To provide context and direction as well as to articulate its features, design, and standards, Education Secretary Sonny Angara issued policy guidelines for the implementation of the MATATAG Curriculum.
The MATATAG Curriculum, a revised curriculum for Kindergarten to Grade 10 under the K to 12 Program, is designed to be implemented in phases starting School Year (SY) 2024-2025. It will cover Kindergarten, Grades 1, 4, and 7 in SY 2024-2025.
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“This Order provides guidelines to teachers and instructional leaders for implementing the MATATAG Curriculum,” Angara said in DepEd Order No. 10 s. of 2024.
“For teachers, it will serve as a primary guide for instructional planning, including the selection of subject matter, implementation of teaching strategies, use of learning resources, and application of assessment tools,” DepEd said.
“For instructional leaders, it will guide them in creating supervisory and management plans to oversee instructional delivery, monitor learning gains, and provide appropriate technical assistance to teachers and school heads,” it added.
Signed on July 23, the issuance outlines the implementation of the MATATAG Curriculum, focusing on its key features and the participation of learners and teachers.
The policy also covers other components of implementing the MATATAG Curriculum, including learning delivery, classroom assessment, curriculum support, phased implementation, roles and responsibilities, management and implementation of the curriculum, provision of learning resources, system assessment, monitoring, and evaluation.
Implementation
The MATATAG Curriculum will be implemented according to prescribed minimum standards across all public and private schools, state universities and colleges (SUCs), local universities and colleges (LUCs), and Philippine Schools Overseas (PSOs) offering basic education.
“The MATATAG Curriculum embodies the aspirations of Filipino learners as outlined in Ambisyon Natin 2040. It aims to prepare them to meet future challenges by embedding 21st-century skills and preparing them to excel in the local and global job market,” DepEd explained.
“It promotes inclusivity by teaching global citizenship and diversity while fostering a future-oriented mindset that empowers learners to embrace and shape change,” it added.
DepEd also highlighted that the MATATAG Curriculum envisions producing lifelong, peace-loving Filipino learners who are holistic and future-ready, embodying the core values of Maka-Diyos (God-fearing), Makatao (People-centered), Makalikasan (Nature-loving), and Makabansa (Nationalistic).
In the rationale, DepEd explained that the order covers the phased implementation of the MATATAG Curriculum, starting with Kindergarten, Grades 1, 4, and 7 in SY 2024-2025.
For other grade levels, the curriculum will be implemented as follows: Grades 2, 3, 5, and 8 in SY 2025-2026; Grades 6, 9, and 10 in SY 2026-2027.
The MATATAG Curriculum
DepEd explained that the MATATAG Curriculum will serve as the “fundamental blueprint for teachers at the classroom level, enabling them to align their lesson plans with content and performance standards, appropriate learning competencies, pedagogies, assessments, and resources required to achieve the desired learning outcomes for Filipino learners.”
The curriculum will also help instructional leaders “create supervisory and management plans to oversee instructional delivery, provide appropriate technical and other assistance to teachers and school heads, and monitor learning gains.”
Recognizing the particular context and educational concerns of diverse learners, DepEd said the MATATAG Curriculum would be “contextualized” to implement various inclusive education programs, such as, but not limited to, Special Needs Education (SNEd), Madrasah Education Program (MEP), and Indigenous Peoples Education Program (IPEd).
“The Special Curricular Program (SCP) will complement the MATATAG Curriculum to cater to the needs of learners with potential, skills, and talents,” DepEd stated. “At the same time, the curriculum of the ALS will be aligned with the MATATAG Curriculum,” it added.
DepEd explained that the MATATAG Curriculum focuses on individual learners, aims to build globally literate and future-ready citizens, and seeks to address current and future educational concerns. It incorporates the core principle of inclusive education to “meet the unique needs of diverse learners in various settings.”
DepEd stated that the core principle of the MATATAG Curriculum is inclusive education. Its goal is to “nurture holistically developed Filipino youth, equipped with 21st-century skills, in an inclusive learning environment, ready for employment, entrepreneurship, or higher education, and who will find joy in lifelong learning.”
Among the key features of the MATATAG Curriculum is the application of “instructional theories and pedagogical principles that are empirically sound and time-tested, tailored to meet the diverse needs of learners while striving to achieve its core aims.”
DepEd added that the curriculum has a “strengthened focus on foundational skills and strategically reduced learning areas to streamline content.”
Moreover, it is supported by the National Reading Program (NRP) and the National Mathematics Program (NMP), which are additional curricular programs focusing on developing literacy and numeracy.
The Instructional Design Framework (IDF) of the MATATAG Curriculum comprises essential pillars of Curriculum, Teaching, and Assessment which form the “bedrock of the teaching-learning process.”
Recognizing teachers as the most valuable resource in the teaching and learning process, DepEd said they are envisioned by the MATATAG Curriculum as 21st-century “educators who are at the forefront of equipping MATATAG Filipino learners with the skills of the future.”
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