The Department of Education (DepEd) is looking to implement the revised K-12 basic education curriculum within the next three years, Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio said on Wednesday.
During the House Committee on Appropriations’ DepEd budget briefing, Duterte-Carpio said she was pushing for the changes to be implemented in one year.
“During our discussions, it will take two to three years for us to implement a new curriculum for K-12. I was and I am trying to push the curriculum and instruction strand to do it in one year. We will update you on that if we will be able to implement a new curriculum in a year or two,” Duterte-Carpio, who is also the DepEd secretary, said.
The vice president said the DepEd had completed its review of the K-10 program and recently started reviewing the curriculum for grades 11 and 12.
“It will go through presentations so that comments and suggestions from all the sectors can be collated by the DepEd and we come up with the new curriculum for the K-12 program,” she said.
K-12 was the basic education curriculum implemented in school year 2012-2013 that introduced two years of mandatory senior high school.
Duterte-Carpio has been tasked by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to review the K-12 program.
During his first State of the Nation Address in July, the president said reviewing the education curriculum would help address the country’s job mismatch problem.
“There have also been lengthy discussions on the continuation and viability of the K-12 school system. We are giving this a careful review, and all necessary inputs and points of view are now being considered,” he said.
Results of a Pulse Asia survey commissioned by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian earlier showed that 44 percent of Filipinos were dissatisfied with the country’s K-12 program.
The recent survey, conducted from June 24 to 27, also saw the satisfaction rate with K-12 drop 11 percentage points from 50 percent in 2019 to 39 percent in June 2020.
Gatchalian, chair of the Senate basic education committee, said the 10-year-old K-12 program should undergo a review.
“Malinaw sa boses ng ating mga kababayan na hindi sila kuntento sa programa ng K to 12. Ito ay dahil hindi natutupad ang mga pangako nito at naging dagdag na pasanin lamang ito sa ating mga magulang at mga mag-aaral,” Gatchalian said.
Only lawmakers in the Senate and the House of Representatives can make amendments to Republic Act 10533, the act that introduced K-12. John Ezekiel J. Hirro