take advantage of opportunities for gainful career or employment and/or self-

employment in a rapidlychanging and increasingly globalized environment;
produce graduates who possess skills andcompetencies that will allow them to be
productive members of the society or pursue higher education;through
coordination between the academic and business sectors, to change industry
hiring practicesinto account the enhance skills and competencies of K - 12
graduates (DepEd, 2010). The goal ofimplementing the K - 12 Basic Education
Program is to create a functional basic system that will produceproductive and
responsible citizens equipped with the essential learning and employment. This is
in linewith the agenda of the President Aquino of having quality education as a
long term solution to poverty.The K - 12 Education vision from the Department
of Education (DepEd, 2010) every graduate of theEnhanced K - 12 Basic
Education Program is an empowered individual who has learned through aprogram
that is rooted on sound principles and geared towards excellence. International
Conference onEducation (IECO) | 487 Truly, the implementation of K - 12
program of the Department of Education is agreat help to every students. But,
some which has a noble purpose for every Pilipino pupil or student.From their
own point of view or perspective this is another burden on the part of the
students andparents. It will add to the financial problem of the individual family,
and the advantage of implementingthis program are for the people who wants to
continue studying or work abroad because the curriculumis almost parallel to
another country. This is some of the problems that this study is going to focus
onand to hear the sentiments of the parents regarding the implementation of
K - 12 program (Jennilyn,2013). One of the aims of the Department of Education
is to prepare the students to be globallycompetitive. To achieve this,
educational reforms of the government must also focus into the mastery
ofEnglish as the second language. Such attempt will greatly help to harness the
productive capacity of the
country’s human resource base towards international competitiveness.
Competitiveness may be gauged
from sociolinguistic competence of a person. Sociolinguistic competence is
the ability to use languageappropriate to a given communicative context
taking into account the roles of the participants, thesetting and the purpose of
interaction. It is the ability to use and respond to language appropriately,given
the setting, the topic, and the relationships among the people communicating,
particularly thelingua franca of the educational society and community, in its
various contexts and dimensions relativelyguarantees the teachers competitive
advantage in the complex society like the Philippines (Alatis, 2009).Education
Secretary Armin A. Luistro (2011) says the additional 2 years will help students
decide whatcourse they will take in college. It will also help high school students
to be given a chance to specialize inscience and technology, music and arts,
agriculture, fisheries, sports, business entrepreneurship, andothers. K - 12
Program aims to make basic education sufficient enough so that anyone who
graduatescan be gainfully employed and have a productive life. K
 –
12 Program will look at the possibility ofspecialized education such as a high
school or community, which will focus on the arts or agriculture.Bro. Armin said
that the proposal will make high school graduates employable, making
tertiaryeducation International Conference on Education (IECO) | 488
unnecessary to get a job. That proposal ofDepartment of Education to add two
more years to basic education drew mixed reactions in the Senate.Senate
President Juan Ponce Enrile (2011) expressed suppo
rt to the DepEd’s K
- 12 Program as he agreeswith the proposal because the country needs to
increase its competitiveness at the international level,he said: We
are underrated by other countries, our educational system. It is painful for
others. But forthe country we have to do it. To implement the program, the
DepEd has to work with Congress to
amend the existing law, Batas Pambansa 232 or the “Education Act of 1982,”
which states that the basic
formal education is a 10-year program. Nartates (2011) conducted a study about
the Effects of BrokenHomes among Early Teenagers to their Academic
Performance this studies cited by the researchers have
 
also shown that the country’s education program is equivalent to the 12
-year education cycle followedabroad except that it is being completed in only
10 years. These researches analyze and study what willbe the effects of the K -
12 Educational Systems to the country, parents, and students. This
studybecomes related to my study in the sense that it is concerned on the
effects of K - 12 Program to theparents. The only difference is that this study
is focused on the effects of K - 12 Program to the studentswhose parents are
working abroad, and how it affects to their academic performance. Marston
(2011)Conducted a related study about the perception of students and parents
involved in primary tosecondary school transition programs of different formats
and complexities, based on both Australianand international research, have been
introduced in some schools to facilitate transition. The aims ofthis research
were to investigate and compare the perceptions of students, parents and
teachersinvolved in several of these programs and to examine the extent to
which transition programs canalleviate issues associated with transition between
primary and secondary schools. Zellman (2012)conducted a study about the
implementation of the K -
12 Education Reform in Qatar’s Schools, this
study is a reform of education for a new era, because it views education as the
key to the nation'seconomic and social progress. This study, one of a number of
RAND studies that trace and document thereform process in Qatar, was
designed to assess progress made in the first years InternationalConference on
Education (IECO) | 489 of the K - 12 Reform's Implementation in Qatar's
schools and theperception of the parents on the Implementation of the K -
12 Program. This study has a relation to theresearchers study because it also
gets the perception of the parents on the K - 12 Implementation.Senate
Majority Floor Leader Vicente "Tito" Sotto (2011) explained why he opposed the
proposal of the
Department of Education (DepEd) to amend the law on the country’s basic
education to increase the
number of school years to 12 from the present 10-year program. "I oppose the
addition of two years tobasic education. There is no clear benefit to adding two
years to basic education," Sotto said in aprivilege speech at the Senate. He
added that the national budget can't even provide sufficient funds tomaintain
the present number of years of basic education, but now the DepEd wants to
add more to it.According to him, adding two years to basic education will further
increase our budget deficit. We needquality education, not quantity of years in
education. We need more schools, not more years in school.The Philippines is the
only country in the world that still follows a 10
 –
year basic education cycle. And soLast October 2010, President Noynoy Aquino
proposed the Kindergarten plus 12 on the K - 12 Programto catch up with the
rest of world having a 12
 –
year basic education cycle. However, with all the issues
on education the country is still has, parents expressed their opinions on the
President Aquino’s plan of
strengthening the Philippine education system through the K -12 Program. It is a
must to hear the
parents’ opinions regarding the K
- 12 Program as they are one of the stakeholders of schools andrespected
parents of the students who are involved on loving and caring for the future of
their children.
“The
 reality on the ground is that schools even have to divide their classes to
morning and afternoon
sessions to accommodate more students… We need to modernize our public
school system
management priority to expanding the cycle of our basic education program
”
 

 
CHAPTERIIREVIEWOFLITERATUREIntroduction
The review of the literature for this study focuses on education and its role in shaping the
future ofstudents in K to 12 Curriculum in response to global competitiveness particularly in ASEAN
EconomicCommunity by 2015. The literature will also discuss issues about job market, job
mismatch,competitiveness and marketability or employability.At this pace of this changing society and
economy alot of actions should take place.They have to face a lot of challenges especially educators who are
beingasked to do more withless due to rapidly evolving technologies and ongoing shifts in global economy
anddemography.A successful education system will need to be of paramount importance if a
multiculturalsocietyto succeed and prosper in the future. Education is a gateway to a better job and
greaterearning potential. One key to understanding this issue is an appreciation of the overall
landscapeeducationand training
 
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEWIntroductionThere seems to be some
controversy whether students today are technologically prepared for the 21st
Century Digital Age. “Available evidence shows that American adults and
children have a poor
understanding of the essential characteristics of technology, how it influences
society, and how peoplecan and do affect its development. Neither the
educational system nor the policy-making apparatus in
the United States has recognized the importance of technological literacy”
(National Academy of
Engineering, 2002, p. 1). Technologies are growing at a tremendous rate and U.S.
citizens are notequipped to make well-considered decisions or to think critically
about technology. In short, we are not
“technologically literate” (National Academy of Engineering
, 2002, p.1). The North Central RegionalEducational Laboratory (NCREL) reports
that communities expect their graduates to be prepared tosucceed in the
Digital Age but that 21st Century skills are not well defined. These skills are
notintegrated in many state learning standards or measured on most state and
local assessments. NCREL
believes we are preparing students to succeed in yesterday’s world and that
schools are obligated tokeep up with rapid technology, research, and societal
changes. Yesterday’s
education is inadequate for
today’s learners. “The sheer magnitude of human knowledge, world globalization,
and the acceleratingrate of change due to technology necessitates a shift in our
children’s education –
 from plateaus ofknowing to continuous cycl
es of learning” 13 (NCREL, 2003). NCREL categorizes skill clusters into digital
-age literacy, inventive thinking, effective communication, and high productivity.
Each skill cluster isbroken down more into descriptive skill sets which
offer assistance with identifying student
achievement. Roblyer and Edwards (as cited in Roblyer, 2000) states, “. . . the
future of educational
technology rests to a great degree on us (educators): how we view technology,
how we respond to thechallenge it presents, and how we see it helping us
accomplish our own informed vision of what
teaching and learning should be.” Technology Growth In America, between the
academic school years of
1991-92 and 1996-97, inventories of computers grew 186% with an additional 1.2
million computersadded in 1996-97 alone. In 1996-97 there were an estimated
6.3 million computers in virtually 100% of
the nation’s schools (Market Data Retrieval, 1997 as cited by U.S. Department
of Education, 2002a). In
1998, 89% of schools had Internet connections (U.S. Department of Education,
1999 as cited by U.S.Department of Education, 2002a). However, technology
alone does not make a difference; rather the

 
key element is how it is used. The National Education Technology Plan 2004 (U.S.
Department ofEducation, 2004), reports that today nearly every public school
has access to the Internet, but the realissue lies in the lack of
adequate training and lack of understanding of how computers can be used
toimprove learning. A national survey (Gallup Poll, 1997) conducted on 744
students by the GallupOrganization in conjunction with CNN, USA Today, and
the National Science 14 Foundation found thatmost students in grades 7
-12 feel comfortable with modern technology. Key findings of this survey
included: • 99% of teenagers have used a computer some time in their lives •
82% think strongcomputer skills and an understanding of technology will be
essential for their future success • 80% implythey use a computer at least
weekly • 77% would prefer to conduct research for
 a school report by
surfing the Internet, rather than using books and magazines • 71% rate
their computer confidence at alevel of “6” or better on a scale from zero to ten,
where ten is very confident and zero is not confident atall • 67% have a
computer
 
at home • Roughly two
-thirds consider space exploration, new advances in
computers and advances in medical research to be exciting subjects they’d like
to learn more about atschool • 62% can usually figure out on their own how to
operate a piece of elect
ronic equipment or
computer software rather than needing to ask for help • 59% would prefer to
live in a house filled with
high-
tech equipment and appliances when they are adults rather than a “simpler”
house • 58% would
like to spend more time than they c
urrently do using a computer • 55% have had the opportunity to usethe Internet
• 54% report that either they themselves or one of their siblings have the job
of
programming the VCR in their household, rather than a parent 15 Students also
indicated a desire todevelop better computer skills than what they were
currently getting in school. Only one third of thosesurveyed thought their
computer education was teaching them what they need to know by high
schoolgraduation. In 1999 the Milken Family Foundation conducted its
second annual survey (Solomon &Widerhorn, 2000) of district technology
coordinators. Previously, assessments were believed to havebeen tied more to
equipment measures than technology planning and advancement. The purpose
ofthis survey was to obtain accurate and up-to-date school technology data by
state. According to thesurvey, student-tocomputer ratio was the most common
summary statistic on the status of schooltechnology. Survey results indicated a
significant drop in student-to-computer ratio, 36.3 to one in 1997-98 as
compared to 18.5 to one in 1998-99. Results indicated an increase in the
percentage of schoolsusing a local area network (LAN), 60.6% to 64%, and also
an increase in schools connected to theInternet via a LAN, 51.9% to 67.9%. One
trend resulting from the survey was that technology use inschools is increasing
more due to Internet-related uses than to changes unrelated to the Internet
suchas curriculum or pedagogy. Another trend was that technology is becoming
more engrossed in ourschools as indicated by the decline in the student-to-
computer ratio. A troubling result of the surveyindicated the excitement for
learning technology may be declining and that expectations for technologyuse
may be leveling off. Another survey (Newberry, 2001) managed by the
International Technology
Education Association’s Technology for All Americans Project (ITEA
-TfAAP) in cooperation with the ITEACouncil for State Supervisors for the
2000-2001 school year 16 was conducted to determine the statusof technology
education in the U.S. Forty-seven out of fifty states responded. Of those
surveyed, 57.7%indicated that technology education is in the state framework.
Fourteen states (27%) reported thattechnology education is required in their
state, 11.5% indicated local control of technology education,and 3.8% were
waiting on pending legislation or in the process of writing standards. Zhao and
Alexander
(2002) noted, “With the advancement of the Internet and Web technologies
from static informat
iondelivery to dynamic, interactive, data-driven applications, U.S. companies have
been integrating such
technologies into their corporate computer information systems to maintain a
competitive edge” (p.
 
175). Zhao and Alexander (2002) conducted a survey of Fortune 500
corporations to determine whattechnology skills business students need upon
graduation now and toward 2005. Their research resultsindicated an increase
from 11 skills needed just five years ago, to 28 skills strongly recommended
today.The
se skills include: • Hardware: using keyboard, microcomputer, and mouse •
Operating system: usingWindows • Productivity skills: using word processor,
spreadsheet, presentation, and database; withMicrosoft office as the “strongly
recommended” productivity
 
application suite • Telecommunications:
using email, Internet/Web, intranet, wireless/mobile Web applications, Web-
conferencing, searching/
downloading/managing/posting information 17 • Information systems: budgeting,
general ledger, cash
management, data mining, sales analysis, sales forecasting, decision support
system, human resourcemanagement, systems analysis and design, and systems
implementation.. In recent years, there hasbeen an enormous growth in
the areas of online courses and virtual schools, customizing instruction tothe
meet the needs of individual students. According to the Education Week
Research Center (as cited inFox, 2005), 22 states have established state virtual
schools and 16 states have at least one cyber charterschool (Technology Counts,
2005). During the 2003-04 school year, the Florida Virtual High School
became the state’s 73rd school district. This is the largest state
-sponsored online high school and getsstate funding through per-pupil costs, just
like other districts (Technology Counts, 2005). Market DataRetrieval (as cited
in Fox, 2005), a research firm that tracks educational technology use and
providesevidence of the ongoing integration of technology into schools, found
that 25 percent of public schoolsprovide distance-learning programs for
students. Assessments can now be taken online, providingstudents, teachers, and
parents with instant feedback. Technology has provided a huge improvement
inthe areas of tracking progress, identifying needs, and effectively designing
and managing instructionalprograms (U.S. Department of Education, 2004).
Technology has dramatically changed the world outsideour schools and is now
changing the learning and teaching environment within them. 18 Need forChange
Rod Paige, U.S. Secreta
ry of Education states, “Education is the only business still debating the
usefulness of technology. Schools remain unchanged for the most part,
despite numerous reforms and
increased investments in computers and networks.” (U.S. Department of
Education, 2
004, p. 22) Friesen(2003) notes that not long ago, an educated person was
someone who could read and write whereinformation was delivered at a
manageable pace. This is no longer true. With the onset of the Internet,an
explosion of easily accessible information has created a challenge. Bill Gates (as
cited in Zhao &
Alexander, 2002) stresses that “in a changing world education is the best
preparation for being able to
adapt; as the economy shifts, people who are appropriately educated will tend to
do best
.” Excerpted
from Learning for the 21st Century: A Report and Mile Guide for 21st Century
Skills (Partnership for 21stCentury Skills, 2003), Peter Senge, a senior lecturer
at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),stated, A simple question to
ask is
, ‘How has the world of a child changed in the last 150 years?’ And theanswer is,
‘It’s hard to imagine any way in which it hasn’t changed.’ Children know more
about what’s
going on in the world today than their teachers, often because of the media
environment they grow up
in. They’re immersed in a media environment of all kinds of stuff that was
unheard of 150 years ago, and
yet if you look at school today versus 100 years ago, they are more similar than
dissimilar (p. 6). 19 In aworld where student lives have changed dramatically,
schools must also change to meet the demands ofthe ever-
changing digital society. In today’s society, students “connect with their friends
via email,
instant messaging and chat rooms online; search the Web to explore their
interests; express themselvesfluently using new media; learn with educational
software; play video and computer games in virtualrealities; manipulate digital
photos; go behind the scenes on DVDs; channel surf on television; and chaton and
take photographs
with cell phones” (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, p. 7). With the increasing