The Department Of Education announced the planned to implement the Basic Education model called K-6-4-2 otherwise known as K to 12 basic education curriculum as an expansion of our present ten year public school program.
First, we must know what is it all about. K to 12 curriculum consists of 1 year kindergarten
6 year elementary 4 year Junior High School and 2 Year Senior High School (that consists of vocational and technical subjects that can be used in employment right after the graduation).
Why does the government pursuing this program? Because of the poor performance of students in achievement test like the National Achievement test results for elementary where we have only 69.21% passing rate, for secondary 46.38% and even in international test like the TIMSS(Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) as to compare to other countries.
Is there a pilot testing of this curriculum? Yes . In 2006, the St. Mary’s School of Sagada(located in Sagada which is considered as fifth class municipality) in Mountain Province implemented a 6-year high school program and topped the National Achievement Test for 2 consecutive years besting 58 private and public schools. But with a student-teacher ratio of 20:1 , Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) party list representative Antonio Tinio says the St.Mary’s school of Sagada may be too ideal as to compare to school under DepEd with an average of 56.1 per class much larger population compared with our neighboring countries such as Malaysia(34/class), South Korea(35.4/class) and Thailand(41.5/class).
What is the current conditions of our educational system in the Philippines?. According to the teacher’s group; Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) as of School Year 2010-2011, there is a steady decline in our education budget bringing a shortage of teaching manpower which numerically are the following; 54,060 teachers, 4,538 principals and 6, 473 head teachers and of educational resources in the form of 61,343 classrooms, 816, 291 seats and 113, 051 water and sanitation facilities.
How much will it cost the government to implement properly this program? According to DepEd in its own Press Release for the K to 12 Program the total funding requirement to procure all needed resources is (at) 150 Billion Pesos for 152, 569 classrooms, 103, 599 more teachers, 95.6 million more books, and 13.2 million more seats. In our 1987 Constitution stated that the Education shall have the highest budgetary allowance as a percentage on Gross Domestic Products(GDP).According to the standard sets by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural organization (UNESCO) it shall be 6 % of our GDP. In 2008, the government allocation on education as translated on GDP amounted only to 2.8.This exemplifies our country’s gross investment.
Finally, does our government have a political will (financially) to implement this program?That is a big question to all of us.Are we really ready?Is the government ready?Perhaps, I will end this with a big QUESTION:::DEPED ARE YOU PREPARE FOR THE K TO 12????????
By: Mr. Elgin C. Mansilla, Teacher III Mariveles National High School Poblacion, Mariveles, Bataan
