The Department of Education (DepEd) is expected to present a revised Kinder to Grade 12 (K-12) curriculum by Jan. 30, beating a July deadline set by the Palace.
Malacañang press briefer Daphne Oseña-Paez said this was among the topics raised during a Cabinet meeting presided over by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Tuesday.
“The Department of Education, the Secretary VP [Vice President] Inday Sara Duterte-Carpio presented the plans for inclusive learning, support for teachers, and improving the curriculum. The DepEd will be presenting a revised K-12 curriculum for basic ed on January 30th,” she said in a Palace press briefing.
Last July, shortly after the President’s State of the Nation address, Duterte-Carpio said DepEd had until this July next year to finalize its review of the K-12 program. The agency under former Education Secretary Leonor Briones already finished the review for the lower grades.
“We were given by President Marcos one year, this School Year 2022-2023, to give a final answer about our K-12 program here in the country, “ Duterte-Carpio said then.
A Pulse Asia Survey last year, commissioned by Senator Win Gatchalian, also showed that 44 percent of 1,200 respondents were unhappy with the current system — 16 percentage points higher compared to the results of a similar survey done in September 2019.
“It is clear from the voices of our countrymen that they are not satisfied with the K-to-12 program,” Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture, said in a statement.
“This is because its promises are not being fulfilled and it has only become an additional burden on our parents and students,” the lawmaker added.
Implemented in 2012, the current K-12 program in the country covers kindergarten, six years of primary education, four years of junior high school, and two years of senior high school to prepare graduates for tertiary education, middle-level skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship.
Mr. Marcos earlier asked Duterte-Carpio to carefully review the K-12 program, citing the need to “develop” and “refine” the great pool of Filipino talent. He also wanted the country’s literacy rate to improve under his administration.
In his first State of the Nation Address in July last year, the President said the Philippines should do better in international rankings when it comes to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects.
Also during the Cabinet meeting, Mr. Marcos asked the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to remain on heightened alert amid the inclement weather.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla also presented his department’s achievements in 2022 and plans for 2023.
“He highlighted the Justice department’s theme of compassionate justice in keeping with the directive of the President, who asked that he check on the legal representation of prisoners based on the President’s experience in Ilocos Norte where he remembered that many prisoners didn’t have access to lawyers,” Oseña-Paez said.
Achievements in other agencies including the Departments of the Interior and Local Government, Agriculture, Agrarian Reform, Energy, Labor and Employment, Health, Migrant Workers, Environment and Natural Resources were also discussed.
Oseña-Paez said the President also reminded agencies to “know what each other is doing” and “maximize the synergy in order to work together to achieve the 8-point socioeconomic agenda.”