Saturday, November 27, 2010

Sally Aguilar: The Proposed K+ 12 in the Philippines


Dear Professor,

Last Saturday's session made me learn that...

President Benigno S. Aquino III mandated the Enhanced K+12 Education program to be implemented for more chance of the Filipino youths of succeeding and attaining their ambition and be a global individual.

K+12 basic Education program means Kindergarten and the 12 years of elementary and secondary education.

The model that is currently being proposed by DepED is the K-6-4-2 Model. This model involves Kindergarten, six years of elementary education, four years of junior high school (Grades 7-10) and two years of Senior high school (Grades 11-12). The additional 2 years of senior high school intend to provide time for students to consolidate acquired academic skills and competencies.

The vision of education for the graduates of K+12 Program are grounded on Human development that says “every graduate is an empowered individual who has learned, through a program that is rooted on sound educational principles and geared towards excellence, the foundations for learning throughout life, the competence to engage in work and be productive, the ability to coexist in fruitful harmony with local and global communities, the capability to engage in autonomous critical thinking, and the capacity to transform others and one’s self.

With these learning, I realized that…

The DepED will continue to provide access to basic education. In accordance with the broadening of accessibility to basic education, the programmed commitment has the following components: (a) establishment of a school in every barangay not having an elementary school and in every town without a high school (a barangay is the basic governmental unit in the country’s political structure, consisting of a number of families within the same geographic area); (b) organization of multigrade classrooms; (c) completion of incomplete elementary schools; and (d) provision of basic instructional materials, facilities and equipment at the elementary and high school levels.

In recent years, the DepED has pursued several development programs and projects through government funding and overseas economic co-operation both multilateral and bilateral. The strategies to improve education include overall review of elementary and secondary education, universal access to and quality of education (notably by emphasizing teaching of English, science, technology and mathematics), provision of alternative delivery schemes (such as multi-grade teaching, mobile teaching, and instructional management by parents, community and teachers in disaster areas), management training for principals and school administrators, development of research, improvement of school libraries and teachers’ welfare. Technical and vocational education was also revised in an effort to cope with rapid technological advancements and to provide young people with more meaningful preparation for their future employment. The strategies include curriculum development, improvement of pre- and in-service education of teachers in both public and private schools, updated instructional materials in various fields, and upgrading of equipment for both public and private institutions.

As a teacher I will…

* Support and help the DepED in implementing the new Program K+12, because this could help improve our nation and our youth outlook in life.
* Tell and spread the good thing about the program to my students and the parents of my student so that their pessimistic attitude towards this program will be replaced by their optimism and support.
* I will prepare my students not just for their mental development but emotionally because they will become the pillars of the society someday so values should be inculcated in them. So that they will be a global individual geared towards excellence.

From your student,

Sally Aguilar

Joel L. Jayme: The Proposed K+ 12 of the Philippines


Dear Professor,

Greetings of Peace!

Last Saturday when I heard and learned about the Enhanced K + 12 Basic Education Program, I realized that the goal of the Enhanced K+12 Basic Education Program is to create a functional basic education system that will produce productive and responsible citizens equipped with the essential competencies and skills for both life-long learning and employment. The program will enhance the basic education system to full functionality to fulfill the basic learning needs of students. This is in line with the agenda of the President Aquino of having quality education as a long-term solution to poverty. In order to achieve these goals, the program has the following twin-objectives:

a) To give every student an opportunity to receive quality education based on an enhanced and decongested curriculum that is internationally recognized and comparable b) To change public perception that high school education is just a preparation for college; rather, it should allow one to take advantage of opportunities for gainful career or employment and/or self-employment in a rapidly changing and increasingly globalized environment.

Enhancing the quality of basic education in the Philippines is urgent and critical. Thus, we have to come up with a proposal to enhance our basic education program in a manner that is least disruptive to the current curriculum, most affordable to government and families, and aligned with international practice. 2 The poor quality of basic education is reflected in the low achievement scores of Filipino students. Many students who finish basic education do not possess sufficient mastery of basic competencies. One reason is that students do not get adequate instructional time or time on task. The National Achievement Test (NAT) for grade 6 in SY 2009-2010 passing rate is only 69.21%. Although this is already a 24% improvement over the SY 2005-2006 passing rate, further reforms are needed to achieve substantial improvement. The NAT for high school is 46.38% in SY 2009-2010, a slight decrease from 47.40% in SY 2008-2009. 3 International tests results like 2003 TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) rank the Philippines 34th out of 38 countries in HS II Math and 43rd out of 46 countries in HS II Science; for grade 4, the Philippines ranked 23rd out of 25 participating countries in both Math and Science In 2008, even with only the science high schools participating in the Advanced Mathematics category, the Philippines was ranked lowest.

Therefore as a School Administrator, I am in favor of the additional 2 years of elementary and high school in order to cope up the demand of time. We are the only country who implements 1o year elementary and secondary education. If we will compare the graduates from the different countries we are much behind compared to their graduates. It is a high time to apply the enhanced K+12 basic education in our country to address the problem on quality education.

Very truly yours,

JOEL L. JAYME
Ph. D. - I