Last February 2015, a planning and orientation session with the key officials in DepEd-ARMM on the implementation of the Senior High School (SHS) curriculum in June 2016 was held. Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Br. Armin Luistro FSC has emphasized the crucial role of educators in determining the needs in the classroom that can help in an effective implementation of the SHS.
Luistro stated that we can base everything in the formulated curriculum but it will not bear results unless the educators can implement it effectively. Change has to be done and the reform is not only for education but also for the Department’s ways to change its officials, educators and administrators.
Luistro explained that the new curriculum keeps the same mission of giving access to quality education for all and that the revised program is culture-based. As an overview of the SHS, the goals and expectations for the coming implementation of Grades 11 and 12 next year and in 2017 were being laid out by the DepEd officials.
The DepEd ARMM meeting is the last in a series of planning sessions that concerns the implementation of the SHS. It started with the National Capital Region (NCR), then in Region 3, and Region 4A. In those meetings, the DepEd Central Office SHS Implementation Team met with the planning officers of the different regions and divisions together with the SHS coordinators and local education officials. The meetings identified potential SHS, determined track offerings by the schools and they listed the resource requirements.
One of DepEd’s goals is to provide at least one DepEd SHS in each city or municipality as of June 2016.
There are two parts in the two years of SHS: The Track Subjects and the Core Subjects. The Track Subjects cover the development of skills so that the students are ready for employment or entrepreneurship upon graduation. The Core Subjects ensure that they are ready for college education. The SHS also facilitates four career tracks that students can choose from: Academic, Sports, Technical-Vocational-Livelihood, and Art & Design.
The four career tracks provide flexibility and depends on the goals of the student. While the Track Subject Curriculum enhances the value of the secondary school diploma, the Core Subject Curriculum shows that the student is academically ready for a college education.
In the SHS program, the K-12 students will be awarded TESDA National Certificates upon graduation and making them employable or qualified for decent entry-level jobs. Moreover, the SHS increases the opportunities for the graduates to find a source of income that can help them finance their higher education.
By: Catherine P. Jarabe | T-III | Antonio G. Liamas Elementary school
