YEARENDER: DepEd’s K-12 program goes full blast in 2012

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Education (DepEds)’s ambitious K (Kindergarten) - 12 basic education curriculum (BEC) reform program went full blast in 2012. 

From the previous Grades 1 to 6 path for elementary level and first year to fourth year for high school level, the DepEd will transform the primary education to Grades 1 to 10 and will add two more years to senior high school level by 2016. 

Education Secretary Armin Luistro said the enhanced curriculum for Grade 1 included the use of the Mother Tongue-Based Multi-Lingual Education (MTB-MLE) from Kindergarten to Grade 3.

Local and internationals studies have shown that using the language used at home  (mother tongue) during the learners’ early years of schooling produce better pupils who can easily adapt to learn a second (Filipino) and third language (English).

The 12 major languages in the country are Tagalog, Kapampangan, Pangasinense, Ilokano, Bikol, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray, Tausug, Maguindanaoan, Maranao, and Chabacano.

The agency was elated over the results of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey regarding the controversial K-12 program.

Survey results conducted from Aug. 24 to 27 last year showed growing acceptability of the key features of the K-12 program compared to survey results in March 2012.

About 72 percent of Filipino adults believe that K-12 will give students more sufficient knowledge and preparation for work and college compared to those who finished 10 years of basic education, garnering a net rating of +48, up from +35 last March.

The percentage of Filipinos who believe that more students will be encouraged to finish the two-year SHS because it is equivalent to two years of college hit 69 percent, or a 10-point increase from 59 percent in March.

The results showed that 68 percent of Filipinos with a net rating of +39 believe that more students will finish SHS even with the additional cost and number of years because K-12 graduates will be better prepared for work, higher education, and business.

The DepEd started the initial phase of the K-12 program in 2011 by setting up kindergarten schools in most public elementary schools, where five-year-old kids were pushed to enroll for free in pre-school, a requisite for enrollment in Grade 1 for school year 2012-2013.

Luistro has described the implementation of the universal primary or pre-school education in the Philippines as the “defining moment” in the administration of President Aquino as it seeks to implement reforms with deep impact on the welfare of Filipino children and the youth.

The business sector has also expressed support for the DepEd’s K-12 program.

Chito Salazar, president of the Philippine Business for Education (PBED), lauded the agency’s performance for 2012.

“We are very happy with the progress DepEd has made in not only pushing K-12 but filling in all the gaps like teachers and classrooms,” Salazar said.

“We also applaud the government’s support for education giving DepEd an increase of around 30 percent in its 2013 budget,” Salazar said.

“We’re just waiting for the legislature to do its part and to pass the K-12 bill,” he added.

The DepEd got the highest allocation in the P2.006-trillion national budget for 2013, at P293.2 billion.

With the higher budget for this year, DepEd expects to fund the hiring of 61,510 teachers, construct 17,939 classrooms, purchase 907,524 school desks and chairs, lay out 90,461 water and sanitation facilities, and procure and distribute 31 million learning materials to schools nationwide.

The agency also awarded two deals for the construction of more classrooms to be financed and built under the Aquino administration’s public private partnership (PPP) scheme.

Luistro has signed build-lease-transfer agreements with the BF Corp.-Riverbanks Development Corp. joint venture, and the Citicore Investment Holdings-Megawide Construction Corp. for the construction of 9,301 classrooms.