CHAPTER 1

THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM, BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY AND

REVEIW OF RELATED LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION

According to the Department of Education and CHED, Philippines is the last

country in Asia and one of the only three countries worldwide with a 10-year pre-
university cycle. That is why they made an amendment in the school system
and introduced K to 12 program also known as senior high school.
Senior high school is two years of specialized upper secondary education.
This was introduced in the Philippines in 2013 and was implemented in 2017
adding additional two years of high school to the current system. It is believed
that a 12-year program is found to be the best period for learning under basic
education. It is also the recognised standard for students and professionals
globally. That’s why through this change, it is expected that the school system in
the Philippines would be in line with the international norms. These changes to
the education system is to better equip the students for employment and further
study.
Through this study, the researchers will analyze the effect and the changes
this brought to the students, specifically those who chose a course in ABM which
stands for accountancy, business and management and will later on transition to
a major in bachelor of science in accountancy in college. The researchers will
also analyze the effectiveness this change brought to their studies and
knowledge of accounting, as well as compare the efficiency of those who
graduated in a 12-year program to those who graduated in a 10-year program in
their basic education.​

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Education issues and challenges in the Philippines

Given that the preparation of the practice of a professional workforce,
which is certainly one of the components of a rich economy, forms a
significant part of the academic process, education is seen as an effective
social instrument for developing a modern nation. According to the
Department of Education, the congested curriculum is to blame for the
dismal current performance of the quality of the education in the country.
DepEd claimed that forcing in 10 years a curriculum that is learned by the
rest of the world in 12 years has bean a challenge for both the students and
the teachers. That is why in 2013 they initiated the extension of the country’s
basic education cycle from ten to twelve years which is the K to 12 program.
However, considering the tight fiscal situation and growing demands from all
other sectors, the rising living costs and the additional burden that this would
entail for households, they had to determine if it is a critical program that
 needs to be implemented.
Despite the efforts of the government to make basic education in the
Philippines accessible to everyone, lack of access to quality education
remains a major policy concern. Many of these educational reforms were
adopted against a backdrop of declining educational standards in the
1 Philippine education system during the first decade of the 21st century. A
UNESCO mid-decade assessment report of Southeast Asian education
systems, published in 2008, for example, found that participation and
achievement rates in basic education in the Philippines had fallen
dramatically, owed to chronic underfunding. After rising strongly from 85.1
percent in 1991 to 96.8 percent in 2000, net enrollment rates at the
elementary level, for instance, had dropped back down to 84.4 percent by
2005. Also by mid-decade, elementary school dropout rates had regressed
back to levels last seen in the late 1990s. The completion rate in elementary
school was estimated to be below 70 percent in 2005.

At the secondary level, problems were seen as well: the net enrollment
rate in secondary education, for example, had by 2005 dropped down to
58.5 percent, after increasing from 55.4 percent to around 66 percent
between 1991 and 2000. Tellingly perhaps, the country’s youth literacy rate,
while still being high by regional standards, fell from 96.6 percent in 1990 to
95.1 percent in 2003, making the Philippines the only country in South-East
Asia with declining youth literacy rates.
These deficiencies were reflected in the poor performance of the
students in international assessment tests such as NAT and TIMSS. In 2003,
the last year the Philippines participated in the study, the country ranked
only 34th out of 38 countries in high school mathematics and 43rd out of 46
countries in high school science.
1

To address this shortcomings, the Philippine government initiated

changes in the basic education system and boosted the budget in education.
Thus forming the 2013 basic Education Act which is the K to 12 program.
The K-12 reforms are an essential step to improve the global
competitiveness of the Philippines and bring the country up to international
standards. Implementation of the new system is progressing on schedule
and the first student cohort will graduate from the new 12-year system in
2018. the budget for education was also increased. In 2017, for instance,
allocations for the Department of Education were increased by fully 25
percent, making education the largest item on the national budget. In 2018,
allocations for education increased by another 1.7 percent and currently
stand at PHP 533.31 billion (USD $ 10.26 billion), or 24 percent of all
government expenditures (the second largest item on the national budget).
The higher education budget, likewise, was increased by almost 45 percent
between 2016 and 2017. It should be noted, however, that some of the
spending increases are simply designed to cover additional costs stemming
from the K-12 reforms. To accommodate the reforms, 86,478 classrooms
were constructed, and over 128,000 new teachers hired in the
Philippines between 2010 and 2015 alone.
 Reasons why K to 12 is needed
One of the reasons why K to 12 is implemented is to decongest the
curriculum. According to the DepEd, while the K to 12 is not the solution to all
the ills of the Philippine educational system, it will address one of its main
weaknesses—the congested curriculum. The DepEd explained that the students
are hardpressed to learn in 10 years a curriculum that is actually designed for 12
years in other countries. Hence, Filipino students are not able to achieve
comprehension and mastery, particularly of core subjects. The second reason
would be to prepare students for higher education. From the DepEd’s
assessment, secondary graduates of the current system are not adequately
prepared for college. They pointed out that this is why most of the courses, the
so-called General Education subjects, taken by first year college students are
actually remedial as they should have already been mastered in high school.
With K to 12, students will be better prepared as introductory courses that are
1 currently taught at the tertiary level will be included in the high school curriculum.
The third reason is to prepare the students for the labor market. According to the
DepEd, with the 10-year basic education cycle, students usually graduate from
high school below 18 years old, too young to legally join the labor force or put up
a business that will entail them to enter into contracts. In addition, because they
have not mastered the necessary competencies, graduates of the current
system often lack skills and hence, are vulnerable to exploitative labor practices.
The DepEd claimed that K to 12 will empower them to confidently join the labor
market as by the time they graduate they are already of legal age and equipped
with sufficient skills. Lastly, K to 12 program is needed to comply with the global
standards. At present, graduates who wish to work abroad are at a disadvantage
because they are not automatically recognized as professionals while students
who apply for postgraduate studies often have to enrol in or take remedial
courses to meet the entrance requirements of the foreign country.

Outbound academic mobility

Filipino students are well-suited for international mobility, due to their English
language abilities. That said, the number of outbound degree students has
increased consistently over the years and there is good reason to believe that
international student flows from the Philippines will expand in the
future. Population growth and the prospect of increasing economic prosperity
imply that the total number of tertiary students in the country is set to increase
rapidly – the Philippines is expected to be among the world’s top 20 countries in
terms of tertiary enrollments by 2035. The K-12 reforms will remove barriers to
academic mobility: In an international environment accustomed to 12-year
secondary school qualifications, the anachronistic 10-year school system
hampered the mobility of Filipino students, both in terms of formal academic
qualifications and academic preparedness. K-12 reforms are therefore likely
to increase outbound mobility. Future mobility from and to the Philippines may
also be facilitated by further economic and political integration in the ASEAN
community. The long-term potential for intra-regional student mobility in this
dynamic region of 600 million people is tremendous, especially since the ASEAN
member states are trying to harmonize education systems and ease
international mobility.
Issues and concerns regarding the K to 12 program
The initiation of the DepEd for the K to 12 program has sparked many
reactions not only from the education sector but from the public as well. One of
the concerns of the public is the relationship between the length of school cycle
and quality of education. Another concern is the funding constraint and shortage
of inputs. While DepEd received the biggest slice of the national budget in 2011
(12.6%) and that it significantly increased both in nominal terms and as
percentage of gross domestic product (2.7%) compared to previous years, the
amount allocated is still well below international standards.The average share of
education in the national budget in developing countries is 20 percent.

As a result of the underinvestment in the sector, the educational system is

plagued by long standing shortages in important enabling inputs like classrooms,
teachers, chairs, textbooks and sanitation facilities. Critics of the K to 12
program pointed out that as it is, the government has yet to fully fund the existing
10- year basic education cycle. Introducing K to 12 into the picture would only
magnify the lack of resources and further strain the already insufficient education
budget. Input shortages in the existing system should hence be dealt with first
before thinking of additional school years.
Another concern is the additional expenses that would be incurred by
parents. One of the top reasons for dropping out of school is the high cost of
education.Critics argued that while K to 12 will be provided free by the
government in public schools where most of the poor enroll in, parents will still
have out-of-pocket expenses to cover their schoolchildren’s food, transportation
and allowance. Adding two more years of high school would therefore entail
additional burden on the households and this could inadvertently increase
dropouts and worsen completion rates.
Another concern for the additional two years in school is the increase of the
school leaving age. Critics contended though that increasing the school leaving
age would be particularly unfavorable to the poor who, in general, want to finish
high school in the shortest time possible so that they can help their families right
away.Adding two more years of senior high would further delay their entry into
the labor market and result in foregone earnings from work. They also added
that increasing the school leaving age would not also be an outright advantage
even if students graduate at 18 because businesses still prefer college
graduates over fresh graduates from high school.
 Another concern would be on the compliance with the global standards.
Critics maintained though that while it is important to comply with standards,
actual experience as cited by Tan (2010) showed that foreign employers look
primarily at competencies and not at the number of years of schooling when
hiring workers. Non-supporters also pointed out that not all graduates will study
or work abroad and as such, only those who will be affected by the non-
standardized cycles should be the ones to bear the costs.Instead of altering the
entire basic education cycle, an appropriate system of assessment and training
could be put in place for those who want to study or work out of the country
(Felipe and Porio, 2010).
Lastly, concerns on the effect of K to 12 on higher education institutions.
Oppositors to the K to 12 plan claimed that if two years will be added to basic
education, higher education institutions will not have incoming college freshmen
for two years because students will have to undergo senior high. This could have
disastrous effects on the HEIs’financial standing.

Outcome of the reforms in higher education

In higher education, the government seeks to expand access and
participation, but even more importantly, tries to improve the quality of education.
The Philippine National Development Plan is quite outspoken on this subject
and stated that “the number of higher education institutions in the Philippines is
ten times more than its neighboring countries’, the Philippines’ lackluster
performance in producing innovators, researchers, and knowledge producers
indicates that the country has lagged behind many of its ASEAN neighbors in
producing the researchers, innovators and solutions providers needed to
effectively function in a knowledge economy”.
The K-12 reforms will inevitably lead to decreased higher education
enrollments, at least in the short-term, since many of the students that would
usually have entered higher education after grade 10 now have to complete two
additional years of school. Between 2015/2016 and 2016/2017, the total number
of tertiary students already dropped from 4.1 million to 3.6 million – a decrease
that is particularly apparent when looking at undergraduate enrollments. Data
from the (CHED) shows that undergraduate enrollments dropped by 12.7
percent between the 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 academic years, and is
expected to drop by a further 22 percent in 2017/2018, before starting to recover
in 2018/2019, when the first K-12 cohorts start to enter higher education.
 This downturn will affect HEIs and lead to declining revenues during the
transition period – a fact that will primarily hurt private HEIs, since nearly all
of their funding comes from tuition fees. As a result, CHED anticipates that
approximately 25,000 staff, including faculty and administrators, will lose
their jobs. Changes will also be made to the undergraduate curriculum.
Since the previous curriculum compensated for the fact that students
entered with only ten years of secondary education, the revised curriculum
will have greatly reduced general education requirements.
According to DepEd, of the more than 1.2 million graduates from public
and private senior high schools in 2018, twenty-five percent (25%) or
300,000 learners will be able to obtain a college degree in the next four to
five years. Factoring in the college completion rate of 30% as per
Commission on Higher Education, we are talking about 1 million
(300,000/30%) learners entering college this year.
Regarding qualitative improvements, achievements are notable in a
number of areas, including a slight increase in the number of higher
education faculty holding higher degrees. The percentage of instructors with
master’s and doctoral degrees grew from 38.87 percent and 11.09 percent in
2010, respectively, to 40.34 and 12.62 percent in 2015. The number of HEIs
with accredited education programs, which is not mandatory in the
Philippines, increased by more than 40 percent between 2010
and 2016/2017, while the pass rates of candidates sitting for professional
licensing exams, a measure of academic effectiveness, jumped from 33.9 to
58.6 percent between 2010 and 2015.
Students enrolled at public and private HEIs in the Philippines shows
that just over 39 percent of students studied at state universities and
colleges, 6.2 percent at local universities and colleges, and a small minority
of 0.17 percent at other government schools. The largest university in the
Philippines is presently the public Polytechnic University of the Philippines,
which maintains branch campuses throughout the country. The share of
private sector enrollments in the Philippines is high by international
standards, 45.8 percent of the country’s 3.5 million tertiary students were
enrolled in public institutions in the 2016/2017 academic year.
K to 12 academic track: ABM
In the K to 12 program, students can choose academic tracks where they
could transition to their preferred major in college. The students can choose from
four different strands mainly General Academics; Science, technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics; Accountancy, Business and Management; and
Humanities and Social Sciences.
In this study, the researchers are going to focus on the ABM strand of the
academic track. In the past, most high schools would integrate a basic
Accounting course into their curriculum where they highlight only the key
concepts while providing a beginner’s guide to debits and credits. But with the
ABM strand that is a program from K to 12, students will be able to get to spend
more time understanding the courses and subjects such as Applied Economics,
Business Ethics and Social Responsibility, Accountancy, Business,
Management, Business Math, Busisness Finance, and Business Organization
and Principles in Marketing. Senior high school students will also be required to
engage themselves in the field through practical experience and immersions in
various sectors and corporate industries.

The curriculum gap in K to 12

Implementing the K to 12 program has many benefits as shown below, but it
also has a lot of issues and concerns. The reform of the education system is
supposed to result in graduates who are prepared to analyze and solve
problems, respond and adapt to changes, and internalize and live by the
learning skills. But with the implementation of the K to 12 thus far, it has been
showing some gaps to the curriculum. According to the insights of an accounting
teacher of both senior high school students and college students, there have
been shortcomings with the K to 12 program regarding the ABM strand of the
academic track. The first shortcoming is the non-inclusion of basic partnership
and corporation accounting in the curriculum. The non-inclusion is an oversight
as this topic is necessary for learners to understand better financial statement
analysis, which are covered in both Fundamentals of Accountancy, Business
and Management 2 and Business Finance courses. The second shortcoming is
the non-inclusion of basic manufacturing accounting in the curriculum. This topic
is integral for learners as they complete their capstone projects, which are
usually on production of goods for sale. The last shortcoming is the marginal
regard for taxation, which was included only as a topic in FABM2. This topic may
be enriched in college, but a deeper appreciation for preparing tax returns and
eventually paying them early on is vital to honing responsible and honest
business owners and taxpayers. There, the accounting teacher suggested to
remedy the first two shortcomings. And that is to re-plot the distribution of topics
in line with outcome-based education, this may mean focusing on salient
differences among basic financial statements of businesses according to activity
(service, merchandising, and manufacturing) and according to ownership (sole
proprietorship, partnership, and corporation). in the third shortcoming, the
teacher suggested that it may be addressed by creating an additional basic
course on regulatory requirements, which may include business permits, income
and business tax returns, and remittances of mandatory payroll deductions to
appropriate agencies. ​

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

A student’s academic performance is a key feature in education. And it is

believed and noticed that student factors that contribute to an improvement in
academic performance include regular studying, self-motivation, punctuality and
regular class attendance, hard work and interest in a subject. Also the
effectiveness and efficiency of a student include school internal elements such
as teacher’s commitment, competencies and expertise that includes teacher’s
judgment of flexibility, adaptability, innovations and the quality of learning and
teaching and job satisfaction. That is why the researchers have searched for
theoretical frameworks that would help the statement of the problem of this
study. A theoretical framework is a collection of interrelated theories or concepts
that will help guide the research. And there are several theories have been used
by researchers to examine factors that contribute to academic performance like
Spady, TInto, Bean and many more renowned authors.

Spady’s sociological theory

This theory is a widely recognised theory on student retention which was
proposed by Spady in 1970. The basic assumption of this theory is that student
dropout is best explained by a process involving an interaction between the
individual student and the university environment. In this interaction, the
student’s
attributes such as attitudes, skills and interests are exposed to influences,
expectations and demands of the university. The result of this interaction will
determine whether the student will be assimilated in the academic and social
system of the university and subsequently whether the student will be retained in
the university. Linked to this process are variables that promote the academic
and social integration of students in higher education. These variables are family
background, academic potential, normative congruence, grade performance,
intellectual development and peer support. All these variables are further linked
to two other variables namely satisfaction with the university environment and
institutional commitment.
Social constructivism theory
This theory was adopted by Boa in 2014 which believes that people’s
learning and thinking is influenced within a social and cultural context. According
to this theory, knowledge is collaborative and situated, and argued that
individual’s ability to learn and think begin from their social interaction. So as a
result, social interaction is good for cognitive development.

Goal theory
This goal theory explains the meaning students attach to their academic
achievement and purpose for that action. This theory states that students are
likely to perform better if they have awareness and understanding in the factors
that influence their academic performance.

Critical theory
Critical theory is based on the fact that individuals who found themselves in
a particular situation, should be given freedom from this situation which seems to
enslave them but should be guided to develop their behaviour in a democratic
manner.

Thorndike’s law of readiness

The law of readiness stresses that learning considers the readiness of the
learner so that it could be more lasting and more effective. This law relates with
the topic of the study of the effectiveness and readiness of the students,
teachers and schools with the K to 12 curriculum program. Likewise, this level of
readiness could account for the quality of learning that students gain and it could
also be used as reference to predict future outcomes.

Resource-based theory
This theory is by Wright and it supports the law of readiness, which
highlighted the unique contribution of human, organizational and physical
resources possessed by the organization. As the organization acquires
additional resources, unique synergies occur between its new and existing
resources and because each organization already possess a distinct
combination of human, organizational and physical resources, the particular type
of synergies that occur will differ from one organization to another.

Production Function Approach

This is theoretical model developed in 1767 by A.R.J. Turgot that is built on
the principle of input-output approach. This approach has been used by many
researchers to assess factors which contribute in academic performance where
the student’s academic achievement is treated as the output factor and the input
factors are the independent variables like teaching and learning materials,
teacher quality and family factors.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
The study is all about:
The Effects of implementing K-12 program to the new students. In this
study, the researcher needs 50 respondents coming from different sections
who graduated in Senior High School. The method that the researchers will
use is a Survey form, to be able to distinguish the exact and specific
 answers of the respondents.
The Process include in the study, is the random survey. Where in the
researcher will choose students from the vicinity of PSBA to make the results
credible and reliable.
The Output of this study is expected to determine The Effects of being a
student under the K-12 Program both Positive and Negative. This study can
be helpful for the future students and teachers.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This study aims to know the different effects of implementing the K-12
Program to their Academic Performance.
1. Is there an advantage on students that is under the K-12 program who has
taken the course of BSA compare to the students that is not under the K-
12 program?

2. What are the perspectives of the students regarding K-12 curriculum?

3. Did the students of K-12 program become more efficient?

4.

HYPOTHESIS

There is a significant Effect of the K-12 program to their Academic

Performance.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Since the K-12 program was only recently implemented in the

Philippines, there is little literature or research regarding what would be its
effects on the student’s perceptions as well as preferences for their careers
after graduating from senior high. Existing papers only use projections based
from the previous curriculums data, and thus an actual research based on
the new students is needed to be done to better have an idea what its
effects would be, and this thesis is a stepping stone towards bridging the
gap in literature.

This research then can help towards the realization of what may be
improved upon in gearing up the next generation, as not only do we prepare
them for their own future, but also for the advancement and progress of the
Philippines as a whole.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

 This study focuses on the students who graduated from Senior High
School who chose ABM courses. This study will take place in Philippine
School of Business Administration in Quezon City. The study will be
conducted on February 2020.