Angara, Gatchalian: Students burdened by K-12 program implementation

Metro Manila, Philippines - Education Secretary Sonny Angara and Senator Sherwin Gatchalian have lamented that students were burdened with the implementation of the K-12 program.

In separate statements on Friday, June 6, Angara and Gatchalian noted that the program has yet to reach its goal of producing employable senior high school (SHS) graduates and to shorten college education.

"Hindi maganda ang naging implementation nitong nakaraang dekada. Masyadong marami ang subjects at nakahon masyado ang mga bata. Hindi sila nakakapili ng subject/s,” Angara said.

[Translation: The implementation was not good this past decade. There were too many subjects and students were boxed in from choosing subjects.]

The Department of Education will have a pilot implementation of the revised SHS curriculum, which will reduce the number of core subjects, in around 800 schools this June, Angara added.

Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate basic education committee, called for the full realization of the program 12 years after it was enacted.

“College curricula must avoid duplication so students can focus on their specialization and graduate in less than four years. They should not bear the burden of extra semesters,” he said.

Remove SHS education

Angara and Gatchalian’s remarks came after Senator Jinggoy Estrada filed a bill seeking to remove the SHS from the education system.

Under Senate Bill 3001 or the Rationalized Basic Education Act, Estrada noted that students and parents have not experienced the benefits of the SHS.

“We cannot allow the learners and their parents to bear the burden of the time and cost of taking SHS,” Estrada said in his explanatory note.

The Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 added two levels in the secondary education or the SHS as it aimed to align the country’s education system with international standards.