During the DepEd-CEAP Mindanao Summit organized by CEAP’s National Basic Education Commission (NBEC) and co-hosted by Ateneo de Davao University on 17-18 February, the intention was to appreciate progress attained in the implementation of the K-12 educational reform and to understand the requirements of the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013 (RA 10627) for the Mindanao schools.
“And because the designers are all college graduates with PhD’s from the best of higher educational intentions, but without the experience of training students in handling a lathe or a welding machine, we now have a policy which has effectively shut out meaningful skills development in favor of pre-college preparation. The K-12 program has been reduced thereby to pre-college preparation whose “core curriculum,” according to Mr. Elvin Uy, will prepare the student for college according to the College Readiness Standards of the CHED.”
Talking from experience,In 1964 when I was senior year HS at Don Bosco-Makati, we were already given the preparatory core curriculum for college by giving us the option to select arts & science subjects in lieu of the trade skills and technical workshop. If you belong to the upper 20% academic achievements you can qualify for pre-college subjects otherwise you can take up specializatioon skills on electronics, radio & TV and automative or even print media and publishing. The students are classfied and group by Section, that is, Section A & B for higher academic subjects and the other sections according to your skills training preference. So, I dont know why they (CHED) have not or perhaps ignore the Don Bosco curriculum system. I think other Asian preparatory schools like Singapore is adopting this system.
MA. ISABEL ONGPIN: “The K-12 curriculum” June 2025
To abandon it for the so-called two-track curriculum that emphasizes reading literacy and numerical proficiency with the idea that these are the major skills for a successful job search would be an egregious mistake. With artificial intelligence on the rise, reading and math skills can be taken over. Robots with artificial intelligence are already here. Moreover, students need years to achieve maturity and be better than when they started both as students and adults. That is what the additional two years can help to do. Mature students have problem-solving abilities which come with creative thinking, analytical know-how and the ability to adjust, all of which come from in-depth education where ideas are articulated, exchanged, debated over. Where History and Ethics are an integral part of the education, not dispensed with. All of these take time and resources as well as political will on the part of the Education department and a certain maturity on the part of students.
In my opinion, K-12 here was not given the right support to make it a success. Replacing it with a lighter, faster and narrower curriculum is the easy way out that will have poor consequences.
https://www.manilatimes.net/2025/06/20/opinion/columns/the-k-12-curriculum/2136509