K to 12 program improvement is work-in-progress

In every Filipino home, a special place is dedicated for displaying the diplomas of the family members, as well as medals and awards they received in school. In some cities and towns, families even hang streamers proclaiming that a son or daughter has passed a government board examination. Indeed, education is highly valued by Filipinos.

This is the context in which this news report must be viewed: “A Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey revealed on Thursday, Sept. 28, that 50 percent of adult Filipinos are dissatisfied with the K to 12 Basic Education Program, while 39 percent are satisfied with the curriculum. About nine percent are undecided whether they are satisfied or dissatisfied with K to 12, while the remaining two percent lack sufficient knowledge to provide an opinion, SWS said.” In essence, the jury is still out; neither view enjoys a decisive edge.

The respondents to that survey may not be aware that the Department of Education (DepEd) has completed the review of the K to 12 curriculum for Kindergarten to Grade 10. It has announced the start of the pilot implementation of the reengineered curriculum. A review of the curriculum for the additional two years in the country’s basic education cycle or the Senior High School (SHS) Program started last November 2022.

From 2020 to 2022, as schools were shuttered nationwide due to the Covid-19 pandemic, parents bore the brunt of home schooling and thereby gained some familiarity into what their children were required to learn. As they needed to multi-task in tutoring their children while carrying on with daily household chores — as well as with working for a living — it would not be surprising for them to have discerned that much still needs to be improved in terms of the content of basic education.

In 2022, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Queensland University Australia conducted a study on Foundational (K-12) Education System: Navigating 21st Century Challenges. Attention must be paid to the key findings. First, while access to K-12 education has improved significantly, there are still millions of children out of school, especially among marginalized communities. Second, quality and relevance of what is being taught is more concerning than simply providing access. Third, educators must integrate new, technology-driven modalities into teaching and learning practices.

Meanwhile, DepEd is grappling with real-time challenges, such as the lack of classrooms that requires billions of additional appropriations, the full scale of which could not be accommodated in the 2024 budget proposal. Continuous training and reskilling of teachers need to be undertaken, a difficult yet doable task that requires focus and persistence among managers of our school system.

Finally, those who deplore the lean numbers of those who have gained employment as a direct offshoot of having passed through the K to 12 curriculum, need to be reminded that this is not necessarily attributable to its ineffectiveness. Despite formidable economic challenges, working parents earnestly strive to see their children through college or university education, as they yearn to fulfill their family’s dreams for a bright future. Educational managers must continue to do what is needed to deliver quality teaching and learning.

Credit belongs to: www.mb.com.ph