REPUBLIC COLLEGES OF GUINOBATAN, INC

School of Gradute Studies and Research

G. Alban Street, Guinobatan , Albay

EDUCATIONAL
THEORIES AND POLICIES
(EDUC 206)

Submitted
by:
Raymart
N.Naag

Submitted
to:
Dr. Jay Commission
Republic of the Philippines
on Higher Education
OliquinoREPUBLIC COLLEGES
Region V (Bicol
OF GUINOBATAN, INC.
GRADUATE SCHOOL
G. Alban Street Iraya, Guinobatan, Albay
NAME: RAYMART N. NAAG
DATE OF SUBMISSION: July 25,2021
PROFESSOR: JAY S. OLIQUINO, PhD

TEN (10) POINTS AGENDA OF DEPED SECRETARY LEONOR MAGTOLIS BRIONES

1. Full implementation of K-12;

2. Enrichment of curricula in three areas:
a. strengthening of drug education component;
b. strengthening of gender and development component, especially in
relation to teenaged pregnancy and HIV-AIDS.
c. special emphasis on environmental awareness, disaster preparedness and
climate change adaptation and mitigation.
3. Expansion of Alternative Learning Systems
4. More school feeding programs
5. Enriched Curricular and Non-curricular Programs
6. Fostering Critical Thinking. Enriching Appreciation of Culture and Arts
7. Financial Management Reforms
8. Expand the scope of Employee Welfare
9. Active, Transparent, Consultative, Collaborative, and Corruption-free
Leadership
10. Expanded Cooperation with the Private sector and communities
1. Full implementation of K-12;
Education Secretary Leonor Briones, in DepEd Order No. 21 series of 2019
issued to undersecretaries, assistant secretaries, bureau and service
directors, regional directors, schools division superintendents, public
and private elementary and secondary schools, announced the issuance of
the “Policy Guideline of the K to 12 Basic Education Program.”
“The Policy provides a comprehensive explanation of the K to 12 Basic
Education Program and its components across all key stages,” said
Briones in the newly-issued DO. “It also provides a clear framework for
the monitoring and evaluation of the program,” she added.
Briones said that the newly-issued policy “integrates many of the
existing policies and guidelines on the K to 12.” She added that the
Policy will also provide “a reference point for ongoing/or future review
of any of its components” as may be directed by the DepEd Secretary.
Ultimately, Briones said that DepEd issued these policy guidelines “to
unify the understanding of the K to 12 and to improve the implementation
of each component, project, and activity under it.” In particularly, the
newly-issued policy aims to “explain the K to 12 curriculum and the
programs for each stage, describe the learner and his/her capabilities
at each key stage and show the curriculum, instruction and assessment
for each key stage”; to “establish the components required to ensure
effective implementation of the curriculum”; as well as to “establish
the framework to be used for monitoring and evaluation.”
Moreover, the policy also aims to “set the frameworks for the different
dimensions of the K to 12 Curriculum” and to “guide the central,
regional, and schools division offices, and schools, in effectively
organizing and managing the implementation of the K to 12 Basic
Education Program.”
Aside from guiding concerned DepEd offices and schools in effectively
organizing and managing the implementation of the K to 12 basic
education program, Briones said that the policy also aims to provide
“concrete basis for developing programs, policies, and issuances”
relative to the K to 12 implementation “at each governance level” of the
department. “The policy also benefits other stakeholders, such as
partners ad partner schools, NGOs, parents, and advocates, among others,
by providing a comprehensive explanation of what the program is, so that
they may contribute to its effective implementation and improvement,”
DepEd noted.
The K to 12 Basic Education Program, DepEd said, is “considered to be
one of the most significant educational reforms in the country” because
it “introduces programs and projects that aim to expand and improve the
delivery of basic education in the country.”
In particular, DepEd said that the K to 12 Program seeks to “provide the
Filipino learners with the necessary skills and competence to prepare
them to take on the challenges of the 21st century.” As a result, the
implementation of the K to 12 Program is expected to “make the basic
education system in the Philippines at par with international standards
by ensuring that it is appropriate, responsive ad relevant to the
learners.”
2. Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones highlighted the Alternative Learning
System (ALS) of the Department of Education (DepEd) as a legacy program of
President Rodrigo Duterte last Friday, January 17 at the Duterte Legacy
campaign launch in Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), Pasay
City.
Secretary Briones noted that the ALS program gave second chances to the
poor and marginalized in pursuing education – to learn, develop their
capacities, pursue higher education, and land better jobs.
“A very important legacy program of the President is the Alternative
Learning System. This is the first program when he assumed office that he
gave full support and special attention to,” Briones said.
Briones reported that the average number of Out of School Youth and Adults
(OSYAs) enrollees under the Duterte administration increased to 57%
compared to past administrations.
“We have reached them. We have identified them. Of those who enrolled
between 2016 of 2018, 66% or 1.3 million learners have completed their
learning objectives. This means that ALS learners completed the program,
they can take the equivalency examinations, and they can proceed to higher
education,” the Education chief added.
The yearly average number of learners passing the ALS Accreditation and
Equivalency (A&E) Test increased significantly with 56% as compared to the
average number of passers per year from 2005 to 2015. Passing rates
likewise improved from an average of 45% in 2005 to 2015 to 66% from 2015
to 2018.
Aligning ALS with the K to 12 curriculum
Briones stressed that the significant increase in the number of ALS A&E
test passers and the passing rates are due to the policy reforms that DepEd
introduced to improve the reach and quality of the ALS program.
“What we have done is that we aligned the ALS curriculum with our K to 12
curriculum[sic]. This means that it [ALS] is not inferior to the K to 12
curriculum and this explains why they [ALS learners] passed the equivalency
examinations. We tried to equip them with foundational competencies and
21st-century skills,” Briones said.
The online delivery of ALS is being explored to further expand access to
basic education and to reach more OSYAs. An ALS-specific Post Program
Support System will also be introduced for their options after ALS.
Briones expressed that the results of the reforms that DepEd has instituted
will even be more visible in learners who will develop critical and
analytical skills in preparation for the world of work, as part of the
Department’s call on raising the quality of ALS implementers and educators.
“We are now focusing on quality, we want to upskill the capacities of our
regular teachers, those in the regular schools, but we also want to raise
the quality of ALS implementers. They are also graduates [sic] of
education, they are also trained, and they are volunteers,” Briones noted

3. February 20, 2021 — In pursuit of providing assistance to students

amidst the pandemic, the Department of Education (DepEd) served
approximately 3.5 million learner-beneficiaries for its School-Based
Feeding Program (SBFP) for School Year 2020-2021.
According to a report from the Department’s Bureau of Learner Support
Services (BLSS), the SBFP provided Nutritious Food Products (NFP) and fresh
milk to 3,517,807 and 3,136,951 learners, respectively, in more than 33,000
public schools nationwide.
The SBFP surpassed its benchmark target of 1.7 million beneficiaries,
posting a 205.9% achievement rate for NFP and 176.69% for milk components
despite the implementation of distance learning.
“With the help of our partners, we have been continuing our school-based
feeding program despite school closures due to the pandemic. The food and
milk packs have been distributed directly into the homes of the learners
while in some areas, parents or guardians of the learners have been allowed
to claim the weekly food pack rations along with the learning modules,”
Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said.
“Nurturing healthy learners has been one of our priorities in the
Department ever since. With the current health situation, we will continue
to collaborate with the local government units in the distribution of
nutritious food and milk packs directly to the homes of the learners,” she
added.
DepEd was in partnership with the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC), the
National Dairy Authority (NDA), and other various farmer cooperatives and
small and medium enterprises engaged in the dairy business for the milk
component. Meanwhile, the Department tapped cooperatives and SME producers
accredited by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) of the
Department of Science and Technology (DOST) for the NFP component.
Next school year, DepEd is also eyeing to partner with more farmer-
cooperatives and SMEs to supply nutritious food and fresh milk products to
promote local agriculture.
The SBFP complies with the Republic Act No. 11037 otherwise known as the
“Masustansyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino Act”, signed by President
Rodrigo Duterte on June 18, 2020, and was later augmented in the Bayanihan
to Heal as One Act.
The SBFP aims to (1) address hunger and encourage learners to enroll; (2)
contribute to the improvement of their nutritional status; (3) provide
nourishment for their growth and development and help boost their immune
system, and (4) enhance health and nutrition values and behaviour.

Quality, Accessible, Relevant and Liberating Basic Education for All

Our Key Deliverables in DepEd
Today, DepEd is releasing a publication which embodies my assessment of the
main challenges that confront basic education, and lays down a 10-point
agenda that will guide the Department’s programs and directions under my
watch.
This document does not reinvent the wheel. It is guided by the mandates of
our constitution and international commitments, and builds on gains and
lessons from programs of past administrations. Nonetheless, this document
also reflects a number of my ideas that I hope can contribute to the
progress of our basic education.
As I emphasized in the document, I regard it as a consultation draft.
Hopefully it will be a living document that will be further shaped by the
inputs of all concerned through consultative processes such as this Summit,
and through action.
If you examine the narrative and the ten-point agenda, you will note that
it is a combination of deliverables and the means by which we hope to
fulfill these. I will focus my presentation today on our four core
deliverables, and situate the various elements of the agenda around them.
Towards the end, I would make a few points on DepEd’s attached agencies.
Finally, I will provide some remarks on the need for the three education
agencies to actively coordinate and work together.
Raise the quality of education
Our first deliverable is to raise the quality of education.
One measure of quality, the National Achievement Test or NAT, show that the
quality of education, in the sense of effective attainment of learning
standards, will continue to be the foremost challenge for the current and
longer term. (Slide: Performance in the National Achievement Test vs PDP
Target)
Towards addressing the challenge of raising the quality of education, I
have committed to pursue the full implementation of K to 12. K to 12 is not
about simply adding school years to basic education to be at par with
international norm, but more about the content and the intended outcomes in
terms of upgrading education quality. The program involved the overhaul of
our basic education curriculum to make every learner ready for higher
education or work anywhere, equipped with 21st century skills comprising
learning and innovation skills; information, media and technology skills;
effective communication skills; and life and career skills.
Our difficulty lies in the magnitude of our education system. We have a
student population of over 25 million in basic education, of which over 21
million are served by public schools. You can imagine the massive education
inputs that we need to deliver on account of overhauling the curriculum and
adding to the years of schooling, in terms of constructing new classrooms,
hiring and training of teachers, and providing textbooks, learning
materials, laboratories, and computer packages. (Slide: Launching of Senior
High School demands even more resources)
The present administration has given its immediate response by proposing an
unprecedented 31 percent increase in the DepEd budget for 2017, from PhP
433.5 to PhP 569 billion. This will bring our proposed appropriation closer
to the 4 to 6 percent of GDP ideal appropriation indicated by international
standards, and reflects the high prioritization that the President accords
to education. (Slide on budget increase from 2010 to 2017)
This belies any notion that this government is by any measure abandoning
public basic education in favor of privatization.
The Constitution is very clear that the State shall assign the highest
budgetary priority to education, and shall protect and promote the right of
all citizens to quality education at all levels. At the same time, however,
the State recognizes the complementary roles of public and private
institutions in the educational system, and we will continue to provide
compensation within reasonable levels to our learners and teachers in
private schools.
Mobilizing finance is one thing; spending it efficiently and in a timely
manner is another.
Coming into the Department, I immediately saw the need for drastic
improvement in our absorptive capacity. As of June 30, 2016, of the PhP30.3
billion adjusted allotment, PhP 17.6 billion remained unobligated. For the
2016 appropriations, of the PhP79.3 billion allotment for MOOE and Capital
Outlay, PhP63.9 billion remained unobligated.
I am committed, and we have already started, to put in place financial
management reforms that will ensure availability and timely delivery of
infrastructure and learning resources both for formal and non-formal
education. We are introducing greater leadership supervision and oversight
over Finance, Administration and Procurement. We are setting up an
Education Program Monitoring and Delivery Unit to monitor budget execution
and coordinate timely interventions when bottlenecks arise. We will develop
and establish a Financial Management Information System able to track the
status of the Department's budget releases real time. We are now in the
thick of planning our 2017 activities with the objective of breaking free
from the “catch-up” mode of budget execution that has do far characterized
the Department’s budget performance.
Make education accessible to all
Our second core deliverable is to make education accessible to all.
Even before catch phrases such as "no one left behind" has come in vogue,
our constitution has put it in no uncertain terms: The State shall take
appropriate steps to make education accessible to all.
There are clear indications that access to education has improved in recent
years (Slide: More students complete schooling). Also, enrolment in the
first year of Senior High School in 2016, which many believed will result
in massive drop-outs, turned out much better than anticipated. (Slide: SHS
enrollment)
Still, despite the efforts to ensure that every Filipino child completes at
least basic education through a free public school system, this has so far
never been achieved. According to the Functional Literacy, Education and
Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS), about 4 million Filipino children and youth
were out of school in 2013. The same survey identified the top reasons why
children and youth are not attending school. Marriage was the top reason,
followed by insufficiency of family income to send the child to school,
then followed closely by lack of personal interest. Marriage as a reason
for not attending school was inordinately more pervasive among females.
When an out of school child reaches working age, he or she then joins the
millions in the labor force who have not completed basic education, whether
employed or unemployed. Based on PSA data, for April 2016, 16.59 million
Filipinos or 39.03 percent of the labor force have not completed basic
education.
Thus, we will continue the efforts to get our school-age children to
school, and to keep them in school up to completion of basic education. But
for those who are not reached by the formal basic education system, the
Department of Education under my terms is determined to intensify and
expand our Alternative Learning Systems for out of school children, youth
and adults whom we are unable to reintegrate to formal education. We will
do this through better targeting of beneficiaries, broader coverage,
prioritization of these programs by implementing units, partnerships, and
modalities that fit the circumstances of target learners.
A highly successful ALS program will be one of the major legacies of the
Duterte administration.
Make education relevant
Our third core deliverable: Make education relevant.
While the state takes full responsibility over basic education as part of
its duty to serve and protect the people, there is as well a clear public
purpose for education to be relevant and responsive to the needs and
aspirations of our country.
We are responding to the directives of President Duterte to strengthen and
enrich further curricular reforms on anti-illegal drugs, reproductive
health, and disaster preparedness. Specifically, we are strengthening the
drug education component in Science and Health by providing real-life
lessons via alternative learning methods, starting in Grade 4. We are
strengthening gender and development component of school curricula
especially in relation to sex education and teenage pregnancy. We are
giving emphasis on environmental awareness, disaster preparedness and
climate change adaptation and mitigation.
In addition, our education needs to be mindful of the country’s continuing
challenge to address poverty and inequality. At the same time, we need to
keep up with the opportunities that the knowledge and information age
brings. Both will require a basic education that highlights competence in
science and technology, innovation, creative imagination, entrepreneurial
spirit, and a disposition to help our communities and sectors particularly
those that are left at the margins of growth and development.
Make education truly liberating
Our fourth core deliverable is to make education truly liberating.
Education serves not only a public purpose, but a personal one as well.
Education intrinsically has that impact, but the content and methods that
develop critical thinking are also key. It is therefore positive that K to
12 has a strong articulation of critical thinking in curriculum outcomes
and competencies
I also have a special interest in Philippine culture, the arts and
literature. Enriching appreciation of culture, arts and literature that
spring from our diversity and rich historical experiences as a people, as
well as the explorations of the imaginative mind, should round out the
scope of our basic education. The curricular content on culture and arts
should be complemented with greater actual exposure to these, as well as to
literature, by both teachers and students. These are essential in critical
thinking. In the words of 2010 Nobel Laureate in literature Mario Vargas
Llosa in his essay “Why Literature?”, “There is still another reason to
grant literature an important place in the life of nations. Without it, the
critical mind, which is the real engine of historical change and the best
protector of liberty, would suffer an irreparable loss. This is because all
good literature is radical, and poses radical questions about the world in
which we live. In all great literary texts, often without their authors’
intending it, a seditious inclination is present.”
I am open to experimenting on new ideas and pathways to innovation in
teaching delivery and content that can maximize the full potential of
learners, for an education that truly liberates. Not all students can be
doctors, or scientists, or engineers, or lawyers. We need to find ways to
understand the disposition and interests of our learners, including being
artistically inclined, or wanting to take up sports, and be able to offer
avenues and teaching support to make those interests flourish.
A liberating education should not overlook the development of soft skills.
In the current context of work that requires problem solving, working with
people and communities, working in teams, and working in different cultural
settings, we need teachers that are able to teach and train our learners to
effectively communicate, collaborate, and adapt.
All these four core deliverables we will pursue with a brand of leadership
that is active, transparent, consultative, collaborative, and corruption-
free. As part of making our bureaucracy capable, I am committed to expand
the scope of employee welfare, to respond to felt and reasonable needs by
our academic and non-academic personnel. We will also continue existing
cooperation with the private sector and communities, as well as with
bilateral and multilateral institution towards the fulfillment of our
vision and agenda. We will expand working partnerships such as Adopt-a-
School and Brigada Eskwela, as concrete mechanisms and expression of our
cooperation and solidarity to advance the cause of basic education for all.
A few points on DepEd’s attached agencies
There are four agencies attached to DepEd: the Early Childhood Care and
Development Council (ECCD Council); the National Book Development Board
(NBDB); National Council for Children’s Television (NCCT); the National
Museum; and the Philippine High School for the Arts (PHSA). In some
instances, agencies are attached to a bigger mother unit for administrative
convenience, with real ties lost in the process. To be frank, we have had
limited interaction with our attached agencies in the few months that we
have been in office. Let this Summit start to change that, and find among
us greater mutual relevance and reason for common work.
The trifocal education agencies must coordinate better
I will conclude by emphasizing the need for us in the education sector,
especially the three lead agencies of DepEd, CHED, and TESDA, to coordinate
better. It is abundantly clear that we face common challenges in our
society, economy, and environment. None of us can meet these challenges
alone.
Be it in providing pre-service and in-service education and training of our
teachers, undertaking research and development, linking with the national
and global economy, forging stronger ties with industry, working for common
qualifications standards – all these require us to work together and in a
coherent manner. Like a machine, we need to have inter-operability for us
to perform effectively and efficiently. We are not lacking in mechanisms
for coordination; what we need is to utilize these with greater purpose and
regularity.

1. The first supply of K-12 graduates numbering more than 1.2 million did
not make the full cut.

 Only 20 percent of the country’s 70 leading companies across all sectors

were inclined to hire senior high graduates, according to a study by the
Philippine Business for Education (PBED).

 The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said in a recent

TV interview that ‘K-12 graduates are not yet ready for work’ and they lack
the knowledge and skills for the 21st century such as ‘innovation and
critical thinking’ skills. PCCI added that the current education system
still needs a lot of help and improvement.

 Despite the K-12 Law and the other educational reforms such as the
Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education
(UniFAST) Law and the Free Higher Education Law, the Philippines continues
to get poor marks in international education performance indices.

 According to the Global Competitiveness Index 2017-2018 released by the

World Economic Forum. Our country ranked 66th out of 137 countries for
quality of primary education, 74th for quality of higher education, 
76th for quality of math and science education,

 Our educational system did even worse on the 2017 Global Innovation
Index where it ranked poorly at 113th place out of 127 countries.

 Public school system needs reforms in terms of policy, pedagogy,

infrastructure and educational technology to prepare the country’s future
workforce for the 4th Industrial revolution.

POLICY
(Teacher’s Salary)
(Corruption allegations on Department of Education (DepEd)

PEDAGOGY Problem stems from the memorization methods of schools which

are present in both the private and public educational systems. Our
education system needs to develop teachers that employ reflective teaching
that allows students to raise questions, explore possibilities and
scenarios and engage in substantive discussions and debate.

Personalized and individualized learning is an emerging methodology which

considers the different learning styles of students, thus maximizing the
learning outcome. First world nations are already using this technology – a
far cry from the state of education in our country. But this should be our
education authorities’ target in the coming decade.

 INFRASTRUCTURE AND EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY Building of important

classrooms is on-going to narrow the 113,000 shortage as of June 2017,
according to the Alliance of Concerned Teachers Philippines. Equally
urgent is to address the internet connectivity for public schools. Out of
the 46,739 public schools nationwide, only about 12,163 or a mere 26% are
connected, a DepEd report said. Most of these are off-grid areas or those
unserved by telecommunication companies (Telco) where internet subscription
is impossible. Internet connectivity is a key enabler to transform our
education system. E-learning platforms and content can empower teachers and
students alike for a blended and personalized learning.

 The Department of Education (DepEd) wants to add good manners, right

conduct and proper values to students’ learning as it sets a review of the
2-year-old curriculums in all grade levels under the K- 12 program.

 Noting it was “high time” the review was done, Education Secretary
Leonor Briones said the DepEd wanted to strengthen “basic skills” in early
grade levels, focusing particularly on the first three levels of basic
education: kindergarten and Grades 1 and 2.
  “In the first three years, there are not so many subjects, [but there
should be lessons in] good manners and right conduct,” Briones said in a
press briefing at the DepEd central office in Pasig City last week.

Demands of society’

 Briones said the proposed changes were also a response to the “demands
of society,” where children were often more exposed to different
environments and technologies that could influence their behavior.

 When a 5-year-old child goes into kindergarten, she said, other

institutions, such as the family and the Church, had already shaped the
child’s attitudes.

 “I’m not saying that the youth’s values are failing, but the world is
changing. The values of our society and of the grown-ups are also
changing,” Briones said.

 “As we prepare our learners to be grown-ups, they can contribute to

shaping such values because eventually, they too will become leaders,” she
added.

 Focusing on basic numeracy and reading skills are also important even
at a young age, as these are the basis for “lifelong learning,” she said.

 “We need to teach our children to be more analytical, to think more in

terms of problem solving,” she said.

 Education Secretary Leonor Briones said the Department of Education

(DepEd) would review the K-to-12 curriculum after two years of
implementation.

 “We are going to have a thorough review of the curriculum of the

Department of Education (DepEd) after we have been there for two years
already, so we have made enough experience,” Briones said in a Palace
briefing.

 “We will review the curriculum from Kindergarten to Grade 12 because we

have been getting feedback as well and we are welcoming feedback from the
public about the curriculum content,” she added.

 Briones cited how education had focused on the demand for students to be
taught good English following the boom of call centers, which was believed
to give employment to many graduates.

 Call centers are now replaced by robots in other countries,” she said.
“So, if you are preparing our children to speak beautiful English for call
centers then perhaps we will truly be left behind. We have to teach our
children to be the ones to make the robots and this is why we are teaching
robotics in the high schools.”
 She said that students now should be taught how to respond and adapt to
change, stressing the importance of learning skills that students could
apply after graduation.

 “We teach them how to analyze, how to solve problems, how to respond to
change and to accept change because by the time they graduate, whatever we
have taught them, not all of them, will be applicable – because change is
happening so fast,” she said.

 “It is in dealing with the change that we want our children to gain
more, ‘yung tawag natin life skills,” Briones added. The government’s

K-12 program will push through after the Supreme Court declared as
constitutional Republic Act 10533 or the Enhanced Basic Education Act of
2013.

 Under RA 10533, the number of years of basic education was increased to

include a year of kindergarten, six years of elementary education and six
years of secondary education– four years junior high school and two years
of senior high school.

 Also declared legal is Republic Act 10157 or the Kindergarten Education

Act that institutionalized kindergarten as part of the basic education and
a mandatory requirement to be able to enter Grade 1.

 The High Court dismissed all the petitions filed against the said laws
for their failure to prove that the laws were in violation of the 1987
Constitution and that the laws were enacted with grave abuse of discretion.

  “For having failed to show any of the above in the passage of the
assailed law and the department issuances, the petitioners’ remedy thus
lies not with the Court but with the executive and legislative branches of
the government,” the High Court said in the 94-page decision penned by
Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa.

Kindergarten and Senior High School

 The Supreme Court said no constitutional provision has been violated

when Congress made kindergarten and senior high school compulsory because
it only provided the minimum standard and that is “elementary education be
compulsory.”

 The high court even lauded Congress for enacting the K-12 law.

 “It is indeed laudable that Congress went beyond the minimum standards
and provided mechanism so that its citizens are able to obtain not just
elementary education but also kindergarten and high school.”