Aquino wants K to 12 fast-tracked during his term

President Benigno Aquino. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Because President Aquino wants to see the K to 12 education reform through to the end of his term in 2016, the Department of Education will fast-track the implementation of senior high school a year earlier, or in June 2015.

“Our original plan for Grade 11 nationwide was to commence [it] by June 2016, but the President wants half of the Grade 11 students to start by June 2015, one year earlier,” Education Secretary Armin Luistro said in Cebu during the launch last month of the Aboitiz Foundation education advocacies.

“That’s why you will find the 2014 (proposed) budget (includes an allocation for) classrooms. Around 15,000 classrooms will be constructed for the first batch of Grade 11 students for 2015,” he said.

Malacañang has proposed a P336.9-billion budget for the DepEd next year.

The DepEd had originally asked for P334 billion for 2014, up from the P293.4 billion it got this year.

But Malacañang added nearly P3 billion to the amount to advance the implementation of senior high school.

DepEd Assistant Secretary for Planning Jesus Mateo said the House of Representatives allocated another P1 billion for a school feeding program, for a total 2014 budget of P337.9 billion.

Under the original plan, Grade 11 or the first of the two additional senior high school years, was supposed to start nationwide in June 2016.

A major policy reform under the Aquino administration, the K to 12 (Kindergartten to Grade 12) reform calls for the gradual overhaul of the basic education curriculum which will consist of one year of preschool, six years of elementary school and six years of high school.

Kindergarten became mandatory in 2011.

In 2012, the DepEd began to revise the curriculum beginning with Grades 1 and 7 (formerly first year high school).

The revised curriculum for Grades 2 and 8 was implemented this school year, while those for Grades 3 and 9 and for Grades 4 and 10 were due in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

Under the original schedule, the curriculum for Grades 11 and Grade 4 was to be implemented in 2016, while that of Grades 12 and 5 was due in 2017.