New SHS books out next year

MANILA, Philippines — Textbooks will be available next year for the full nationwide rollout of the strengthened Senior High School (SHS) curriculum, Education Secretary Sonny Angara said in an interview yesterday.

“The implementation of the new Senior High School curriculum should be next year but the President wants to hasten it and he wants to ensure that the curriculum of our Senior High School students is good so we initiated the pilot (implementation) this year,” Angara said.

“It (pilot implementation) is ongoing in about 900 (schools). We have distributed workbooks but it’s too late to print the books. There was not enough time and the curriculum is still developing,” he added.

Angara has said that the reform addresses concerns about students being overwhelmed by an excessive number of subjects, which hampers focus and job readiness.

Core subjects will be reduced from 15 to five: Effective Communication, Life Skills, General Mathematics, General Science and Pag-aaral ng Kasaysayan at Lipunang Pilipino (Study of History and Filipino Society).

Grade 11 students may take two elective subjects while Grade 12 students will have five to seven electives.

Work immersion hours will nearly double from 340 to 640 hours to better prepare students for employment or further studies.

Schools in housing projects

The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Department of Education to institutionalize the inclusion of basic education facilities such as schools and learning centers in government housing projects across the country.

In a statement, the DHSUD said the MOU, signed by Housing Secretary Jose Ramon Aliling and Angara, “institutionalizes coordination mechanisms between the two agencies, integrating education planning into the implementation of both government and private housing projects.”

Meanwhile, Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian has cited the Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program as a win-win solution that supports college students in need while directly addressing the country’s literacy challenges. — Elizabeth Marcelo, Jose Rodel Clapano