THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (DEPED) PROPOSAL

FOR AN ENHANCED K+12 BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAM

PREPARED BY: JAN FELIZ A. MAROHOMBSAR

THE MODEL

On October 25, 2010, present Department of Education (DEpEd) Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro
revealed the model that they have come up for the possible implementation of the K+12 basic education
program here in the Philippines. The DepEd plans to use the K-6-4-2 model which shall involve: One year
in Kindergarten, 6 years in Elementary (Grades 1-6), 4 years in Junior High School (Grades 7-10) and
finally, 2 years in Senior High School (Grades 11-12). The two years in Senior High School, the DepEd
claims shall give time for students to amalgamate acquired academic skills and know-hows.

The proposed new system for basic education also states that the new curriculum shall allow
specializations in fields of study such as Science and Technology, Music and Arts, Agriculture and
Fisheries, and Business and Entrepreneurship.

DepEd plans to seeks to follow a phased implementation of the program using School Year
2011-2012 as Year Zero.

Schematic Presentation of the K-6-4-2 Model Implementation 1

According to the proposal, “the implementation of the K+12 program will be phased. Universal
kindergarten will be offered starting SY 2011-2012. By SY 2012-2013, the new curriculum will be offered
to incoming Grade 1 as well as to incoming junior high school students. The target of DepEd is to put in

1
DISCUSSION PAPER ON THE ENHANCED K+12 BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAM DepEd discussion paper 05 October 2010, Page 9
place the necessary infrastructure and other necessary arrangements needed to provide Senior High
School (SHS) education by SY 2016-2017.”2

It was also mentioned that the issues and concerns of all stakeholders shall be considered in
order to suit all their interests through the use of Stakeholders Consultations. Moreover, together with
the expansion of basic education, the DepEd also wishes to raise the quality of education in the
Philippines through the enhancement of the curriculum.

DEPED’S ARGUMENTS FOR THE ENHANCED K+12 BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAM

 The Urgency for Enhancing the Quality of Basic Education. The DepEd seeks to forward a
program “in a manner that is least disruptive to the current curriculum, most affordable to the
government and to families, and aligned with international practice.”

This poor quality of education is said to be reflected in the low achievement scores of Filipino
students. In the 2009 National Achievement Test (NAT) 2009-2010 the overall passing rate for
total Grade 6 and total High School Students were 69.21 % and 46.38 % respectively.

In International tests such as the 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study
(TIMSS), the Philippines ranked 34 th out of the 38 countries tested in the HS II Math category,
43rd out of the 46 countries in the HS II Science Catergory, 23 rd out of the 25 counties evaluated
for Grade 4 level in both Science and Mathematics, and Last out of the ten countries evaluated
in the Advanced Mathematics category.

The abovementioned statistics are to the DepEd’s belief, disturbing and should show that there
is a need for the Philippines to improve its competency in the when compared to other players
in the International arena.

 Congestion of the Current Curriculum. According to the DepEd, the present basic education,
though actually aimed at achieving the same goals for a 12-year system, is delivered in only 10
years and the harm of doing such is that it deprives students of adequate instructional time and
sufficient time on tasks. Thus it is important to decongest the system so that students can
comply with the requirements with more ease and they shall have more time to effectively
grasp their class lessons. More time will also allow a more ideal set-up for extra-curricular
activities since the DepEd also recognizes that learning is not exclusive within the confines of the
classroom.

 Inadequate Preparation of High School Graduates for the World of Work or Higher Education.
The preparedness of High School graduates in the Philippines in handling the rigors of higher
education is also striking according to the DepEd. H.S. graduates, as the DepEd sees it, usually do
not have the emotional maturity or the basic competencies required for the world of work.
Statistics cited in the discussion paper says that 33.1 % out of the 70.9 % of unemployed people
in the Philippines are High School graduates. Although this could also be due to the availability

2
DISCUSSION PAPER ON THE ENHANCED K+12 BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAM DepEd discussion paper 05 October 2010, Page 9
 of economic opportunities, it also explains, DepEd says, the mismatch between the labor and
education markets in the country.

Consideration is also given to the effects of a short basic education to human development. It is
important to note that until a Filipino reaches the legal age of 18, she/he is still considered a
child. It goes to show that the learning processes of these youngsters should not be rushed as it
will take time for them to acquire a mastery of the core subjects included in an adequate basic
education.

 Employability of High School Students. The DepEd wants to correct the misconception that High
School only serves as preparation for Higher Education. The agency recognizes that there are
High School graduates who would probably not pursue higher education. These graduates may
choose to work or set up businesses however due to their being underage they cannot legally
enter into contracts. They also become vulnerable to abusive labor practices. What’s worse is
that these graduates could simply end up unemployed.

Hence there is a need to provide a system of education that shall produce employable and
competent graduates to answer to other post-high school endeavors other than higher
education.

 Being at Par with International Standards. The DepEd has identified a problem with the
consistency of the present educational system with global standards. Overseas Filipino Workers,
especially professionals are not automatically recognized as qualified abroad. There are OFWs
who wish to apply for jobs overseas that have a hard time at getting employed since their 10
years of basic education in the Philippines is considered insufficient.

The fact that the Philippines is the only country in the South East Asian region, and is among the
last 3 countries (together with Djibouti and Angola) all over the world not implementing the
K+12 program, is to the DepEd another valid basis for the necessity of a new system.

Internationally agreements such as the Washington Accord to which the Philippines is a

ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE K+12 PROPOSAL

 On Whether There Really is a Necessity to Change the Current Basic Education System.
Those who criticize the K+12 program believe that the proposal is missing the whole point. The
likes of Alliance of Concerned Teachers Party list Representative Antonio Tinio and Dr. Ma.
Corazon Reyes, Director for Basic Education of the Miriam College, believe that the problem is
the sore lack of government support. Rep. Tinio was cited in an article in the Sunday Times as
saying that “based on the proposed P 207.27 billion budget for Education in 2011, and the
school-age population of 22.71 million persons, aged 6 to 5, entering public schools, the
government spending for basic education per student per day in real value, is only P24.97.” 3
3
Llanesca T. Panti. “Budget Woes beset K+12 program”, The Sunday Times, October 24, 2010.
 Moreover, the Tinio also cited that the share of the education sector from the Gross
Development Product of the country has decreased over the years: 3.3 % in 2001, 2.19 % in
2008, and 2.7 in 2009. This is far less than what neighboring countries like Malaysia (7.4 %) and
Thailand (4 %) has been giving to their education sector. The said figures are also inconsistent
with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization standard that
government allocation for basic education should be equivalent to 6 % of the country’s GDP. So
changing the education program would still be futile if the education sector will be given
minimal financial attention. Tinio mentions that for 2011 alone, the country would need at least
P149 Billion to address classroom, teacher, and textbook shortages and that even the constant
hiring of 10,000 teachers per year will not be enough to keep up with the fast growth in student
population.

Tinio suggests that the government should instead look for ways to increase the number of
Filipino students finishing high school since only 43 out of 100 children who enroll in Grade 1
actually get to graduate high school later on.

 Effects to the Masses. Agham Party-list representative Angelo Palmones, also argues that the
K+12 will be unsuccessful not only due to a lack of necessary groundwork but also because poor
families do not have significant purchasing power. This sentiment is backed up by the
computation made by Kabataan party list that showed that every student would still need at
least 20, 000 per school year to address transportation costs, food, school supplies, and other
expenses.

Meanwhile, Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza of Trade Union Congress of the Philippines
(TUCP) Party list estimates that due to the additional costs, the K+12 might discourage parents
from the basic sectors to send their children to tertiary education and instead send them to seek
their advancement through vocational and technical education (voctech). He clarifies that
vocational and technical education is also noble, however the choice of a student to opt for
voctech education should be a choice they should make for themselves rather than a choice
implicitly upon them due to a lack of a system that is more accommodating to their
circumstances.

 On Viability of Implementation. There are also some critics who believe that though the K+12
have noble intentions, it entails large-scale changes in the education system of the country thus
its implementation is not realizable in the next few years. What these individuals are making
sure of is that the DepEd and the Aquino government is not biting off more than they can chew
especially since there are major difficulties in the implementation of the present system of basic
education as it is. Most of them believe that the government must first exhaust all means in
checking whether or not the present system is no longer responding to the needs in the country
since in reality the use of the K+12 program has serious implications to the finances of the
country more so when juxtaposed with equally ambitious projects such as the DSWD sponsored
Conditional Cash Transfer.

Dr. Ma. Corazon Reyes, for example, questioned whether the DepEd is even really prepared to
implement the proposal. She explains that there is a need for the department to ensure the
stability of the basic education curriculum. If an extended program shall be used the
government has to be able to budget the curriculum to be consistent with the said extended
 program. Such an opinion may be attributed to the serious lack of educational infrastructure and
personnel in various parts of the country that has often led people to doubt the effectiveness
and reliability of the DepEd in implementing educational projects.

RECOMMENDATIONS

 Evaluate the Department of Education and other relevant governmental agencies based on their
performance for the last 10-20 years.
 Ask the Department of Education to study the present basic education program to see if there
are ways of working on status quo without using the K+12 program.