The PROS (which is basically basically the side of the government, well -heeled and articulate leaders from the academe, the business community and the media):
1. ³Enhancing the qu quali ality ty of basic basic ed edu uca cattion in the Philippines is ur gent gent and cr itical ical.´ .´ 2. ³The ³The p poor oor quali quality ty of basic basic ed edu uca cattion is r ef lect lected in the low achievemen achievementt sc scor or es es of Filipin ilipino o stu tuden dentts. One One r easo eason is tha hatt stu tuden dentts do not ge gett ade adequ quaat e ins instru trucctional time or time on task .´ .´ 3. Inter nat national tes estt r esu esults consis nsistten enttly sh show ow Filipin Filipino o stu tuden dentts lagging wa y behind behind pr p r act acticall ically y eve everybo rybod dy else in the wor ld. ld. In In the 2008 ma matthema hemattics exam, for for example, example, we came in dead las last. t. 4. ³The conges ngestted curr icu iculum pa part rtlly explains the he p pr r esent esent state of of ed edu uca cattion.´ Twelve yea ear r s of of cconten entt ar e cr ammed ammed in into to ten ten yea ear r s. 5. ³This qu quali ty of ed of edu uca quaate p r epar of high ooll ality cattion is r ef lect lect ed in the inade inadequ pr epar ation of high sch schoo gr adu aduates for the t he wor ld ld of wor k or k or en entr tr epr epr eneur eneur ship ship or or highe higher r ed edu uca cattion.´ If ten t en yea ear r s wer e ade quaate, how come empl oyeer s do not hi r e fr esh ooll gr adu adequ employ hir esh high sch schoo aduat es? How come most high sch schoo ooll gr adu aduates f lunk nk tthe UPCA UPCAT? T? 6. ³M ³Mo ost gr adu aduat es ar e too young young to en entt er the t he la bor for ce.´ ce.´ Since Since most child childr r en en start Gr ade ade 1 when when the hey y ar e 6 yea year r s old, the hey y do not r each each the legal empl employ oyaa b ble le age of 18 when the hey y gr adu aduate fro from m high sch schoo ooll to toda day. y. 7. ³The curr ent ent system als also o r einfor einfor ces ces the mispe misper r cept ception tha hatt basic basic ed edu uca cattion is ju jusst a pr p r epar epar atory step for for highe higher r ed edu uca cattion.´ Wh W hy p pr r ior itize the min minor or ity of high of high sch schoo ooll gr adu aduates tha hatt go to college? 8. ³The sh short ort dur ation of the the basic ed edu uca cattion p pro rog gr am am als also o p put utss the milli millio ons of ove over r seas seas Filipin ilipino o wor ker ker s (OFW (OFWs), s), especiall especially y the the p prof rof essio essionals, and those who in inttend to stu tud dy a bro broad, ad, at a disadvan disadvanttage age.. Our g Our gr adu aduat es ar e not auto utoma matticall ically y r eco ecognized as prof p rof essio essionals a bro broad ad.´ .´ The bes estt examples ar e our our enginee engineer r ing ing gr adu aduates, who ar e condemned to in intter nat national job jobss not be bef itt tting ing thei heir r p prof rof essio essional statu tuss due to our n our not having a 12-y 12-yea earr basic basic ed edu uca cattion cycle cle.. 9. ³The sh short ort basic basic ed edu uca cattion p pro rog gr am am aff ect ects the human devel develo o pmen pmentt of the t he Filipin ilipino o childr child r en.´ en.´ If we we believe tha hatt 17-yea 17-year-o r-old ld high sch schoo ooll gr adu aduates ar e em emot otiionall nally y, psy ps ych cho ologicall gically y, and in inttellec ellectu tuall ally y ma matur tur e, e, why do we we r equ quiir e them to ge gett pa par r ent ental consen nsentt be befor e the hey y ge gett ma marr rr ied? ied? The CONS (which are basically the madlang people whose pocketbooks would be adversely impacted by the proposed additional 2 years of basic education):
1. Par ent ents have to shell out mor e mone ney y (for tr ansport ansportaation and foo food) d) for the t he ed edu uca cattion of thei their r child childr r en. en. 2. The gove ver r nment nment does not have the mone ney y to pa to pay y for two mor e yea ear r s of fr ee ee ed edu uca cattion, since it does not even have the mone ney y to full fully y su pp pport ort toda today¶ y¶ss ten yea ear r s. DepEd DepEd must f ir st solve the lack lack of of class classroo rooms, ms, fur nitur nitur e and equ quipmen ipmentt, qu quali alif f ied ied teache eacher r s, s, and error-fr ee ee tex extboo tbooks ks.. 3. We can do in ten yea ear r s wha hatt eve everyo ryone ne else in the wor ld ld takes 12 yea year r s to do. Wh Why do we have to foll follow ow wha whatt the the r est est of the t he wor ld ld is doing? We ar e bett tteer than t han all of them them.. Filipin ilipino os r ight ight now ar e accep acceptted in in p pr r est estigi igiou ouss gr adu aduate sch schoo ools ls in the wor ld, ld, even with onl y ten ten yea r s of basic basic ed uca nly ear edu cattion. 4. As f ar r as as the curr icu iculum is conce ncer r ned, ned, DepEd sh shou ould ld f ix ix the curr ent ent subj ubjec ectts ins insttead of adding of w ones ones.. The roblem the leng basic ed uca As adding ne new The p prob lem is the conten entt, not the lengtth, of basic edu cattion. As an edi editor tor ial p ial put ut it, we need to have bett tteer r ed edu uca cattion, not mor e ed edu uca cattion.
5. A high school diploma will not get anybody anywher e, because business f ir ms will not hir e fr esh high school gr aduates. 6. Every f amily dr eams of having a child gr aduate from college. 7. While students ar e stuck in Gr ades 11 and 12, colleges and univer sities will have no fr eshmen for two year s. This will spell f inancial disaster for many pr ivate Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). 8. The dro p-out r ate will incr ease because of the two extr a year s. ³The gover nment has not yet shown the ar guments of the o pposition to be f allacious,´ wr ites Cruz. On the other hand, Cruz char acter izes the o pposition (anti) as being ³very vocal air ing its ar guments not only in newspaper s, on r adio, and on television, but even in the par liament of the str eets.´ ³As of this wr iting,´ Cruz wr ites, ³I have not hear d the o pposition r e but the ar guments of the gover nment. In f act, as f ar as I can see, they have r efused to even listen to the gover nment.´ Since this is a public de bate, Cruz contends that ³we have to move from constructive speeches to r e buttal´. I think we r eally don¶t have a compelling need to listen to r e buttals. Enough yakety yak alr eady! What we need ar e objective, actual (empir ical) cost-benef it and pedagogical studies to su pport or de bunk the claims of either side. A promising start would be to r ead ³Length of School Cycle and the µQuality¶ of Education´ wr itten by Felipe & Por io published in the Philippine Education Research Journal (PERJ) . http://mlephil.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/pros-cons-of-the-k12-debate/
On the Proposed K-12 Basic Education System The Philippines curr ently off er s a ten year public school system to provide basic education, namely six year s of tuition-fr ee gr ade school and four year s of high school. Since most childr en begin enter ing school at six year s old however , those who do f inish the entir e progr am end u p gr aduating from high school at around 16 year s old. Many cr itics and educator s point out that at this age the high school gr aduate is not old enough to execute legal contr acts such as for employment or business so that those who want to wor k immediately after high school ar e har d pr essed to f ind productive occu pations. Per haps that is why even the best of them dr ift into ... politics! through the SK system (but that's another to pic.) At the same time, even among those intending to go to college many ar e emotionally and academically unpr epar ed at 16 to eff ectively undertake college level study. In part this is due to our short ten year elementary and secondary school curr icula. A ma jor agenda item for the Dept of Education (DepEd) is the pro posed K-12 Basic
Education System (PDF) which would r epr esent a ma jor expansion of the pr esent ten year public school progr am to thirteen year s. The PDF f ile a bove discusses the r ationale, design and implementation plan of DepEd. In this post I consider some of the problems and challenges attendant u pon the K-12 pro posal.
The Philippines will be the last country in the r egion to ado pt a K-12 basic educations system, and only thr ee countr ies ar e left in the whole wor ld like it, accor ding to the DepEd discussion paper. As a r esult, gr aduates of the Philippine public school system ar e at a competitive disadvantage as over seas wor ker s because they do not have as much education, at least on paper , as counter parts from other countr ies which do have K-12. Of cour se the mer e f act that everybody else does it is not the only justif ication for ado pting K-12-- although the dismal showing of Philippine students in such global testing sur veys as the Tr ends in Mathematics and Science Study (wher e she is consistently near the very bottom) may be a good indicator that something dr astic must be done. Much was fortunately lear ned from participating in TIMSS a bout the possi ble r easons for the poor showing. TIMSS analysis clear ly pointed out the insuff iciency of our ten year public school system--with its necessar ily congested basic education curr iculum. It appear s that we have been teaching 12 year s worth of lear ning in the space of 10 year s. What other countr ies take 12 year s to do -- we attempt to accomplish in 10 year s. DepEd suggests this is a partial explanation for the ill pr epar edness of our high school gr aduates to undertake college level study. The Commission on Higher Education (Ched) which over sees tertiary education in the Philippines has alr eady pointed out that most colleges ar e spending too much time providing r emedial cour ses to enter ing students because of that def iciency in the secondary school progr am. Most pr ivate schools alr eady off er thirteen year s of basic education (2 year s of K inder garten, 7 year s of elementary school, 4 year s of high school). For example: the Chr istian Brother s' De La Salle networ k of schools from which Sec. Ar min was r ecruited by Pr esident Aquino. But attempts by Deped under the Arroyo administr ation to add a seventh elementary gr ade between gr ade school and high school in the so called Br idge Progr am collapsed under a stor m of protest from par ents and students who, r ightly or wrongly, f elt unobliged to def er entry into high school on such short notice, as it wer e. The lesson of that ill-f ated Br idge Progr am of a f ew year s ago does not seem to have been lost on the pr esent management at DepEd. For the public schools DepEd now pro poses the addition of a K inder garten or Pr e-school level for f ive year olds ahead of the existing six year Elementary School progr am. Then the Secondary School progr am would grow to six year s long by r etaining the pr esent four year high school progr am as "Junior High School" and adding a 2 year "Senior High School" progr am at the end of that. It's a clever solution that stands a good chance of wor king, since DepEd is basically keeping the pr esent system intact and will "bookend" or "sandwich" it between a pr epar atory kinder garten level at the start, and a Senior High School subsystem at the end.
http://philippinecommentary.blogspot.com/2010/11/on-proposed-k-12-basic-educationsystem.html
If you listened to the video on the public r eaction to DepEd Sec. Ar min Luistro¶s Enhanced K+12 basic education progr am announcement, you¶d f ind a cou ple of holes (actually ther e¶s mor e) in his ar gument. I¶ll start with two at this point because I don¶t want to over load my peewee bir d br ain: No. 1, ³senior graduates will find it easier to find jobs ³: Now, that¶s a bit of a str etch consider ing these high school gr aduates from the pro posed K+12 basic education progr am will have to compete with an over su pply of college gr aduates who have diff iculty f inding jobs themselves. ME:
Exactly. I agr ee wholeheartedly. Why expect employed gr aduates if ther e is just little employment? AIF:
So, then, instead of just college gr aduates competing for jobs, it will be high school gr aduates PLUS college gr aduates who will be competing for those jobs. ME:
Very true. The unemployed, though, will be better educated. That situation, sir , is mor e explosive. AIF:
And some gulli ble ones thought DepEd Sec. Ar min Luistro¶s logic was fundamentally sound, but obviously those ducks ar e not in a row. Unless those jobs will just mir aculously mater ialize to a bsorb the suddenly lar ger num ber of high school and college gr aduates! Or , we beef u p OFW which, accor ding to a pr ess r elease, is going to downsize or halt the domestic help exports. ME:
Our OFWs will have better cr edentials. Imagine those Filipinos with K+12 + college being ser vants? As a for eign master , I¶d pr ef er them to high school gr aduates from Sr i Lanka. Aha, Pnoy¶s progr am will impact Philippine dignity. R emem ber a time when Ph.D.s wer e accepting jobs as dr iver s? Their degr ees did not make them better dr iver s, nor their wor k as dr iver s a cr edit to their gr aduate schools. AIF:
Anyone with a little common sense can use his ten f inger s to f igur e that« We can r eally beat this to a pulp. If that¶s the intention in the f ir st place, your solution in the ed cycle article would be the most intelligent solution: pr epar e to do some guidance counseling for those high school students ( per haps, dur ing their so phomor e, junior and senior year s) who need a vocation to be ³employa ble´ that would dir ect them to appro pr iate TESDA cour ses ² and mesh this arr angement, per haps, within the pur view of their 4-year high school curr iculum, or if that per iod of time is inadequate, let them sweat it out at TESDA after high school. Then, for those who have the wher ewithal, smarts and am bition to duke it out in college, provide them the appro pr iate counseling, as well, so that they ar e pr esented with the o ptions for which they ar e comforta ble with intellectually and f inancially, as well as wher e the jobs will potentially be (based on empir ical sur veys of gover nment and business curr ent and potential job o pportunities) when they complete college. Of cour se, whether it be TESDA or a bona f ide college/univer sity education, let¶s wor k on improving or over hauling the teaching and assessment methods and the quality of the teacher s. It¶s that GIGO thing: GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT, and if we don¶t r ever se that quickly, no amount of Luistro¶s so phomor ic homilies will matter. ME:
No. 2, ³senior graduates will not have to go to college right away because then they will be more employable³: Aha, I know Luistro¶s gonna dum b down and lower the expectations of a lot of high school students/gr aduates. In the U.S., wher e jobs ar e easier to come by, a lot of those high school students/gr aduates wind u p f lipping bur ger s, or as r etail cler ks at WalMart, etc., and because of the semi-secur ity of ear ning a weekly paycheck and their nor mally active hor mones, these young ones ar e em boldened to have sex. And sometimes, una ble to curb their enthusiasm, they for get the socio-economic benef its of pro phylactics and the gir ls wind u p knocked u p so sometimes these folks ar e for ced to start their f amilies pr ematur ely and the thought of a higher education, like college or even community college or vocational school simply moves further and further away from their r adar as the r esponsi bilities of r aising a f amily get mor e and mor e in the way. I don¶t su ppose Filipino high school gr aduates will be any mor e diff er ent« AIF:
No, except they like to multiply even without the secur ity of a weekly paycheck «
ME: With their Catholic f aith, the birth r ate may even be mor e signif icantly aff ected to exacerbate the Malthusian nightmar e! Especially because those bisho ps ar e against sex education ² helloooo« http://mlephil.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/conversation-on-the-proposed-k12-basic-educationprogram/
Briefer on the Enhanced K+12 Basic Education Program Briefer
prepared by the Department of Education, November 2, 2010
Salient Points on the Enhanced K+12 Basic Education Program What is K+12? y
K+12
means Kindergarten and the 12 years of elementary and secondary education.
Kindergarten refers to the 5-year old cohort that takes a standardized kinder curriculum. Elementary education refers to primary schooling that involves six or seven years of education
Secondary education r ef er s to high school. How
are we planning to implement the K+12 program?
After consider ing var ious pro posals and studies, the model that is curr ently being pro posed by DepEd is the K -6-4-2 Model . This model involves K inder garten, six year s of elementary education, four year s of junior high school (Gr ades 7 to 10) and two year s of senior high school (Gr ades 11 to 12). The two year s of senior high school intend to provide time for students to consolidate acquir ed academic skills and competencies.
F eatures
of K 6-4-2
(1) K inder garten and 12 year s of quality basic education is a r ight of every Filipino, ther efor e they must be and will be provided by gover nment and will be fr ee. (2) Those who go through the 12 year s cycle will get an elementary diploma (6 year s), a junior high school diploma (4 year s), and a senior high school diploma (2 year s). (3) A full 12 year s of basic education will eventually be r equir ed for entry into tertiary level education (enter ing fr eshmen by SY 2018-2019 or seven year s from now). y
y
W hat y
y y
y
An
open and consultative process will be adopted in the development and implementation of K+12. Change is two-fold: (a) curriculum enhancement and (b) transition management.
is Senior High School? 2 years of in-depth specialization for students depending on the occupation/career track they wish to pursue Skills and competencies relevant to the job market The 2 years of senior H S intend to provide time for students to consolidate acquired academic skills and competencies. The curriculum will allow specializations in Science and Technology, Music and Arts, Agriculture and Fisheries, Sports, Business and Entrepreneurship.
What is the proposed implementation plan of DepEd?
Phases of Implementation: (1) Univer sal kinder garten will be off er ed starting SY 2011-2012. (2) DepEd will begin clear ing the basic education curr iculum in SY 2012-2013. (3) The enhanced 12-year curr iculum will be implemented starting with incoming Gr ade 1 students of SY 2012-2013. (4) Incoming fr eshmen of SY 2012-2013 will be the f ir st benef iciary of a fr ee Senior High School education that will be made availa ble by DepEd in public schools beginning SY 20162017. Electives to be off er ed in Senior HS (arts, music, tech-voch..etc) In implementing the K-6-4-2 pro posal, DepEd will take into account the issues and concer ns of all stakeholder s, including the high school gr aduates befor e 2016. This will be done through r egional consultations to begin ear ly 2011. The mechanics and other details of the tr ansition plan will be thr eshed out with HEIs in coor dination with CHED, TESDA and other cr itical stakeholder s. Why add two more years? y
To
y
To
decongest and enhance the basic education curriculum provide better quality education for all
y y y
y
y
y
How y
y
The
Philippines is the only remaining country in Asia with a 10-year basic education program K+12 is not new. The proposal to expand the basic education dates back to 1925. Studies in the Philippines have shown that an additional year of schooling increases earnings by 7.5%. Studies validate that improvements in the quality of education will increase GDP growth by 2% to 2.2%. Minus 2 instead of plus 2 for those families who cannot afford a college education but still wish to have their children find a good paying job. Right now, parents spend for at least 4 years of college to have an employable child. In our model, parents will not pay for 2 years of basic education that will give them an employable child. In effect, we are saving parents 2 years of expenses. The plan is not Plus 2 years before graduation but Minus 2 years before work To inspire a shift in attitude that completion of high school education is more than just preparation for college but can be sufficient for a gainful employment or career.
much will this cost? The
immediate cost for the program will not be needed until 2016 when the first year of the two additional years is implemented. Meanwhile, we will continue to close the resource gaps in basic education the President ordered DepEd to its close resource gaps in 2 years.
this time, we estimate the total funding r equir ement to procur e all needed r esour ces at P150 billion for :
At
152,569 new classrooms 103,599 more teachers 95.6 million more books 13.2 million seats
What will society gain from K+12 y y
y
y
Are
K+12
will facilitate an accelerated economic growth. K+12 will facilitate mutual recognition of Filipino graduates and professionals in other countries. A better educated society provides a sound foundation for long-term socio-economic development. Several studies have shown that the improvements in the quality of education will increase GDP growth by as much as 2%. Studies in the U K, India and US show that additional years of schooling also have positive overall impact on society.
private schools obliged to follow?
y
While
we enjoy the support of private school associations, we are yet to discuss with them the implementation of the program.
Where are we at now?
y
y
y
Insufficient mastery of basic competencies is common due to a congested curriculum. The 12 year curriculum is being delivered in 10 years. High school graduates are younger than 18 years old and lack basic competencies and maturity. They cannot legally enter into contracts and are not emotionally mature for entrepreneurship / employment. Other countries view the 10-year education cycle as insufficient.
K+12 Education Vision
Gr aduates of Enhanced K+12 Basic Education Progr am will: y y y y y y y
Acquire
mastery of basic competencies. Be more emotionally mature. Be socially aware, pro-active, involved in public and civic affairs. Be adequately prepared for the world of work or entrepreneurship or higher education. Be legally employable with potential for better earnings. Be globally competitive. Every graduate of the Enhanced K+12 Basic Education Program 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 ones self.
http://www.gov.ph/2010/11/02/briefer-on-the-enhanced-k12-basic-education-program/
thats rightto make it more competitive to other private colleges. gobyerno talaga palagi na lang kinu kompara at nangongopya sa systema ng ibang bansa. Hindi lahat ng problema pare pareho ang solusyon, kun ang K+12 na solusyon ng ibang bansa ay effective sa kanila hindi ibig sabihin na epektibo din sa atina lot of factors that need to be consider. hindi nga kayo makapagpatayo ng mga bagong gusali sa public schools, 50 + student na kami noon nag graduate ako ng high school at 1998 pa yun, iwan ko kun ilan na studyante sa isang section pagkalipas ng sampung taon http://noel.feria.name/blog/2010/08/23/huntahan-the-proposed-k-12-basic-education-program-ofthe-philippines/
