ENGLISH PROFICIENCY LEVEL OF GRADE 12 STUDENTS: AN EVALUATION OF THEIR READINESS FOR

CLERICAL JOBS AFTER GRADUATION

INTRODUCTION:

K to 12 (also K-12) is an education system under the Department of Education that aims to enhance
learners’ basic skills, produce more competent citizens, and prepare graduates for lifelong xjobs.org/
learning and employment. “K” stands for Kindergarten and “12” refers to the succeeding 12 years of
basic education (6 years of elementary education, 4 years of junior high school, and 2 years of senior
high school).

At present, the Philippines is the last country in Asia and one of only three countries in the world with a
10-year pre-university program.

In 2011, the Department of Education (DepEd) administered a shift to a fresh learning scheme — the K
to 12 basic education program. Many people were resistant to the new education system. Despite this,
the government is keen on revolutionizing the Philippine education. Here’s an update on how the
government prepared in implementing the new education curriculum. A downloadable copy of this
infographic is available here.

The Department of Education (DepEd) claims to produce job-ready SHS graduates under

the K-12 program. The new curriculum prepares them to become skilled and job-market
ready, which most firms are looking for. Basically, the K-12 program in the Philippines is
aimed to shape the youth for employment, skills development, and higher education after
graduating from SHS. 

Since the country’s shift from the old high school curriculum to the new K-12 program,
confusion coming from both parents and high school students emerged.  Here is the
breakdown of the differences between the old curriculum and the new K-12. 

Many SHS graduates who want to pursue their college degree may expect to become
bombarded with loads of schoolwork. That is true, to an extent. Fortunately, the K-12
program has already prepared you for the challenges that you might encounter once you
step up to college. In fact, the subjects you’ve taken in SHS are prerequisites to the degree
you want to pursue. Meaning, you already have the basics down—the knowledge and skills
for an easier transition to your chosen degree. In general, you may expect to deal with
several readings, more (surprise) tests, and greater responsibilities when it comes to
school. Of course, these are all needed to hone your potential even more. 
While only time will tell how far the K-12 program will help high school grads earn career
opportunities, there are already various jobs on the market which graduates can apply for
Since it’s introduction in 2011 and subsequent implementation in 2013, the Kindergarten through
12th grade (K-12) educational program has since produced its first batch of graduates in 2018,
with another batch graduating soon. It remains to be seen how beneficial K-12 has been and will
be for students, as one set of graduates (or even two) is surely not enough to gauge the effectivity
of the program.

Regardless, there continues to be some debate regarding the employability of K-12 grads. Some
parties insist that K-12 students may still not be as skilled as they need to be to acquire
meaningful jobs, while others (mainly the proponents of the program), believe that employers
must also be more open to hiring K-12 graduates, gauging them on their skills and leveraging
their youth by developing their capabilities further.

As various industries, and the country at large, continues to wait and see, some companies
already offer opportunities which K-12 grads can apply for. Granted, these same jobs are open to
those who’ve completed some years or full graduated higher education courses, but they can also
be qualified for by possessing certain skills.