K to 12 General Information

What is the K to 12 Program?

The K to 12 Program covers 13 years of basic education with the following key stages:

Kindergarten to Grade 3

Grades 4 to 6

Grades 7 to 10 (Junior High School)

Grades 11 and 12 (Senior High School)

Why are we now implementing 12 years of basic education?

The Philippines is the last country in Asia and one of only three countries worldwide
with a 10-year pre-university cycle (Angola and Djibouti are the other two).

A 12-year program is found to be the best period for learning under basic education.
It is also the recognized standard for students and professionals globally.
What has been done to get ready for K to 12? Are we really ready for K to 12?

SY 2011-2012: Universal Kindergarten implementation begins

SY 2012-2013: Enhanced curriculum for Grades 1-7 implemented
2013: K to 12 enacted into Law
2014: Curriculum for Grades 11-12 finished
This 2015, we are getting ready for the implementation of Senior High
School (SHS) in SY 2016-2017.
We are on the fifth year of the implementation of the K to 12 Program. Our
last mile is the Senior High School. All 221 divisions of the Department of
Education (DepEd) have finished planning and have figures on enrolment a
year in advance. These plans were reviewed by a separate team and
finalized upon consultation with other stakeholders.
Classrooms: DepEd has built 66,813 classrooms from 2010 to
2013. There are 33,608 classrooms completed and undergoing
construction in 2014. As of DepEd is planning to establish 5,899 Senior
High Schools nationwide. As of April 30, 2015, DepEd has issued
provisional permits to 1,866 private schools set to offer Senior High School
in 2016.

Teachers: From 2010-2014, DepEd has filled 128,105 new teacher

items. DepEd is targeting two kinds of teachers: those who will teach the
core subjects, and those who will teach the specialized subjects per track.
DepEd will hire 37,000 teachers for Senior High School for 2016 alone.
Textbooks: Learning materials are being produced for elementary
to junior high while textbooks for Senior High School (which has
specialized subjects) are being bid out.
Curriculum: The K to 12 curriculum is standards- and competencebased. It is inclusive and built around the needs of the learners and the
community. The curriculum is done and is available on the DepEd website.
It is the first time in history that the entire curriculum is digitized and
made accessible to the public.
Private SHS: There are 2,199 private schools cleared to offer Senior High
School and over 200 more being processed.

How will K to 12 affect the college curriculum?

The College General Education curriculum will have fewer units. Subjects
that have been taken up in Basic Education will be removed from the
College General Education curriculum.
Details of the new GE Curriculum may be found in CHED Memorandum
Order No. 20, series of 2013.

Ive been hearing that a lot of people have not been consulted regarding K to 12. Is this true?

DepEd has always been transparent in the planning and implementation of

K to 12. There have been regular consultations with various sectors since
2010, before the law was passed, during the crafting of the IRR, and
during implementations. DepEd representatives have also attended
various fora and conferences, including legislative inquiries, regarding K
to12. We are open to criticisms and suggestions regarding this.

How can I help improve basic education?

Private partners can donate through the Adopt-A-School program. A 150%

tax incentive will be provided for every contribution.
Help spread awareness and information on the K to 12 Program.

Curriculum
How will the current curriculum be affected by K to 12? What subjects will be added and
removed?

The current curriculum has been enhanced for K to 12 and now gives more
focus to allow mastery of learning.

For the new Senior High School grades (Grades 11 and 12), core subjects
such as Mathematics, Science and Language will be strengthened.
Specializations or tracks in students areas of interest will also be offered.
Changes to specific subjects are detailed in the K to 12 Curriculum Guides,
viewable and downloadable at bit.ly/kto12curriculum.

How will schools implementing special curricular programs such as science high schools,
high schools for the arts, and technical vocational schools be affected by K to 12?

Schools with special curricular programs will implement enriched

curriculums specific to their program (e.g. science, arts) following the K to
12 standards.

How will multi-grade teaching be affected by K to 12?

Multi-grade teaching will continue and will use the K to 12 Curriculum.

How will specific learning groups such as indigenous people, Muslim learners, and people
with special needs be affected by K to 12?

The K to 12 Curriculum was designed to address diverse learner needs,

and may be adapted to fit specific learner groups.

Which Mother Tongue will be used as the language of instruction in multi-cultural areas?

The principle of MTB-MLE is to use the language that learners are most
comfortable and familiar with; therefore, the common language in the area
or lingua franca shall be used as the language of instruction.
There are currently 19 mother tongue languages:
Akianon
Bahasa Sug
Bikol
Cebuano
Chabacano
Hiligaynon
Iloko
Ivatan
Kapampangan
Kinaray-a
Maguindanaoan
Meranao
Pangasinense
Sambal
Surigaonon
Tagalog
Waray
Yakan
Ybanag

K to 12 Curriculum