Majority of us believes that a good educational background is needed in order for an

individual to accomplish success. According to Nelson Mandela, former president of South

Africa, Education is the most powerful weapon in changing the world. It goes without saying

that only with the advent of education can people gain knowledge about the world around us, and

use this exact knowledge to strengthen their perspective in life, and also generate and innovate

things for the good of mankind.

In our countrys case, back in 2011, according to Guillermo M. Luz, co-chairman of the

National Competitiveness Council (NCC), the Philippines ranks a poor seventh among nine

Southeast Asian nations in areas of education and innovation. In connection to this, according to

World Bank Philippines Skills Report in 2010, a serious gap in critical skills of the graduates

such as, initiative, creativity, problem solving, technical and communication skills, is apparent. It

is also a known fact, that the Philippines is the last country in Asia and one of only three

countries worldwide with a 10-year pre-university cycle. This educational program resulted to a

common occurrence of poor mastery of the lesson by the students due to the congested

curriculum and a great number of population in the public schools. According to Brother Armin

Altamirano Luistro FSC, the proponent of the K - 12 program, the problems in education that the

country has to face does not only concerns the budget but the urban problem as a whole. By

which, he also stated that it cannot be solved just by building, and that it should be solve by

innovating the curriculum itself. Thus, the K to 12 Program has been born.

The K to 12 program has been started to be implemented in phase since school year 2012

2013. This program will require all the incoming students to enroll into two more years of

basic education. It includes at least a year of kindergarten, 6 years of elementary, 4 years of

junior high school with an additional 2 years for senior high school. During the kindergarten the
student will learn the alphabet, numbers, shapes, and colors through games, songs, and dances, in

their Mother Tongue. After that, students in Grades 1 to 10 will experience an enhanced, context-

based, and spiral progression learning curriculum with the following subjects: Mother Tongue;

Filipino; English; Mathematics; Science; Araling Panlipunan; Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao (EsP);

Music; Arts; Physical Education; Health; Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan (EPP); and

Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE). Lastly, the additional two years, Senior High

School, will focus on two years of specialized upper secondary education; students may choose a

specialization based on aptitude, interests, and school capacity. Their choice of career track will

define the content of the subjects that they will take in Grades 11 and 12. There three tracks

available for the students to choose from: Academic; Technical-Vocational-Livelihood; and

Sports and Arts. The Academic track is comprised of three strands: Business, Accountancy,

Management (BAM); Humanities, Education, Social Sciences (HESS); and Science, Technology,

Engineering, Mathematics (STEM).

The K to 12 programs aims to provide students sufficient time for mastery of concepts

and skills, develop lifelong learners, and prepare graduates for tertiary education, middle-level

skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship. It is also found out that a 12 year

program is the best period for learning under basic education; and it is also the recognized

standard for students and professionals globally. All of this is in accordance with Republic Act

10533, Section 2, which states that The State shall establish, maintain and support a complete,

adequate, and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of the people, the country and

society-at-large.

The K to 12 Program sparked a lot of arguments from the moment it was proposed. There

are people who believes that the program is unnecessary and insignificant, but still there are
others who think the other way around. They believe that the K to 12 program will not just help

improve the Philippines Educational System, but also the country as a whole.

The enhancement of the quality of the basic education in the Philippines is one of the

advantages of the K-12 system. It is substantial, because it would help students to be equipped

with the proper skills for battling in the real world once he graduates. The K-12 also helps

students, who are unable to study in college immediately after graduating high school, to be

qualified as professionals in terms of job hunting, and also in having the skills in establishing

their own business. The program also would also give the Filipinos who graduated from it the

international competency, which the Philippines Educational System is lacking before K-12 was

implemented. And last but not least the K-12 system will help in avoidance of having a

congested curriculum, which is the primarily cause of the poor mastery of lessons by the student.
 Reference
Nelson Mandela
Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela

Max V. De Leon (2011/06/15) Philippine education ranked 'poor'. Business Mirror.

Retrieved from http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/06/14/11/philippine-education-ranked-
poor

World Bank
Philippines Skills Report 2011 (File)
Retrieved from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EASTASIAPACIFICEXT/Resources/226300-
1279680449418/HigherEd_PhilippinesSkillsReport.pdf

Official Gazette
The K-12 Basic Education Program.
Retrieved from http://www.gov.ph/k-12/

Official Gazette
Republic Act 10533
Retrieve from http://www.gov.ph/2013/05/15/republic-act-no-10533/