Evolving Philippine Education: The K-12 Reboot
For many years, education in the Philippines followed a 10-year basic education cycle: 6 years of elementary school and 4 years of high school. This system did not align with international standards, making it difficult for graduates to pursue higher education or earn a living abroad. To address this issue, the old curriculum was enhanced by adding two more years, resulting in the creation of the K–12 program. Many had mixed feelings about this change; some expressed dislike and disagreement, while others supported it.
Under the K–12 system, Grades 11 and 12 were designed as a preparatory stage for college courses. Senior high school students were grouped into different strands: STEM for students pursuing courses in science and engineering, HUMSS for those in humanities and social sciences, ABM for students interested in accountancy and business management, and GAS for those still undecided about their future careers. Other offerings include TVL, Arts and Design, and Sports. However, like the previous curriculum, this one also had flaws.
What was meant to be a form of preparation gradually became an inconvenience for some learners. One major issue was the additional financial burden placed on families, as attending school for two more years meant incurring extra expenses for transportation, school supplies, and daily living allowances. Another concern was the overloaded curriculum, where students had to take too many subjects at once, leaving little time to focus on their chosen strand. Many public schools also lacked proper facilities, classrooms, and equipment, especially for strands that required laboratories and hands-on training. In some areas, there were not enough qualified teachers to handle specialized subjects, resulting in students not fully gaining the skills promised by their strand. Moreover, despite the goal of making senior high school graduates job-ready, some employers still preferred college graduates, making the additional years feel less beneficial to certain students.
To address these issues, the K–12 curriculum introduced the work immersion subject in senior high school, aiming to bridge the gap between classroom lessons and real-life work by giving students hands-on experience related to their chosen strand. Work immersion helped develop practical skills, exposed learners to actual work environments, and made their subjects more meaningful by showing how lessons are applied outside school. However, further issues still arose, including the misalignment between the strands taken by senior high school students and the courses or programs they choose in college, making the separation of strands seem impractical.
This issue led to the development of a new curriculum. Instead of separating students into many academic strands, the revised senior high school curriculum focuses on fewer and broader tracks. Along with this change, the subjects taken by students were revised, reducing their number to lessen academic overload and allow learners to focus more on essential competencies. This approach gives students more flexibility in choosing college courses and better aligns senior high school education with higher education, ensuring that the additional years truly serve their purpose of preparing students for college and employment.
This year, the Philippines has slowly introduced the new strengthened curriculum. This revised curriculum is expected to be beneficial, as it addresses several major concerns of the previous system, such as curriculum overload and strand misalignment. By simplifying the structure and focusing on essential competencies, it has the potential to better prepare students for college and future careers. However, there are still problems that this curriculum does not fully solve, such as the lack of facilities, resources, and equal learning opportunities for all students. But despite this, I believe these changes are a step in the right direction, and there is hope that these revisions will lead to further improvements in the Philippine education system in the future.
References:
https://chedk12.wordpress.com/a-historical-perspective/
https://depedtagbilaran.org/about-the-k-to-12-program/
https://yptoolbox.unescapsdd.org/portfolio/work-immersion-philippines/
https://pia.gov.ph/news/deped-highlights-strengthened-senior-high-school-curriculum/
https://mb.com.ph/2025/06/07/depeds-2025-revised-senior-high-school-curriculum-what-has-changed-and-why