The K to 12 envisioned to address problems that beset the educational system more

specifically on the performance and unemployment of school leavers within its two years of
implementation seems a failure. News from government institution cited that there have
been a growing number of unemployment or underemployment among educated workers.
The K to 12 curriculum seems to create a skill mismatch because of scarcity of educational
materials, IT equipment and lack of teachers.
The K to 12 curriculum, I found it as a mismatch to our learners, economic situations,
and readiness. This curriculum had been patterned from other countries which is 1 st to 2nd
world countries compared to ours. This is not a one-sized fit all curriculum, imagine a highly
urbanized country compared to an agricultural country using the same educational
curriculum, it fails to address the needs of the learners. We tend to race with other
countries, but we are still beyond from them because of meager and limited educational
resources. In our school alone, a barangay school, the curriculum dictates us to be
technologically oriented in the teaching-learning process, but due to its remoteness,
students are just imagining what an internet would be. The curriculum focuses being
globally competitive but failed to focus in developing it own resources.
The changes in curriculum should reflect the country’s development aspirations that
is attainable. However, there is apparently no learning area or competency in the present K
to 12 curriculum that aims to develop the ingenuity and capacity of Filipino students to
develop new technologies and build new forms of knowledge needed to help strengthen the
country’s industries. These would have helped create meaningful jobs and provide a
sustainable solution to the country’s chronic jobs crisis. The reforms on the educational
system, only focus on building skills needed by the global market. There should be a
program that would particularly focus on agriculture and bring back the time that our country
is once number one in Asia in terms of agriculture. But this K to 12, students are expected
to work after taking up vocational and technical trainings in high school. The curriculum
changes remain unsupportive of a progressive economy where students’ skills are
developed to contribute to its development.

Government’s recent pronouncement that the growing number of unemployment among

educated workers is a result of jobs-skills mismatch does not address the reasons behind
job scarcity in the country, research group IBON said.

Latest official figures show that in 2012, almost eight out of 10 unemployed are high-school
or college-educated. Three out of 10 reached college-level of education or are even
graduates of post-graduate studies, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO).

The research group said that majority of Filipinos are finding it difficult to get jobs because
employment is scarce, and not because it reflects a mismatch between the school
curriculum and job availability. IBON added that the job scarcity in the country is due to a
weak industrial sector, particularly domestic manufacturing, which would have created
sufficient jobs in the country. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its 2013 report also
recognized that a strong industrial base is vital in increasing jobs and making growth more
inclusive and sustainable.

With the absence of government resolve to substantially increase the education budget, the
lack of decent jobs in many parts of the country remains a barrier for parents to send their
children to school, whether under a 10-year or 12-year education cycle. On the other hand,
the same lack of decent jobs is to blame for graduates failing to land the much-needed jobs.
NSO figures show that on the average, there are 1.4 million Filipinos under 15-24 years old
who did not have jobs in 2012. Year on year, youth unemployment rate was higher in
January 2013 at 16.6% compared to the same period in 2012.

According to IBON, reforms on the educational system, such as the recently-signed K to 12

Law, only focus on building skills needed by the global market. With K to 12, students are
expected to work after taking up vocational and technical trainings in high school. The
curriculum changes remain unsupportive of a progressive economy where students’ skills
are developed to contribute to its development.

. (end)YES. The expansion of our educational system would create and generate greater and equal
opportunities to every individual. In one of the DepEd Thrust which is the Alternative Learning System
(ALS) or the Non formal Education which offers mobile learning environment, this program created large
opportunity among out of school youth to access education and generated massive enrollment and
subsequently increased literacy rate in our society. The An educated society is crucial factor for
economic growth. We need people to continue to learn and research to constantly stay
innovative. Countries with higher literacy rates also tend to be in better economic situations. With a
more educated population, more employment opportunities are opened. With education, people can
become better citizens, knowing right from wrong, allowing for a better society where laws are
followed. An educated nation knows about the importance of voting, doing so with the knowledge not
blindly, but also understanding what their party truly stands for. Education can also help people get jobs,
which is what a nation thrives on. Hence, this expansion of educational opportunity has a great impact
in nation building.

This Expansion of educational opportunities supports the Theory of Reconstructionism

which emphasizes in addressing social questions and create better society. This Philosophy
recognizes that education must be the means of preparing people for creating a new social
order. In the expansion of Educational opportunities, education serves as a vehicle in social
change such as literacy, oppressions, injustice and even poverty. Therefore, curriculum must
focus on student experience and taking social action on real problems, such as violence,
hunger, international terrorism, inflation, and inequality. Strategies for dealing with
controversial issues inquiry, dialogue, and multiple perspectives are the focus. Community-
based learning and bringing the world into the classroom are also strategies.
 ThisReconstructionism/Critical Theory
Social reconstructionism is a philosophy that emphasizes the addressing of social
questions and a quest to create a better society and worldwide democracy.
Reconstructionist educators focus on a curriculum that highlights social reform as the aim
of education. Theodore Brameld (1904-1987) was the founder of social
reconstructionism, in reaction against the realities of World War II. He recognized the
potential for either human annihilation through technology and human cruelty or the
capacity to create a beneficent society using technology and human compassion. George
Counts (1889-1974) recognized that education was the means of preparing people for
creating this new social order.

Critical theorists, like social reconstructionists, believe that systems must be changed to
overcome oppression and improve human conditions. Paulo Freire (1921-1997) was a
Brazilian whose experiences living in poverty led him to champion education and literacy
as the vehicle for social change. In his view, humans must learn to resist oppression and
not become its victims, nor oppress others. To do so requires dialog and critical
consciousness, the development of awareness to overcome domination and oppression.
Rather than "teaching as banking," in which the educator deposits information into
students' heads, Freire saw teaching and learning as a process of inquiry in which the
child must invent and reinvent the world.

For social reconstructionists and critical theorists,

1. In this time of pandemic and with the kind of learning modality which is the Modular Learning
created a vast problem not only with the pupils and parents but also with the teachers. This
Modular Learning is a very expensive amidst of national pronouncement of the DepEd that
enough funds are being exhausted in this material but in schools, teachers are resorting from
asking donations just to provide modules for the pupils. This has been properly addressed if the
DepEd take the suggestions of a congressman who instead to produce a lasting books rather
than an expensive modules.

A shortage of teachers harms students, teachers, and the public education system as a whole. Lack of
sufficient, qualified teachers and staff instability threaten students’ ability to learn and reduce teachers’
effectiveness, and high teacher turnover consumes economic resources that could be better deployed
elsewhere. The teacher shortage makes it more difficult to build a solid reputation for teaching and to
professionalize it. The school cannot solve this issue, instead our government, it allocates funds for the
hiring of new teachers or even allow local funds to finance the hiring of teacher aids. This would not
only address the problem of the school, but it also addresses the unemployment of teachers.

The main problem which most of schools are experiencing right now is poor academic
performance of students as it was indicated recently in the NAT. This problem sprouted from a different
and specific problem that includes (1) the lack of support from parents the school curriculum, (2) the
inadequate teaching learning process, insufficient instructional materials and (3) lack of teacher training.
 Lack of Support from the parents is not a factor beyond teacher’s control but teachers’ initiative
can help solving it. There must be a monthly PTA conferences and home visits not only to the students
but also to the parents, this would create a closer parent- teacher relationships.

The prevalent problem of scarcity of learning and instructional materials is not a new issue.
Government should invest more in books and other learning resources. Teachers can also use
indigenous materials in making daily instructional materials.

Re-skilling and up-skilling of teachers is also needed to meet the demand of the changing
curriculum. Seminars, workshops , symposium and LAC sessions should be conducted regularly.