developed literates equipped with 21st century skills.”

The new curriculum, DepEd noted, also redefined the interplay among languages in the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) and emphasized the engineering design process.

One notable feature of the revised K to 12 curriculum is the introduction of SiKaP (Sibika, Kultura, Kasaysayan, at Kagalingang Pangkatawan) as a learning area.

“The introduction of a new learning area in Key Stage 1 which is SiKaP intends to provide learners with essential knowledge, skills, and attitudes enabling them to develop personal and cultural consciousness in becoming active and creative members of their respective communities,” DepEd said.

Recognizing the need to complement the knowledge and skills development of learners with values development, DepEd said that the new curriculum will also intensify values formation by making it more “holistic as it strikes a balance between competence and character.”

As mandated by RA 11476 or the GMRC and Values Education Law, DepEd said that there will be a separate learning area for values formation in the new curriculum as well as a “systematic integration of DepEd core values across all learning areas with explicit placements in relevant topics and contents in all grade levels.”

What’s in the draft?

In the draft, DepEd released the proposed curriculum guide for K to 10 for learning areas which include Kindergarten, Araling Panlipunan (AP), English, Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan / Technology and Livelihood Education (EPP-TLE), Filipino, Music, Arts, Physical Education and Health (MAPEH), Mathematics, Science, and Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC).

On a closer look, DepEd plans to discuss various “controversial” topics in different grade levels --- particularly in Grade 10.

In the proposed curriculum guide for Grade 10, for instance, DepEd plans to include lessons on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) and the Hague arbitral tribunal ruling in the AP or Social Studies subject.

As seen in the draft, DepEd plans to teach lessons on “Mga Isla ng West Philippine Sea” under “isyung territorial at border conflicts.”

If finalized, the new curriculum will also include a lecture on the ruling of the tribunal in The Hague, the Netherlands where learners are expected to study laws and policies concerning globalization, among others.

As part of lectures on human rights violations, DepEd also proposes the inclusion of lessons on red-tagging, trolling, and extrajudicial killings in the AP of Grade 10.

In the draft of the new curriculum, DepEd is also planning to teach sexual and reproductive health to students as early as Grade 4.

Also in the proposed Grade 10 AP curriculum, DepEd plans to include lessons on gender-related topics such as same-sex union and same-sex marriage and gender-based discrimination.

DepEd is also proposing the removal of the separate Mother Tongue subject at the primary level as well as the early teaching of English among Grade 1 pupils.

SHS review is still ongoing

Meanwhile, DepEd noted that the review of the curriculum for the Grades 11 and 12 Senior High School (SHS) Program is still ongoing.

During the presentation of the Basic Education Report (BER) in January, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte said that the revised K to 12 curriculum aims to be “more responsive to our aspiration as a nation, to develop lifelong learners who are imbued with 21st-century skills, discipline, and patriotism.”