The Department of Education (DepEd) have formally implemented K-12 Program since last school year which as everybody knew aims to have an additional two more years of basic education in the country. On its second year, all the grade two teachers in elementary and grade eight teachers in high school were required to attend a five – day training. This is the continuation of the training which was attended by the grade one and grade seven teachers last year. The training for all grade levels is expected to finish in 2017 wherein the old curriculum from grades one to twelve will be totally replaced by K-12 Curriculum.
But after a year and up to this day, parents are still commenting and asking so many questions as if K-12 is a new program. “ Is K-12 really needed and necessary? Is the additional two years the answer to the emerging problems in our country? “Why not invest on teachers’ education and on their salary to be able to hire competent ones instead of adding two more years?” These are the same questions asked several times especially by the parents. Some believe, simply adding two more years in the education of a child does not guaranty that the child will have the skills they hope to achieve.
Schools, especially in elementary incessantly explain the advantages of K-12 program and the rationale of additional two years in high school, i.e. is for the students to decide on what course to take in college. Furthermore, this will also equip them to get a job or be employed after completing senior high school since in this phase students are given the chance to enroll in specialization courses in science and technology, music and arts, agriculture, fisheries, sports, business entrepreneurship, and others.
On the other side, some agreed that 10-year education program is becoming outdated. It is true that it will cause financial difficulty to everybody especially to the poor but as a nation that is hoping to stand out in the global market, we need to invest to our children’s education. Our graduates need quality education that our country can be proud of.
In line with this change, additional classrooms and infrastructures are the priority of the Department of Education to be able to house senior high school students in the school years to come. More extension positions for teachers are filled. The department is said to have allotted more or less P63 billion for this program,.
However, the DepEd secretary, Bro. Armin Luistro on the second year of K-12 is ever positive about this program although he admitted that K-12 is not that perfect and will be subjected to further study and monitoring especially on the curriculum materials. What is important is the concentrated effort of the DepEd family and the government support for the this program to fully effect a quality basic education for the Filipino children.