EXPLORING THE GRADE 10 STUDENTS PREFERENCE OF THEIR CHOSEN

STRAND AT SOUTHERN TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE

OF THE PHILIPPINES SENIOR HIGHSCHOOL

CHAPTER 1

Background of the Study

The implementation of the K to 12 Basic Education Program in the Philippines

includes the introduction of senior high school (SHS), or grades 11 and 12, the final 2

years in a new 6-year secondary education system. While previous curricula focused

mainly on readiness for postsecondary education, the SHS curriculum aims to prepare

students (grade 10 studens) for either further education or employment (Development

Asia, 2019). The K-12 is a relatively new program here in the Philippines if you compare

it with our neighboring countries. For students to move into college or the university

level, they must undergo junior (Grades 7-10) and senior (Grades 11-12) high school

level to be given a diploma. A certification is given during junior level but finishing

senior high level certifies and validates that a student is qualified for college (Draven

Cueva, 2022).

Here in the Philippines, SHS students undertake a standard core curriculum and

can choose from four tracks of specialization: academic, technical-vocational and

livelihood (TVL), sports, or arts and design. The academic track is further divided into

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four strands: accountancy, business, and management (ABM); science, technology,

engineering, and mathematics (STEM); humanities and social sciences (HUMSS); and

general academic. The TVL track also has four strands and various specializations under

each one: home economics; information and com munications technology (ICT); agri-

fishery arts; and industrial arts (Development Asia, 2019).

This offers a balanced approach to learning that will enable children and students

to acquire, know and learn more skills in different fields of education taking up the

vocational and later profession degree courses (Ma. Araceli Bello Verjon, 2019). In

choosing what job is truly crucial to young students, the grade 10 students must be

prepared and sufficient on taking the careers that they chose will have a great impact for

the rest of their lives. Grades, age, personal interest, experiences, and other things

affected students’ career choices, and by the experiences they have these students can

accomplish anything they wanted in terms of their future proficiency (Quinter et.al,

2011). They will encounter decision-making, motivation, peer pressure, institutional

concerns, and future employment chances, all had an impact on their choices (Ibid).

An SHS strand or track is basically the future or an achievement of a student’s

life. According to Lord Vincent Van Mendoza (2022), strands are intended for learners

to determine which paths could best match the strengths, passions, and a set of good

skills that the learners have. Choosing the right Senior High School strand will help

motivate the learner for the future career. Once they have chose a strand they like,

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studying becomes more interesting. Also, because of this many people who have taken

those strands and earned a degree on it, they have great opportunities to work outside the

premise or work overseas and started to teach others as well. It gave a huge help to our

country’s employment rate, job finding and the industry as well.

In fact; in school years 2017-2018 there was a total of 1,025,907 students who

took up TVL tracks in 11,087 high schools in the country (PIDS, 2019. Many of those

schools offers different available SHS TVL tracks. Specially here in Southern

Technological Institute of the Philippines (STIP) where the study is conducted. STIP

offers the SHS TVL tracks like TVL SMAW, TVL HE, and GAS and just like other

schools in Bislig City they also offers some SHS tracks that any learners can choose from

and learn from.

In pursue of passion, dreams, and professions in life that they pondered in senior

high school, young learners must know what they wanted to pursue according to what

they desired the most for their senior high school years. Children with great ambitions

and visions in what they wanted to pursue or to achieve is truly significant to them as a

career or a profession for it may come in handy in the future..

But nonetheless, the purpose of the study is to know the factor affecting the

choice of incoming senior high school students in choosing a strand and to what they

have choose, guiding, informing, and helping them ethically about the strands they’ve

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chosen. By exploring furthermore according to their choice to the point of choosing the

right and suited strand that they desired.

Research Questioners

The following questions will be pondered more about the study:

1. What are the strands do the grade 10 students prefer in the next SHS years?

a. GAS

b. TVL SMAW

c. TVL HE

2. What are the factors that the grade 10 students consider in choosing their strand?

3. How can choosing a strand for grade 10 students be beneficial or how can it affect

the assessment their learning?

4. Are the participants familiar in these kind of strands that they chose to learn and

what motivated them to chose that certain type of strand?

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Scope and Delimitation

The researchers conducted this entitled “EXPLORING THE GRADE 10

STUDENTS PREFERENCE OF THEIR CHOSEN STRAND AT SOUTHERN

TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUE OF THE PHILIPPINES SENIOR HIGHSCHOOL.

The target respondent of this research is the Grade-10 students here in STIP. This

study mainly focused on the factors such as parental influence, accountability of the

students choice, skills compatibility, budget interest and opportunity to enhanced self

improvement by choosing the strand they preferred for. There may be more factors

however, there would not be within this study.

Significance of the Study

This presented study will help benefit the following:

1. To the Students - They will gain knowledge and skills on what strand that they

truly choose to learn according to what they have interested on what professions

they settled on and for their future as well.

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 2. To the Parents – will have the point of decision making to help further more with

the learnings of their children to help them choose a strand fit for them. They will

provide their children support, guide, enrollment and help in order to achieve their

goals.

3. To the Administrators - They will assist the students in order for them to be more

competent with the subjects they are assigned in senior high school.

Definition of Terms

Ability – Skills, intelligence, and talent is a must required aspect for every students who

will undergo in their chosen strand.

Strand - Subjects where students can chose according to what they have interest on.

Technical Vocational-Livelihood (TVL) – A track offered by the school in academic

track.

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Schematic Diagram

The majority of
students preference

Affecting learning The grade 10 Skills compatibility

capabilities students preference
of their chosen
strand.

Parental influence,
aptitude, interest,
and environmental
factors.

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