The Philippines has an urgent and critical need to enhance its basic education system due to some reasons. Serious reasons that must not be ignored in order to be globally competitive. Here are the basis why basic education must be improved.

1. Philippine is the only country in Asia and among the the three remaining countries in the world that uses a 10-year basic education cycle. According to the South east Asian Ministers of education Organization (SEAMEO-INNOTECH) the Philippines             allots 10 years while other countries have either 11 or 12 years in their basic             education cycle.
2. The National Achievement Test (NAT) results for Grade 6 in SY 2009-2010            showed only 69.21% passing rate while the NAT results for high school is at a low           46.38%.
3. International tests result in 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science  study (TIMSS) show that the Philippines ranked 34^th of 38 countries in HS Math and 43^rd out of 46 countries in HS II Science.
4. The Philippines ranked the lowest in 2008 even with only the Science high              schools            joining the Advanced Mathematics category.

Based from these information, the poor quality of basic education is reflected in the low achievement scores of Filipino students. Many students who finished basic education do not have mastery of basic competencies.

The results are very alarming that the Department of Education find ways to enhance the quality of education especially in elementary and high school which serve as the foundation of every learning. This also the sole reason why DepEd came up with the implementation of K to 12 Program. The program seeks to provide a quality 12-year basic education that every Filipino is entitled to. Its purpose is not only to add 2 years of education but more importantly , to enhance the basic education curriculum.

K to 12 Program is indeed ambitious step but if all the people and agency in the government work hand in hand , education will reach its full potential.

Reference: Facing the K-12 Challenge by Felicito S. Caluyo, Ph. D., TIMSS

By: Jennifer T. Gemzon | T – I | Bonifacio Camacho National High School