A REFLECTION ON THE K TO 12 IMPLEMENTATION

MAGDALENA VERGARA DELA CRUZ

The continuous deterioration of the quality of education in the Philippines has prompted the Department of Education to implement the K to 12 system which basically include the universal kindergarten, 6 years of elementary, 4 years of junior high school with an additional 2 years for senior high school. The program also aims to uplift the quality of education in the Philippines in order for graduates to easily be employed. The proposal aims to render employable 18 years old high school graduates by giving them a longer time to study and master employable skills.

However, embracing and adapting the K to 12 Curriculum is not an easy task in the beginning of its implementation because of the varied issues and questions arising regarding its feasibility in the Philippines. Nevertheless, teachers and students alike have learned to accept that K to 12 Curriculum is deemed to be implemented in our country despite of the many petitions having been filed to prevent the implementation of this system. The Department of Education insisted that the K to 12 program will enhance the quality of education in our country and they were actually equally confident that they were prepared for pioneering the batch of Senior High School last June 2016.

Despite of the countless criticisms of the K to 12 system it was seemingly apparent that it also has its own excellent features which is the multiple intelligences where students would be equipped with skills necessary to be gainfully employed after Senior High School. In this regard, everybody became cooperative with the requirements that the curriculum implements. The system aims to fully enhance the students in their mental and cognitive aspects to become a globally competitive individual. In every grade level, students were able to show their skills in oral and written performances, whether individually or by group. There were also the uses of varied innovations and in doing so the students show hunger for new ideas and a sheer amount of vigor in learning.

Thus, in this kind of setting, teachers are capable of helping their students to realize their potential in every performance they do inside the class, help and guide them to adapt in the new curriculum and we may never know that maybe this will push our students to do more and to help them discover that this could be a great help in their future plans.

Therefore, K to 12 curriculum may be considered as a burden for parents due to its additional years in the secondary level, but later on they will realize that it is an advantage for many Filipino young learners who intend to work early to eke out a living for their family.

As long as we turn to see this scenario in a third point of view and open our minds to change we will be able to realize the advantageous factors this curriculum will yield to us. As an individual, we have to strive beyond the beyond and transcend from mediocrity or else we will fall behind the overzealous attempts of mankind to progress.

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The author is Teacher III at San Matias National High School, Sto. Tomas, Pampanga