Gatchalian: Quickly implement decongested

K-10 curriculum to address dropout rate

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 1) — Senate Committee on Basic
Education chairman Sherwin Gatchalian said the new MATATAG K-10 program of the
Department of Education (DepEd) should be immediately implemented to prevent
students from dropping out.

Speaking to CNN Philippines’ The Source on Friday, Gatchalian explained that the
dropout rate among Grades 1-3 students is around 30% to 40%.

“Because our curriculum is so congested, a lot of our children get frustrated and they
don’t enter school anymore,” he said, noting that what may happen is that the child only
resumes schooling by the age of 12-14 through the Alternative Learning System (ALS).

Gatchalian pointed out that ALS is not the complete approach, so students still need to
go through the basic education for a holistic development.

"I do agree with Congressman Roman (Romulo) na sana ginawa na kaagad (that this
should have been implemented immediately] because of that [congestion], we are
seeing dropouts," he said, referring to the new curriculum “We can only arrest that
dropouts if we decongest and launch the new curriculum,” he said.

Reference: Gatchalian: Quickly implement decongested K-10 curriculum to address dropout rate. (2023, September 1). CNN
Philippines. Retrieved September 6, 2023, from http://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2023/9/1/gatchalian-implementation-of-
matatag.html