After the implementation of the new K-12 curriculum, though there were many

people, particularly the parents, who were dubious of its promise of improving the
educational system, at very least, it showed some good results. The
implementation of the mother-tongue based multilingual education, which uses
the student’s native language for the early years of education produced better
and faster learners (Daludado n.d.). Following that, in the early years the
program’s implementation, there was an influx of 22.9 million students who came
and enrolled in public schools nationwide, a feat that is truly admirable
(Geronimo 2016). At the same time, for the first years of the curriculum
implementation, the high school dropout rate decreased, and while there was a
decline in the cumulative survival rate of students, especially immediately after
the implementation of the curriculum, it gradually and steadily increased in the
succeeding years (Cardiño 2016; Palanca 2015). The sudden addition of two
years to high school also meant the need for more teachers, which could be
understood as DepEd decides to hire 40,000 teachers to have them teach in
public schools (Uy 2017), in addition to other professionals address the shortage
of experts that could teach in the other tracks in the curriculum, particularly the
technical-vocational and the sports tracks (Uy 2016).

As the Chinese say, “there are no free lunches in this world,” which means that
nothing comes without a price, and even the implementation of the new
curriculum is not exempt from this. In the midst of all the improvements brought
about by the new curriculum, a number of problems lurk about. First among of
these is the additional demand for classrooms and teachers, which has
intensified as the classroom shortages alone amounted to almost 14 thousand,
while almost 90 thousand more teachers are needed nationwide, not to mention
the 235 million instructional and learning materials that have yet to be given to
those needing them, among others (Umil 2017). With the addition of 2 years to
high school, it is inevitable that there will be a two-year gap in college, and this
resulted in the displacement of more than 3000 higher education institutions
nationwide (Geronimo 2016). Adding to that, while the basic education curriculum
of the K-12 program could be said to be quite good, the same could not be said
for the senior high school’s; the curriculum is overly congested, with 15 “core”
subjects and 16 “track” subjects, with the latter condensed into 9 “contextualized”
and 7 “specialization” subjects, with each of these subjects requiring 80 hours
per semester (Taborasj 2018).There is also the fact that adding more years to
high school meant additional expenses, something that poor families cannot
afford, as a study showed that the average student would need at least an
average of P20,000 a year to cover all of the necessary expenses (Lacorte n.d.).
It is also predicted that tuition rates are set to increase by as much as 29%
according to DepEd (Anakbayan 2015). Lastly, in a presentation by Fr. Onofre
Inocensio Jr., SDB, the Superintendent of the Don Bosco schools and TVET
Centers , he stated that that “core curriculum” requirement of senior high schools
was so heavy that there would not be enough time for the students to develop
the hands-on skills that the manufacturing industry requires (Taborasj 2018).
The Philippine government is not just sitting idly by watching as all of these
problems unfold one by one. They implemented programs that provide aid to
those that are negatively affected by the shift. For example, since the
Department of Education (DepEd) understands the burden that the new
curriculum will give to the poorer families, they decided to implement the Senior
High School Voucher Program, a program that is intended for Grade 10 students
who wish to pursue senior high school in non-DepEd schools like Private
schools, Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs) and State Universities and
Colleges (SUCs) (DepEd 2016). The voucher enables students to claim a
“discount” or a deduction from the cost of tuition and other fees charged by a
non-DepEd SHS where he or she will enroll. The voucher subsidy is not given to
students directly in the form of cash but will be disbursed by DepEd to the non-
DepEd SHS where he or she enrols (DepEd 2016). As for the displaced
educators, they were also provided with much assistance as the Department of
Labor and Employment (DOLE) allotted P5 million to assist them for up to six
months while they transition to self- or full-time employment (Uy 2016). This aid
is able to assist up to 23,000 beneficiaries, each of which would be able to
receive P7000-P23000 monthly for six months, as stated previously (Uy 2016).
And while there are still classroom shortages, so far DepEd has built close to 100
thousand classrooms from 2010 to 2014, and also hired more than 30,000
teachers to help address the shortage on teachers for 2016 alone (DepEd 2016).

The law for the implementation of the K-12 curriculum, which was called Republic
Act No. 10533 was jointly approved by the House of Representatives, The
Senate and The Office of the President (The Official Gazette 2013). This law
came about with the consolidation of Senate Bill no. 3286, or the Enhanced
Basic Education Act of 2012 and House Bill no. 6643 or the K-12 Bill (The Official
Gazette 2013). The bill was approved by the Senate and the House of
Representatives on January 30, 2013 on the third session of the fifteenth
congress and then finally by the Office of the President on May 15, 2013.
DepEd is responsible for the management and regulation of basic education in
the Philippines, together with the various schools and institutions that provide
education for the people in the country and it also exercises full authority over
public schools and also nominal control over private schools so as to make sure
that the schools abide by the law and implements the current curriculum and
standards into their system (The Official Gazette 2013). Also, to ensure the
efficient and effective implementation of the K-12 curriculum, DepEd works
together with other concerned institutions and organizations like CHED, DOLE,
etc.(The Official Gazette)

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the Technical Education and

Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and other government agencies, as well
as the concerned stakeholders work in concert with DepEd to make the
implementation of the K-12 curriculum more efficient (The Official Gazette 2013).
While DepEd is responsible for overseeing all primary and secondary education
schools nationwide, CHED on the other hand is responsible for managing the
academically-oriented colleges and universities in the country (Wikipedia n.d.).
TESDA, on the other hand, oversees the development of technical and
vocational education institutions and programs in the country, including the
technical-vocational track of the new curriculum as it gives the graduates national
certificates which could allow them to be able to find employment should they
decide to do so immediately after graduation from high school (Wikipedia n.d.).
Lastly, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Professional
Regulation Commission (PRC), the Department of Science and Technology
(DOST), CHED, TESDA, and the business chambers have each have a
representative that works as consultants for the Curriculum Consultative
Committee headed by the DepEd secretary (The Official Gazette 2013).
Reference List:
Cardiño, Arianne. 2016. “DepEd: K-12 program to reduce number of dropouts”
The Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
(http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/791296/deped-k-12-program-to-reduce-number-of-
dropouts)
Uy, Jocelyn. 2017. “40,000 new teachers to work in public schools this June” The
Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
(http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/898253/40000-new-teachers-to-work-in-public-
schools-this-june)
Uy, Jocelyn. 2016. “P15-M grants available to axed tutors” The Philippine Daily
Inquirer. Retrieved February 19, 2018. (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/825175/p15-
m-grants-available-to-axed-tutors)
Uy, Jocelyn. 2016. “P500M allotted for those displaced by K-12 program” The
Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
(http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/777460/p500m-allotted-for-those-displaced-by-k-12-
program)
Uy, Jocelyn. 2016. “DepEd to hire other types of professionals for senior high
schools” The Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved February 19, 2018
(http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/854689/deped-to-hire-other-types-of-professionals-
for-senior-high-schools)
Umil, Anne Marxze. “New school year, same old problems: K to 12, shortages in
classrooms, teachers” Retrieved Feb. 19, 2016
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shortages-classrooms-teachers/)
Geronimo, Jee. 2016. “Over 3000 college workers displaced due to K to 12”
Retrieved February 20, 2018. (https://www.rappler.com/nation/144747-college-
workers-displaced-k-12)
Geronimo, Jee. 2016. “22.9M students return to public schools nationwide”
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philippines-school-opening-2017)
Department of Education (DepEd). 2016. “K to 12 General Information” Retrieved
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Department of Education (DepEd). 2016. “Voucher Program” Retrieved February
20, 2018. (http://www.deped.gov.ph/k-to-12/faq/voucher-program)
The Official Gazette. 2013. “Republic Act No. 10533” Retrieved February 20,
2018. (http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2013/05/15/republic-act-no-10533/)
Taborasj. 2018. “Serious Problems with the K-12 Senior High School
Curriculum”. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
(https://taborasj.wordpress.com/2014/02/18/serious-problems-with-the-k-12-
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Anakbayan. 2015. “K-12 to push tuition rates higher; parents to be burdened by
more than P25,000-P50,000 in additional expenses.” Retrieved February 21,
2018.
(http://www.anakbayan.org/k-12-to-push-tuition-rates-higher-parents-to-be-
burdened-by-more-than-p25000-p50000-in-additional-expenses/)
Palanca, Troy James. 2015. “A look at dropout rates in the Philippines” Retrieved
March 8, 2018
(http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/scitech/science/534610/a-look-at-dropout-
rates-in-the-philippines/story/)
Lacorte, Emelita. N.d. “Research K to 12 Chapters 1 to 5 Readiness” Retrieved
March 8, 2015
(https://www.academia.edu/6791837/Research_K_to_12_chapters_1_to_5_REA
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Wikipedia. N.d. “Commission on Higher Education” Retrieved February 20, 2018

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commission_on_Higher_Education_(Philippines))
Wikipedia. N.d. “Technical Education and Skills Development Authority”
Retrieved February 20, 2018
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_Education_and_Skills_Development_Aut
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