AGUSAN COLLEGES INC.

MH del Pilar Street, Butuan City

Name: Cheryl B. Batucan

Subject: MAED 201
Professor: Prof. Ma. Gloria Liquido

REFLECTIONS

RA 10533 or AN ACT ENHANCING THE PHILIPPINE BASIC EDUCATION SYSTEM

BY STRENGTHENING ITS CURRICULUM AND INCREASING THE NUMBER OF YEARS
FOR BASIC EDUCATION, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES

R.A. 10533 is a "Act Enhancing the Philippine Basic Education System by

Strengthening its Curriculum and Increasing the Number of Years for Basic Education,
Appropriating Funds Therefor, and for Other Purposes," which was signed into law by
President Benigno Aquino III. Aquino made the announcement on May 15, 2013, and it
went into effect the following month, on June 8, 2013. After reading this act, I
discovered that it actually dealt with the implementation of the "K to 12" curriculum to
upgrade Philippine education, whose quality has deteriorated in recent decades, and
improve national competitiveness, as well as to make up for the shortcomings of the
Philippine's 10 years of basic education cycle by adding three more years in the
curriculum, thus making kindergarten compulsory, and adding another two more years
in the curriculum.

Another contentious aspect of RA 10533 is the requirement that the child's

mother tongue or first language be used as the medium of instruction. Because the said
act adheres to making the curriculum learner-centered, it will attempt to create a
learning environment that is designed to help students understand and grasp the ideas
taught in the simplest way possible. It would be simple to apply this mode of teaching as
a teacher in an area where all students speak the same native language, but what
about those in areas where students speak different native languages? As a result, it
will cause confusion on the part of both the teacher and the students. One of the
advantages of enacting this act is that it will prepare students to pursue either vocational
courses, which provide immediate employment opportunities, or regular college
courses. Through this program, the government can fine-tune the program to reduce the
current mismatch between skills and job requirements in many local and national
industries.