CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

1.1 Introduction

It has been more than six years since the implementation of K-12 program in the

Philippines in the year 2011. It is to elevate the level of education in the country and

better prepare the students by developing their skills to produce globally competitive

graduates. In this program, two years is added to the original ten years of basic education

and this additional period is also called the Senior High School (SHS) level. In the SHS years,

new subjects are being taught to the students and they are required to pass all these

subjects.

These additional two years have led to putting up new buildings and classrooms,

hiring of additional teachers and purchasing of additional arm chairs. The need for books

and other learning materials is also one of the results of these additional two years.

It is the responsibility of the government of the Philippines, specifically the

Department of Education (DepEd), to provide learning materials in all the subjects in the

SHS level for the students to use. According to Lewis (2017), Teaching/Learning Materials

or TLM broadly refer to a spectrum of educational materials that teachers use in the

classroom to support specific learning objectives, as set act in lesson plans. These can be

games, videos, flash cards, project supplies and more. Learning materials are of big help to the SHS
students. However, based on the researchers’ experiences and observations,

there is a lack of learning materials in the Grade 12 level. There are only few subjects in

the senior level with available books and majority of the subjects in these levels have no

available books or other learning materials that the students can use. In addition, some

teachers also do not have their own manuals or reference books in the subjects that they

are teaching. Some of them rely only on the Curriculum Guides (CR). Furthermore, some

students are obligated to produce or buy their own books.

This lack of learning materials in the Grade 12 level can be a root of many

problems. The researchers’ believe that lack of learning materials could negatively affect
the study habits of the learners. For example, given the instance when there are no books

or any other learning materials they can use, then just might waste their time during their

study periods by doing other unnecessary things like mobile gaming instead of reading

their lessons. If they would try to surf the internet to search for their lessons, they might

get easily distracted by the notifications popping out from their social media accounts. In

addition, some academically-challenged students and those who find it hard to

understand the lesson without the help of textbooks might have lower performances or

achievements in class. Or worse, they might end up confused or might not totally

understand the lesson especially if a teacher teaches or talks fast.

Thus, this study attempts to study the effects of the lack of learning materials on

the study habits of the Grade 12 students.