Senator Win Gatchalian is urging the Department of Education (DepEd) to conduct simulations and consultations with teachers before rolling out the revised K to 10 curriculum.
According to Education Assistant Secretary for operations Francis Cesar Bringas, the department is finalizing the revised K to 10 curriculum, the draft version of which was released to the public for their feedback. The DepEd official added that the agency is finalizing the shaping paper and will incorporate the public’s comment in the curriculum guide. The agency is also completing policy guidelines on the curriculum’s implementation, which is being eyed for a 2025 rollout.
Since teachers are at the forefront of rolling out and ensuring the effectiveness of the revised K to 10 curriculum, Gatchalian pressed the importance of securing their feedback.
“I strongly suggest that we do some on-the-ground simulations and consultations so that we will have some direct feedback from our teachers, considering that they are our foot soldiers on the field and they are expected to implement the curriculum,” Gatchalian said.
During her presentation of the Basic Education Report 2023, Vice President and Secretary of Education Sara Duterte pointed out that the review of the K to 12 curriculum has revealed that it is congested. Experts have repeatedly pointed out that a congested curriculum has prevented learners from mastering basic competencies.
Gatchalian maintained, however, that the Senate review of the K to 12 program will continue. He filed Proposed Senate Resolution No. 5, which seeks to review the implementation of the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 (Republic Act No. 10533) or the K to 12 Law. To date, four hearings were already done on the implementation of the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE).
Aside from the MTB-MLE, the Senate basic education panel will also review the implementation of the spiral progression approach mandated by the law. Under the spiral progression approach, learners are taught simple to more complicated concepts through grade levels in spiral progression.
Gatchalian added that the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II), which is mandated to assess the Philippine education sector’s performance, is also studying the revisions in the K to 10 curriculum and the senior high school program.
