1. The educational department has implemented the K-12 program.

Will this program improve the

quality of Philippine education ? Can the program result to a better competitiveness of the
Filipino graduates? What are the issues and concerns confronting the current implementation of
above mentioned program ? Depend your position ?
The k-12program covers kindergarten and 12 years of basic education (six
years of primary education ,four years of junior high school and two years of
Senior high school to provide sufficient time for mastery of concepts and
skills ,develop lifelong learners ,and prepare graduates for tertiary education.
In order to execute all these changes, Philippine education system needed
to make adjustments and policies that primarily subject to the improving the
quality of our graduates. Specifically in Senior high school, one of the issues that
has been circulating is the change in their curriculum design. The enhanced
curriculum has captured the attention of students because schools are already
implementing more distinct and specific programs to be offered to their students
from the Junior and Senior levels. One of the goals of the K-12 program is for the
students to be fully equipped upon graduating from high school. In order to meet
this goal, schools executed a lot of adjustments in their curriculum. The present
senior high school curriculum is much more complex compared from the past.
Now, the students were asked to choose a track that they will specialize on. All of
them need to take required subjects and complete a certain number of hours. The
other subjects that they will take will depend on the track that they have chosen. If
we look into it, we can notice that it is like a college set up that we are used to in
our country. Since there were changes in the overall curriculum, issues on
resources have consecutively risen. Teachers, the major human resources in
education, are expected to have mastery in the subject they teach and be
competent at the same time.Other issues, also mentioned that teachers in senior
high school should now have a master’s degree or at least have taken up masteral
units. SHS teachers are expecting an increase in their salaries since the
qualification from them also increased. Some schools just hire from their own
faculty or from their industry partners. Another issue is where the schools,
especially the public schools, will get their funds to implement these changes. There
were complaints that only a few public schools have received a certain amount of
money from the government to acquire facilities and equipment needed for the
implementation. One of the concerns of the school is where they will get learning
modules for the new curriculum of senior high school. The Department of
Education has not yet developed instructional material for the new curriculum and
they just get mostly from online resources. Aside from the problems mentioned, the
implementation of K-12 also needs to monitor and provide training programs for the
teachers and guidance counsellors who are responsible for collaborating with the
Junior and Senior high school students. Since there will be specialized tracks
offered in Senior high school, all the teachers must have basic knowledge regarding
the new subjects that the schools will offer, specifically for the technical-vocational
subject that the students will be exposed to. The quality of the information that
these teachers will impart to their students can be improved if the government
highlights the importance of being exposed to developing new skills from these core
subjects through undergoing training and seminars. Furthermore, the changes
mandated in the schools will also affect the performances of the guidance
counsellors who are tasked to manage the participation of each student in taking
the course program offered by the school. It is their role to make sure that the
students engage themselves in the tracks they think they excel in and with that,
guidance counsellors should be well-oriented and enlightened about these changes.
Just like the teachers, they should also be monitored through these training
programs. Employment issues are also raised in line with this major topic. Looking
at the present situation in our society, the college graduates are expected to apply
in the field where they have majored in. With this, the students should be able to
establish connections with companies or industries that will help them get into
their appropriate fields. Analyzing this matter, if there will be graduates from the
Senior high school and college, will the local government units and other companies
be able to provide opportunities for all of them? Is there an assurance that all the
graduates will work on the respective fields they have acquired experiences from? In
addition, another problem arises regarding the quality of employees the companies
would hire for application. The competition between the Senior high school and
college graduates will increase due to the full implementation of the K-12
curriculum. Since the high school graduates will also have access to employment,
in what way will these companies base their approval for the applicants? Are the
acquired experiences of the high school graduates equally match the experiences of
those who graduated in college? Whose quality of work will appear to be more
precise? Based on what the researchers have gathered, it is an advantage for the
high school students to have earlier first-hand experiences regarding their
specialization. But if the companies will compare the number of years both
graduates were exposed to in a specific field of study, the college students will
appear to be more familiar and oriented with the whole application of what they
have learned since they had undergone several years of training in their course
program. Moreover, we should foresee the students who are not going to be
fortunate enough to take the financial expenses that have been brought by the
additional 2 years of basic education. The longer education cycle would be an
added burden to households and would later on translate to higher dropout rates.
While the government can provide free public education, the allowances,
transportation, school supplies, and other schooling expenses are still to be
shouldered by the parents. According to some surveys, the number of out-of-
school-youths have increased and this can get worse if the government keeps on
setting aside all the issues especially now that the K-12 has been in the process of
full implementation.
Although the k-12 program promotes quality education for all , but in my
opinion, the implementation of this program still in a crucial period because ,base
on my experience as a teacher in a far flung barangay ,we have inadequate
materials needed specially in ICT. Students in our barangay was not equipped
when it comes in ICT subject. For me, government top priorities in implementation
of k-12 program ,must maximized the training and seminars for teachers , School
facilities and equipment were enhanced, there are companies provide opportunities
to the senior high school graduates, when it happens, the k 12 program in the
Philippines, will surely become highly globally competitive country.