One of the Dep- Ed missions is to attain quality education in the Philippines; curriculum planners keep on finding ways to upgrade the kind of education that we have. Based on their studies education in the Philippines has great discrepancy from the education of other countries in terms of time frame of staying in school. Other countries have implemented six years in the elementary, six years in high school and four years or more in college.
Dep- Ed made this as basis to uplift the quality of education in the Philippines. So, they decided to implement the new curriculum entitled K to 12 Basic Education since 2010. Where in at the age of five children will take kinder then grade-I to grade XII. In this curriculum, learning areas will teach with their mother tongue aside from English subject. Its aim is to help every Filipino child to have wide understanding on the skills to be developed by the teachers to their pupils. The number of subject areas was increased. Mother Tongue is one of the subjects added in grades I-III. Unlike before some learning areas are integrated in major subjects but now they can be taught separately like Music, Arts, Physical Education and Health. The grading system or how to rate children on the classperformance was also changed. Teachers rate their pupils not only on the academic performance but also on how they perform well in the class and how they expressed and presented their hidden talents and skills through rubrics.
Dep- Ed started the implementation of the new curriculum by conducting a nationwide seminar which was attended by division supervisors from different provinces in the Philippines and echoed to their own division. The seminar aims to inform all the teachers and have knowledge about the mission and vision of K to12 Basic Education, how to use learning competencies, how to apply learning process and strategies suited to different learning areas and how to use teaching and learning materials like manuals, textbooks and activity sheets that help teachers and pupils to cope with this new curriculum.
At the end of the trainings, since teachers are the one who face the learners they ask themselves is K to 12 will be effective to attain the quality education or not? It was a great challenge for the teacher to make this curriculum effective because they are the first one affected by the said curriculum. On the first day of implementation, teachers begin their day with a smile without knowing when this smile ends. As the time goes on the department was not blamed of their unpreparedness although different feedbacks arouse and at the end of the school year skills that is expected to be learned in that stage is still not mastered. Based on teachers experience, skills in different learning areas was focused only on limited skills that you never expand or extended. Lacking of teaching materials is also a hindrance for the teacher to have well teaching- learning situation. On the second year of implementation of the curriculum we come out to the same feedback.
This year is the third time of implementing K to 12 Basic Education. Does thiscurriculum will receive the same feedback or will gain good points to tell that it is effective to attain quality education.
By: Jocelyn A. Ogahayon | Teacher II | Parang Elementary School | Bagac, Bataan
