The Department of Education (DepEd) through Secretary Juan Edgardo ‘Sonny’ Angara plans to give Filipino students more industry exposure to better prepare themselves for future employment by reducing academic subjects at the senior high school (SHS) level.
Angara said the DepEd under his leadership is prioritizing the review of the current SHS curriculum with the possibility of decongesting core subjects that students are forced to learn, so they can focus more on work immersion.
“We must have flexibility in our system. If we reduce the subjects of our SHS curriculum, the students will have more time for the on-the-job training or work immersion needed by the industry, so that our senior high school graduates will become more employable even if they lack work experience,” Angara said during the 2024 Regional Conference on Educational Planning in Asia.
Angara also noted that the DepEd is set to reduce the core subjects for students at the secondary level. “We’re on the right direction to reduce the core subjects of our SHS curriculum to just five or six subjects,” he said.
On Monday, the DepEd met with academic experts to accelerate efforts in reviewing and streamlining the SHS program and subjects.
The meeting with consultants from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) sought to provide recommendations on the structure of the SHS curriculum and on the content of English, Science, and Math standards.
Moreover, the education department collaborated with ADB to provide technical assistance and professional guidance to DepEd specialists in revising the SHS curriculum.
Angara previously emphasized that the country’s basic education curriculum was already congested according to education experts from other countries.
