March 28, 2024

There is no need to scrap the K to 12 program of the Department of Education, but there is a need to review its implementation to ensure quality education for the learners.

DepEd-Cordillera Director Estela Cariño said they are looking forward to a more practical solution with the K to 12 to be polished under the helm of DepEd Secretary and Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio.

Duterte-Carpio earlier said to the national media that President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. gave her instructions to review the program, which extends the country’s elementary to high school to 12 years instead of 10 years. 

Cariño said of the initial tagline of the program, “trabaho, negosyo, o kolehiyo” only the latter part stayed true for most of the K to 12 graduates.

She said most of the graduates are still hard up being employed or operating their own businesses, despite being a National Certification II holder.

“I’m still looking at what is missing in the implementation. We need to make innovations so the learners will be at par when they graduate from the program,” Cariño said.

DepEd-CAR plans to conduct an inventory to trace K-12 graduates and where they currently are.

The result of inventory would help DepEd in assessing the programs that need to be polished.

In the region, all municipalities have senior high schools including schools offering integrated learning but DepEd would still assess the capability of the schools prior to allowing them to offer a certain curriculum.

Cariño also lauded the efforts of the local government units for supporting their respective schools. She cited Barlig, Mountain Province wherein the LGU provided dormitories for the senior high school learners coming from distant areas.

Introduced in 2011 and implemented during the administration of the late President Benigno Aquino III, the K-12 curriculum has been under review for the past two years.

The first batch of graduates who have undergone the full implementation of the K-12 program will graduate high school in 2024. – Ofelia C. Empian