The entire nation has been surprised with the President’s political will to pursue today’s most controversial move in the field of education… that is the implementation of the K to 12 Program…

            It has been the struggle of a Filipino educator to uplift the kind of learning that our students receive. From the various researches, it has been consistent that the Filipino learners are left behind in terms of achievement in Science, Math and English, which are the major areas of learning. The deficiency was found to be rooted in the system of education that the Philippines have been adapting for the longest time.

            Through the collaboration with the Department of Education and the different related government agencies, the K to 12 Program was born. In 2011, the Republic of the Philippines began a major overhaul of the K-12 education in the Philippines. Prior to 2011, education in the Philippines had not been compulsory and had only been offered for ten years as compared to the twelve for most other developed countries.

TheDepartment of Educationin the Philippines began to implement the new K-12 system of education, requiring that all children attend school and including a new academic curriculum. This implementation will be phased over several years as Filipino children begin attending school on a mandatory basis.

The phasing of the new educational program began  with the implementation of a universal kindergarten and the enactment of the new basic law of education. The next step was to phase in first through fourth grade and then seventh through tenth grade and to begin modeling the Senior High School.

The final phase of the new K-12 education in the Philippines is to completely implement the Senior High School grades eleven and twelve.

            Several issues were brought about, which includes the lack of enough facilities, the lack of preparation as well as the inefficiency of teachers . Moreover, there are dramatic reactions from the community especially from parents who strongly adheres to their belief that the program is just another burden, adding several more years to the usual six (6) years in elementary and four (4) years in secondary.

            The pioneers of the said program were just prepared enough to settle the issues. There were promises of supplying the needed materials as well as sufficient seminars for teachers. Subsequently, despite of various protests faced by program, the persons concerned were able to push it, starting with the implementation of Kindergarten and Grade 7 last June 2012.

To prepare for the initial execution of K to 12 program, teachers concerned were asked to attend seminars and modules for each subject area were distributed. Although there were some deficit in the number of modules and materials, the program is now on its third year. There were initial plans for the early implementation of Senior High School but a number of school refuses to push through with it because they lack confidence in its implementation.

The biggest issue now lies on the question: Is K-12 program enough to meet the challenges that a Filipino youth will encounter as he face the world? Or is it just another waste of effort and time?

In the end, beyond meeting the current concerns of K-12 and quality assurance, there is yet another area for educational reform: the abiding challenge to education itself. It will always be the final and outmost concern of an educator; to ensure that each learner has achieved the best quality education.  

By: Fe P. Siasat | T-III | Samal National High School | Samal, Bataan