Factors Affecting Senior High

School Track Offerings in the

Philippines
Published: 07 August 2019

https://development.asia/insight/factors-affecting-senior-high-school-track-offerings-philippines

There is a need to ensure that senior high school students

are able to make optimal choices by providing them
access to various senior high school tracks.
Introduction
The implementation of the K to 12 Basic Education Program in the Philippines includes
the introduction of senior high school (SHS), or grades 11 and 12, the final 2 years in a
new 6-year secondary education system. While previous curricula focused mainly on
readiness for postsecondary education, the SHS curriculum aims to prepare students
for either further education or employment.

SHS students undertake a standard core curriculum and can choose from four tracks of
specialization: academic, technical-vocational and livelihood (TVL), sports, or arts and
design. The academic track is further divided into four strands: accountancy, business,
and management (ABM); science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM);
humanities and social sciences (HUMSS); and general academic. The TVL track also
has four strands and various specializations under each one: home economics;
information and communications technology (ICT); agri-fishery arts; and industrial arts.
There are two specific specializations for the maritime industry: the pre-baccalaureate
maritime specialization—a modified STEM curriculum—and the TVL maritime
specialization.

To understand the factors that influence education investment and career planning
choices of incoming and current SHS students, the Asian Development Bank and the
Philippines’ Department of Education (DepEd) conducted the Youth Education
Investment and Labor Market Outcomes Survey (YEILMOS)(link is external) in 2017.
The survey covered students and their families as well as school heads of select public
and private high schools in four pilot areas: the National Capital Region (NCR), Ilocos
Sur for Luzon, Eastern Samar for Visayas, and Davao del Sur for Mindanao. While the
YEILMOS results are not representative of the overall SHS population, insights and
lessons can still be derived from the study’s findings.

Analysis
Constraints in Offering Senior High School Tracks and Strands

Table 1 presents a list of issues that may constrain a school’s general operations. When
asked about operational issues that schools confront, public schools cited inadequacy
of facilities (43.1%), lack of teachers (28.6%), and application requirements to be able to
offer different SHS tracks (17.5%). Private schools, meanwhile, were mainly constrained
by the lack of student demand or enrollment (32.9%), application requirements to be
able to offer different SHS tracks (13.2%), and inadequacy of facilities (12.7%).

Table 1: Proportion of Schools Citing a Specific Issue as a Constraint General

Operations, by School Type (%)

Issue Constraining Operations Public Private All

Number of classrooms and adequacy fo facilities 43.1 12.7 27.8

Limited student enrollment 8.5 32.9 20.8
Lack of teachers 28.6 7.5 18.0
Application requirements to be able to offer different SHS tracks 17.5 13.2 15.3
High student enrollment 6.6 11.4 9.0
Schedule of disbursement of subsidies for voucher and/or ESC recipients 3.0 4.1 3.6
ESC application requirements 2.5 2.8 2.7
Other constraints 5.4 3.5 4.4
ESC = educational service contracting, SHS = senior high school.
Source: Authors’ estimates based on Youth Education Investment and Labor Market Outcomes Survey results.

Table 2 presents the issues constraining school operations according to the four
geographic areas surveyed under the YEILMOS. The most common constraints for
NCR schools were limited student enrollment (35.3%) and lack of facilities (21.7%).
Schools in Ilocos Sur cited a lack of facilities (42.6%) and lack of teachers (42.2%) as
their main limitations, and in higher proportions compared to the other survey areas.
Schools in Davao del Sur had the same top two constraints: lack of facilities (23.5%)
and lack of teachers (18.2%). Eastern Samar was the only survey area to identify
application requirements to offer different SHS tracks (29.2%) as its top constraint,
followed by lack of facilities (23.5%).
Table 2: Proportion of Schools Citing a Specific Issue as a Constraint General
Operations, by Survey Area (%)

Ilocos Eastern Davao del

Issue Constraining Operations NCR Sur Samar Sur All

Number of classrooms and adequacy fo facilities 21.7 42.6 23.5 23.5 27.8
Limited student enrollment 35.3 19.9 – 10.0 20.8
Lack of teachers 5.1 42.2 11.4 18.2 18.0
Application requirements to be able to offer different SHS 16.1 9.5 29.2 6.1 15.3
tracks
High student enrollment 15.4 3.7 3.7 8.0 9.0
Schedule of disbursement of subsidies for voucher and/or 4.5 1.2 6.0 2.1 3.6
ESC recipients
ESC application requirements 4.9 0.4 3.3 – 2.7
Other constraints 0.8 1.9 2.2 21.2 4.4
– = magnitude equals zero, ESC = educational service contracting, NCR = National Capital Region, SHS =
senior high school.
Source: Authors’ estimates based on Youth Education Investment and Labor Market Outcomes Survey results.

Lack of Resources for Facilities and Teachers

Table 3 illustrates the degree to which particular SHS tracks and strands may be
affected by a lack of funds for facilities and teaching personnel. Across all YEILMOS
survey areas, this constraint most limited the offering of the ICT (51.6%), STEM
(50.3%), and home economics (50.3%) strands. In NCR schools, lack of funds had most
impact on the STEM (43.1%) and ICT (42.7%) strands; in Ilocos Sur schools, on all four
academic strands (from 51.5% for HUMSS to 66.9% for STEM) as well as the home
economics (62.9%) and ICT (57.7%) strands; in Eastern Samar schools, on the ICT
(52.3%) and home economics (51.0%) strands; and in Davao del Sur schools, on the
ICT (67.3%), home economics (60.7%), STEM (55.4%), industrial arts (55.1%), and
general academic (51.3%) strands.

Table 3: Proportion of Schools Citing Lack of Funds as a Reason for Not Offering
a Particular Track or Strand, by Survey Area (%)

Ilocos Eastern Davao del

SHS Track or Stand NCR Sur Samar Sur All

Academic 48.4 68.3 40.1 62.0 54.1

   Accountancy, business, and management strand 21.4 62.3 37.6 39.9 40.0
   Humanities and social sciences strand 30.8 51.5 34.0 49.5 41.0
   Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 43.1 66.9 39.0 55.4 50.3
strand
   General academic strand 28.5 59.4 24.1 51.3 37.8
   Pre-baccalaureate maritime 37.6 40.8 22.1 44.0 36.5
Technical-Vocational-Livelihood 44.4 53.0 44.7 64.8 49.8
   Agri-fishery arts 36.9 36.0 46.8 47.6 39.8
   Home economics 40.0 62.9 51.0 60.7 50.3
   Information and communication technology 42.7 57.7 52.3 67.3 51.6
   Industrial arts 41.6 40.0 41.7 55.1 43.0
   Technical-vocational and livelihood maritime 38.3 40.6 33.1 56.7 40.7
   Livelihood 39.7 49.4 38.0 45.7 42.8
Sports 39.0 37.6 38.1 45.8 39.5
Arts and Design 39.4 36.8 34.8 42.2 38.3
NCR = National Capital Region, SHS = senior high school
Note: Lack of funds cited is specific to the provision of facilities and teaching personnel.
Source: Authors’ estimates based on Youth Education Investment and Labor Market Outcomes Survey results.

Table 4 shows how, despite a school having adequate funding, difficulty in hiring
specialized teachers can impact on the school’s ability to offer particular SHS tracks and
strands. In public schools, this constraint was most pronounced for the four academic
strands (from 11.6% for STEM to 14.3% for ABM). In private schools, hiring difficulties
most often prevented the offering of the general academic (24.3%) and ABM (22.7%)
strands.

Table 4: Proportion of Schools Citing Difficulty in Hiring Specialized Teaching

Personnel as a Reason for Not Offering a Particular Track or Strand, by School
Type (%)

SHS Track or Stand Public Private All

Academic 15.6 35.1 25.5

   Accountancy, business, and management strand 14.3 22.7 18.1
   Humanities and social sciences strand 12.1 5.5 9.6
   Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics strand 11.6 8.6 10.2
   General academic strand 12.5 24.3 18.7
   Pre-baccalaureate maritime 7.3 11.5 9.4
Technical-Vocational-Livelihood 12.0 7.6 9.8
   Agri-fishery arts 7.7 1.7 4.5
   Home economics 8.8 1.3 4.6
   Information and communication technology 9.2 3.4 6.3
   Industrial arts 7.3 1.6 4.2
   Technical-vocational and livelihood maritime 6.9 1.8 4.3
   Livelihood 8.4 4.7 6.5
Sports 7.7 8.0 7.9
Arts and Design 7.7 8.3 8.0
SHS = senior high school.
Note: Schools citing difficulty in hiring specialized teaching personnel had adequate funding to do so.
Source: Authors’ estimates based on Youth Education Investment and Labor Market Outcomes Survey results.

Table 5 demonstrates how an inability to hire sufficient specialized teachers prevented

the offering of particular SHS tracks and strands across and in each of the YEILMOS
survey areas. In NCR schools, this constraint most impacted the offering of the ABM
(30.4%) and general academic strands (25.5%); in Ilocos Sur schools, the pre-
baccalaureate maritime (16.8%), agri-fishery arts (11.1%), and ICT (10.8%) strands; in
Eastern Samar schools, all four academic strands (from 15.8% for STEM to 26.8% for
general academic); and in Davao del Sur schools, the STEM (19.2%), home economics
(17.9%), ABM (17.6%), and HUMSS (17.4%) strands.

Table 5: Proportion of Schools Citing Difficulty in Hiring Specialized Teaching

Personnel as a Reason for not Offering a Particular Track or Strand, by Survey
Area (%)

Ilocos Eastern Davao del

SHS Track or Stand NCR Sur Samar Sur All

Academic 35.1 18.1 21.3 17.8 25.5

   Accountancy, business, and management strand 30.4 5.8 16.5 17.6 18.1
   Humanities and social sciences strand 7.0 1.5 19.1 17.4 9.6
   Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 10.6 0.0 15.8 19.2 10.2
strand
   General academic strand 25.5 6.8 26.8 3.4 18.7
   Pre-baccalaureate maritime 8.0 16.8 2.5 8.9 9.4
Technical-Vocational-Livelihood 6.3 11.7 7.6 18.2 9.8
   Agri-fishery arts 1.8 11.1 0.9 4.0 4.5
   Home economics 1.3 6.2 2.8 17.9 4.6
   Information and communication technology 3.1 10.8 2.3 12.3 6.3
   Industrial arts 2.1 6.6 2.9 8.1 4.2
   Technical-vocational and livelihood maritime 1.7 6.3 0.9 12.0 4.3
   Livelihood 2.5 10.0 6.2 11.6 6.5
Sports 7.9 5.2 6.1 14.5 7.9
Arts and Design 7.9 5.3 6.1 15.3 8.0
NCR = National Capital Region, SHS = senior high school.
Note: Schools citing difficulty in hiring specialized teaching personnel had adequate funding to do so.
Source: Authors’ estimates based on Youth Education Investment and Labor Market Outcomes Survey results.

Table 6 outlines how limited demand from students can inhibit the offering of particular
SHS tracks or strands. In public schools, limited student demand was a main reason for
not offering the arts and design (43.4%) and sports (41.9%) tracks as well as the pre-
baccalaureate maritime (50.3%), technical-vocational and livelihood maritime (43.2%),
agri-fishery arts (41.6%), and STEM (39.8%) strands. In private schools, the arts and
design (55.1%) and sports (51.8%) tracks were again the tracks most commonly not
offered due to a lack of student demand, as was the case with the industrial arts
(57.1%), agri-fishery arts (54.5%), and HUMSS (52.5%) strands.

In NCR schools, the HUMSS (56.7%) and home economics (53.3%) strands were most
affected by lack of student demand; in Ilocos Sur schools, the arts and design (57.1%)
and sports (56.3%) tracks as well as the industrial arts strand (52.5%); in Eastern
Samar schools, the arts and design (43.6%) track; and in Davao del Sur schools, the
agri-fishery arts (48.4%) and general academic (45.3%) strands.

Table 6: Proportion of Schools Citing Limited Demand from Students as a Reason

for Not Offering a Particular Track or Strand, by School Type (%)

SHS Track or Stand Public Private

Academic 32.7 57.1

   Accountancy, business, and management strand 33.5 41.3
   Humanities and social sciences strand 36.9 52.5
   Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics strand 39.8 31.9
   General academic strand 30.1 46.0
   Pre-baccalaureate maritime 50.3 44.9
Technical-Vocational-Livelihood 34.8 41.1
   Agri-fishery arts 41.6 54.5
   Home economics 24.8 48.6
   Information and communication technology 29.3 43.4
   Industrial arts 36.5 57.1
   Technical-vocational and livelihood maritime 43.2 54.0
   Livelihood 38.1 51.7
Sports 41.9 51.8
Arts and Design 43.4 55.1
SHS = senior high school.
Source: Authors’ estimates based on Youth Education Investment and Labor Market Outcomes Survey results.

Implications
Based on the results of the survey, DepEd and schools—as well as other key
stakeholders and partners—may explore, and collaborate on, options to mitigate the
various constraints in offering different SHS tracks and strands. 

To address the inadequacy of facilities in public schools, there is a need to ensure that
education budgets are efficiently and judiciously allocated for classrooms, laboratories,
workshops, and equipment and tools needed for ICT, STEM, and TVL studies. It is also
important to allocate resources and attention to STEM and ICT, and to broaden access
for underserved communities and students with limited access to SHS programs. The
government should also foster disciplines that may not be in vogue but are key to
inclusive development and sustainability (e.g., agri-fishery arts and food security). 

There is a need to review the guidelines for hiring SHS teachers, and to develop
measures that reduce the burden and inefficiencies of finding qualified applicants for
SHS teaching positions in specialized fields. Government agencies, for example, can
determine if the specific requirements and compensation for part-time SHS teachers are
sufficient to attract and retain would-be and competent teachers in public schools,
thereby offsetting the shortage of qualified applicants for full-time posts.
The government must also consider how it can best utilize programs for continuing
professional development to retrain and upgrade licensed teachers into the SHS
learning areas in need of more teachers. 

In the long term, DepEd must continue to work with the Commission on Higher
Education, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and the
Professional Regulation Commission to sufficiently prepare future teachers. As the
Philippines’ biggest employer of teachers, the department should also provide relevant
and timely information to guide interested students, households, teaching colleges, and
other education institutions on the kinds of teaching specializations required within the
education system. 

While private schools are expected to be more sensitive to shifting market demands, the
government should continue to strengthen its support for quality education institutions
and the diversity of choices for SHS that these institutions are able to offer. DepEd may
consider further tweaking its SHS Voucher Program by providing larger subsidies for
more resource-intensive but highly desirable program offerings (e.g. STEM, specific
TVL specializations) from quality schools. DepEd should also review its guidelines for
the issuance of SHS permits and recognition, to strike the proper balance between
weeding out inferior programs and providing adequate latitude for
innovative institutions. 

Lastly, DepEd must soon articulate its parameters and processes in the expected
review of SHS programs for both public and private schools. Within the SHS system,
the department will need to confront the issues of when to terminate failing or
substandard programs and when to open new and necessary offerings, taking into
account the preferences and aspirations of its students, the needs and ambitions of the
labor market, and the broader interests of the diverse Philippine general public.

Resources
Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Department of Education of the Government of the
Philippines (DepEd). 2019. Youth Education Investment and Labor Market Outcomes in
the Philippines: Survey Report.(link is external) Manila.

ADB. 2015. A Smarter Future: Skills, Education, and Growth in Asia(link is

external). Special Chapter of Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2015. Manila. 

ADB. Regional: Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2018-2020 – Key Indicators for
Asia and the Pacific 2018 (Subproject 1).(link is external)
Ask the Experts

Elvin Uy
Director for Operations, Philippine Business for Social Progress
Elvin Uy is a former assistant secretary for curriculum and
instruction and K to 12 Program coordinator of the Department of
Education (DepEd). From 2011 to 2016, he was part of the
formulation, design, and implementation of the K to 12 Program
and the introduction of Senior High School.

Follow Elvin Uy on 

Arturo Martinez, Jr.

Statistician, Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department, Asian
Development Bank
Art Martinez works on Sustainable Development Goals indicator
compilation, particularly poverty statistics and big data analytics.
Prior to joining ADB, he was a research fellow at the University of
Queensland where he also got his doctorate in Social Statistics.


Asian Development Bank (ADB)
The Asian Development Bank(link is external) is committed to
achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia
and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme
poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49
from the region. Its main instruments for helping its developing
member countries are policy dialogue, loans, equity investments,
guarantees, grants, and technical assistance.