Critical Analysis On K To 12 Basic Education in The Philippines

Republic of the Philippines
Cebu Normal University

Osmeña Blvd. Cebu City, 6000 Philippines
College of Arts & Sciences
Telephone No.: (+63 32) 254 6814 local 140
Email: cnucas@cnu.edu.ph
Website: www.cnu.edu.ph
Val Christian Ricaborda
BA Political Science III-B
Teaching Profession
Critical Analysis on the K to 12 Basic Education in Philippines
The K-12 system was signed into law by the former President Benigno Aquino III on
the 15th day of May last 2013 with the passage of the Enhanced Basic Education Act 2013
(Republic Act 105333). The Philippine was the last country in Asia with a 10-year pre-
university cycle. With the passage of the legislation, students will now attend Kindergarten
and 12 years of basic education (six years of primary education , four years of Junior High
School , and two years of Senior High School ( SHS)), before advancing to higher education
(Rappler, 2013). According to President Aquino, on the signing of the law, that his
administration would have made sure that this additional years in education would be
beneficial to the students. By accelerating reciprocal awareness of Filipino graduates and
professionals in other countries, the K to 12 program will promote global competency.
The new curriculum had enabled students to choose from three paths: Academic,
Technical-Vocational-Livelihood, and Sports and Arts. It also had provided students with
opportunities for immersion, adequate exposure to a number of industries, and experience
in their chosen direction. Although this new program has been effective in other countries,
it has not been well-organized here in the Philippine setting due to its unpreparedness and
lack of initiative to assess what the student needs. There were drawbacks that had
determined its incompetency in the academe, like the lack of classrooms, hired teachers
(especially in public schools), the resources and the facility were not enough to
accommodate the students’ field of study (e.g. laboratory for STEM students).
I do not understand why the Aquino administration had to pursue this program with
no enough evaluation to ensure that everything had been set systematically when it would
be implemented. I believe the outline of this program was well-versed and crafted critically.
The problem, however, was the lack of assessment on the subjects who were the students,
the first batch of the program. They were mostly affected of the implementation because they
were like an army who were sent in the battlefield without a contingency plan to find out
with certainty the omission of its operation. Parents were likewise affected of this new
implementation. When I was in my first day of senior high, I heard a lot of complaints on the
program because, according to them, it was just a waste of money and would delay their
sons/daughters to graduate in college. Well, that is so true. Poor parents have to work extra
effort to support their children for their education.
The K-12 program might have offered a decongested 12-year program that would
give students sufficient time to master their kills and absorb basic competencies in
international setting. That was a pretty good objective of this program though. However,
they had not seen the other underlying factors of the implementation at wider lens. Students
might have possibly developed a set of skills and prepared them to the direction they want
to take in college, but I think that is only a hypothetical conclusion based on an inductive
decision. There was no high-value of certainty that all students wanted to advance in college,
some of them just wanted to finish high school to get a diploma and work. Since there was
two additional years in the curriculum, students were obliged to study only for compliance,
not to acquire skills or to help them decide what path they would pursue in college. In
addition, this new program had not clearly met its aim to make students acquire skills and
global competencies under its objectives. There were no enough classrooms and facilities to
develop students’ learning and nurture their skills. There might be a change in educational
cycle, but for students, it was a barrier that delayed them to achieve their dreams in life
sooner.
Students will graduate from the new system at the age of 18 and will be ready upon
graduation for jobs, entrepreneurship, middle-level skills growth, and higher education. That
was the case. The program had promised the students to get a job after they graduate, but
the lapses had not been yet to perceive upon its implementation, it had been seen upon the
result. JobStreet's conducted a survey on the employment rate of K-12 program graduates
as part of its 2018 Fresh Graduate Study. It had been revealed that only 24 percent of
employers were ready to accept K-12 program graduates. It also emerged that 35 percent of
JobStreet employers were not prepared to hire graduates from K-12. The 41 percent were
still undecided. The lack of available jobs for non-college graduates was because of
insufficient work experience. That was perceived to be the major factor cited by the
employers (Jobstreet.com.ph, 2018). This means that the K-12 program had not been
evaluated its readiness and assessment on the employment of the K-12 graduates with
adequate effect that guaranteed the graduates of this program to be employed in a certain
company upon graduation. One of the outlines of the program is to train and prepare the K-
12 graduates for employment. On the other hand, based on what I observed that the most
companies that hire K-12 graduates are from BPOs and I believe that is not the standard of
job assumed by the graduates. They wanted a job that is perfectly aligned to the track they
have taken.
The K-12 program accelerates mutual recognition of Filipino graduates and

professionals in other countries. That was actually a brilliant conclusion, but the problem
was that the premise did not support its stand. The reason was the problem of our country
and that is poverty. That means that only those who can afford to study abroad are the
privileged ones to be recognized and those graduates from the poor tier of the society will
be left behind in shadow of poverty. To me, education is the key to uplift the society equally
from poverty. Education is not a plank to be won in a competition that is meant to be
recognized by other countries. It is something that our country needs to improve not for the
qualifications of other nations, but it should be a change for itself and its people. The
educational system in the Philippines is very different from other countries. It is so broad
that does not include practical application. It values more the quantity of learning than its
quality. The quality of education should have been prioritized and should make it as means
to improve the lives of the students despite the labyrinth pattern of life. We are not like other
countries who are rich, which can easily adapt change. Let us accept the fact that we belong
in the third world rank that people are in a state of poverty-stricken condition. Accordingly,
the government should make a program, particularly falls into line with those people who
are in lower tier of the society, which is flexible and beneficial for them.
Personally, K-12 is a brilliant idea of the government for us to be globally competitive

with the new skills we can have from the 2-year additional curriculum in the educational
system of our country. My concern is not the program itself but on its implementation. The
objectives were there and it was fascinating, but these had been misplaced because of the
incompetency of our government to make it as flexible as it would be for everyone. They
were not ready as they had implemented it. There were so many possibilities that they
missed to indicate in advance during its implementation. I am not putting all the blame on
the government. As I scrutinize the evaluation of K-12 program, the government was simply
not able to become aware of the underlying factors that had been possibly omitted due to
lack of initiatives and preparedness resulting to inefficiency. Lastly, the program is getting
better as time goes by since it has been implemented. Everyone is aware already the problem
and now the government is trying its best to avoid the same mistake.
References:
Fresh graduate hiring shows shifts in demand and preferences [Infographic]. (2018,
September 26). Retrieved September 25, 2020, from https://www.jobstreet.com.ph/career-
resources/fresh-graduate-hiring-shows-shifts-demand-preferences
Rappler.com. (2013, May 14). Aquino signs K-12 bill into law. Retrieved September 24, 2020,
from https://www.rappler.com/nation/aquino-signs-k-12-bill-into-law
Rappler.com. (2013, May 14). Aquino signs K-12 bill into law. Retrieved September 24, 2020,
from https://www.rappler.com/nation/aquino-signs-k-12-bill-into-law

Critical Analysis On K To 12 Basic Education in The Philippines

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Republic of the Philippines

Cebu Normal University

Val Christian Ricaborda

BA Political Science III-B

Critical Analysis on the K to 12 Basic Education in Philippines

The K-12 program accelerates mutual recognition of Filipino graduates and

Personally, K-12 is a brilliant idea of the government for us to be globally competitive

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