FEDERALISM OR REGIONALISM OF CURRICULUM

Why should the Philippines be into Federalism from the present unitary system of
Government?
The term Federalism is derived from the Latin root, foedus which means
formal agreement or covenent. It is a system of government in which powers are
divided and shared by the central (Federal) government and its regional (State)
governments. The Philippines currently has a Unitary System of government,
wherein there are highly-favored centralized powers in the National government.
However, since the start of the Duterte administration, there have been a lot of
debates about whether Federalism should be implemented in the country or not.
Given that President Duterte is currently urging the Congress to put in a Federal
type of government, believing that it is a key to inducing peace in Mindanao, this
has piqued the awareness of most of the adult citizens to be more involved in the
discussions. Even so, this doesn’t mean that the students’ awareness and
involvement are already of less importance.

The Federal and State Governments are coordinating on the following Aspects:
 Environmental Protection
 School calendar days/School Curriculum
 Qualifications of Teachers
 Enact and enforce law and order
 No need to flock to Imperial Manila for jobs
 Decongest Imperial Manila
 Less Traffic Congestion in Imperial Manila
 Less informal settlements in Imperial Manila
 Economically develop the Regions and Provinces
 More jobs in Regions and Provinces

Federalism offers a self-governing political community two main advantages -

the advantage of being small and homogenous, as well as the advantage of being
included in a stronger, more secure and bigger allowance thus avoiding the
drawbacks of being either too small or too huge (Karmus & Norman, 2005).
Furthermore, in uniting dispersed collectively political states,federalism is a way in
order to have effectual successful goals that they couldn’t
achieve on their own without compromising their particular individuality (Malaya,
2016). “Another benefit of federalism is that it allows for ‘unity without
uniformity’ in that local customs can be incorporated into government” (Dooley &
Patten,
2013).Federalism also holds out the possibility that communities, which have an
overlapping variety of ethno-cultural and ethno-religious groups in any given
territory, can partake in states with members who have different affiliations,
assuring the prospering of their identities, as well as facilitating peaceful
interactions between groups (Karmus & Norman, 2005)

On K-12 Program and Senior High School Students

A new transition period between college and high school, these are some of
the facts about the newly-created curriculum of Senior High School: The
Philippines in among the only three countries world-wide which remained with a 10-
year pre-university cycle, along with Angola and Djbouti, making it the last in Asia,
which is why this is one of the reasons why the Department of Education is now
implementing 13 years of basic education.  Another is that a 13-year program is
also an acknowledged standard globally for students and professionals, and that it
is also claimed to be the best time for learning under basic education (DepEd,
2012). From Basic Education Curriculum to the implementation of the K- 12
Program. The Department of Education has taken a lot of measures to enhance the
Philippine’s educational system. According to Estacio, (2015), in school year 2011-
2012, the enhanced curriculum of K-12 Program, and that in 2013, K to 12 was
enacted into law known as RA 10533. On the other hand, the SHS Curriculum was
already made in 2014, in preparation for its implementation last 2015. The
following key stages of the 13 years of basic education of the K-12 program include
Kindergarten to Grade 3, Grades 4-6, Grades 7-10 (Junior High School), and
Grades 11-12 (Senior High School), (DePed, 2012). In 2015, Senior High School was
nationally implemented. SHS serves as a specialized upper secondary education, in
which learners decide on a specialization, in accordance with their aptitude,
interests, and also the school capacity. Learners choosing their career tracks is a
determining factor of the content of the subjects that a learner will take. Tracks
include Academic Track, with Science Technology Engineering Mathematics Strand
(STEM), Genaral  Academic Strand (GAS), Humanities and Social Sciences Strand
(HUMSS), and Accountancy Business Mathematics Strand (ABM), Technical-
Vocational Track (Tech-Voc), Arts and Music Track, and Sports Track. (DepEd,
2012).
 Therefore, it is easy for us to interact children in local communities if we
follow the federalism sysmtem in edeucation because we will be teaching things
that is relevant to their locality.

References:
Ball & Peters (2005). Modern politics and government 
. NH: Palgrave Macmillan, New York. Dooley & Pattern (2013

Federalism: an alternative system of government in the philippines.

 Retrieved from: http://asj.upd.edu.ph/mediabox/archive/ASJ-30-1992.Duron.pdf.
Elyzabeth, J. (2006).

Federalism: initiatives in the philippines. Federalism and multiculturalism.

 Retrieved from: http://localgov.up.edu.ph/federalism-and-multiculturalism-cureg-
and-matundig-federalism-initiatives-in-the-philippines.html. Estacio, M. (2015).

 All set for k to 12 implementation

Retrieved from: http://www.deped.gov.ph/regions-xi/regional-press-releases/all-
set-k-12-implementation. Greenberg & Page (2005).

The struggle for democracy . NH: Pearson Education, Inc.

 Jimenez, J. (2016).

Why federalism will be good for the Philippines?

 Retrieved from: mgb.gov.ph/2015-05-13-02-02-11/news-articles/278-why-
federalism-will-be-good-for-the-philippines. Karmis & Norman (2005).