K+12 education program launched

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino children who are five years old will have to enter kindergarten and attend 12 years of basic elementary and secondary education before they could enter college starting this coming school year.

President Aquino led the formal launching of the K+ 12 reformed basic education program at Malacañang yesterday, which makes mandatory kindergarten education for five-year-old children and two additional two years of senior high school for all students.

The President noted that the Philippines is the only country in Asia and one of only three in the world – two of which are in Africa – with a 10-year basic education program.

“How do Filipinos become competitive if from the very beginning we are already at a disadvantage in the number of years of studying and training? What we want is to give the next generation a strong foundation,” Aquino said.

The curriculum of the K+12 program will focus on the core subjects –Mathematics, Science and English– with electives that are sensitive and responsive to the learners’ interest and local industry needs.

Graduates will be accredited in their areas of specialization, including academics, technical-vocational and sports and arts.

The Department of Education (DepEd) said an enhanced curriculum would decongest academic workload, giving students more time to master competencies and participate in co-curricular activities and community involvement, thus allowing for a more holistic development.

Graduates would possess competencies and skills relevant to the job market. They would be given a certificate of proficiency, certificate of competency or national certification in their areas of specialization, it added.

Meanwhile, Education Secretary Armin Luistro said there is no more backlog in textbooks and school furniture.

“We have also procured over one million school chairs so when classes open in June, we would have closed two of the five input gaps haunting the public school system,” Luistro said.

The President said the government is also striving to address the shortage in classrooms and will push for tablet-based reading materials for public school students.

He said errors in electronic readers or tablet-based textbooks can be easily corrected and there will be no need to recall them as in the case of paper books.

“We are just waiting, Brother Armin, for the prices to go down and we are near our target,” the President said.

Aquino said the DepEd was given a P238.8-billion budget this year, or P30 billion higher compared to last year.

The President said these improvements would complement the reformed curriculum and make Filipino students more competitive in the world.