Serious Problems with the K-12 Senior High School Curriculum Posted on February 18, 2014 by Joel Tabora, S.J. During the DepEd-CEAP Mindanao Summit organized by CEAP’s Naonal Basic Educaon Commission (NBEC) and co-hosted by Ateneo de Davao University on 17-18 February, the intenon was to appreciate progress aained in the implementaon of the K-12 educaonal reform and to understand the requirements of the An-Bullying Act of 2013 (RA 10627) for the Mindanao schools. The presentaon on the content of the An-Bullying Act was straighorward. Ay. Joseph Estrada combined competence with humor – overcoming an irksome cough! – to describe the content of the law and clarify its requirements for the schools. But the presentaons on the K-12 were more problemac. Brother Armin Luistro, FSC, DepED Secretary, who’d come to the Mindanao Summit despite an injury sustained in a basketball match among Cabinet members, spearheaded the presentaons with an update on where K-12 is. He reminded all of a prior commitment: basic educaon was not merely to be reformed, but transformed. It was to be genuinely “learner centered”. He pointed to a nearly-completed K-12 curriculum that would allow for creavity, innovaon, and in Mindanao, a “Mindanao perspecve.” Therefore, such features as the mother-tongue based educaon, and an assessment system based on the convicon, “No child is a failure!” were to be appreciated. He encouraged Catholic schools in Mindanao to return to their original religious charisms to understand how each might contribute uniquely to the success of the educaonal reform. In Mindanao, special challenges that Catholic schools might address would be the educaonal needs of the Indigenous Peoples, of the out of school youth, and even of the street children. Over-Congested Curriculum No problem with that. When Mr. Elvin Ivan Y. Uy, DepEd’s K-12 Program Coordinator, presented the status of the Senior High School curriculum, problems began to emerge. He echoed Bro. Armin’s summary of the reform as “Learner-centered” educaon. But from the Power Point Presentaon entled: “The K-12 Curriculum: CEAP-NBEC Summit” he spoke of “31 total Subjects” required for Senior High School, 15 of which were “Core Subjects” and 16 of which were “Track Subjects,” the laer broken down into 7 “Contextualized” subjects and 9 “Specializaon” subjects. From the same slide came the “non-negoable” announcement: “Each subject will have 80 hours per semester.” The laer came as a shocker to curriculum planners from within the assembly like Dr. Gina Montalan, Dean of the College of Educaon Ateneo de Davao University, who was quick to point out that this would mean 6.5 hours of contact hours daily in the senior high school for the DepEd’s required courses. If this were to be reckoned in today’s college units, this would be the equivalent to a whopping 32.5 units – where college students – who need me to read and study outside of class – should be taking no more than about 20 units. The heavy daily 6.5 hours of required DepEd courses allowed lile room for “mission-driven” schools – as all CEAP schools are! – to add courses required by their educaonal mission. These include subjects such as religious educaon or theology, philosophy, and special formaonal courses such as in leadership training. From the floor, Dr. Montalan suggested that the 80 hour per semester per course requirement be tempered into 80 hours for some courses, and less for others. She even suggested that if the 80 hours