K to 12 curriculum and the expected alignment of the college courses

It is presumed that whatever changes adopted in an organization, all programs of other divisions in it shall be aligned in order that the impact of implementation is geared to the accomplishment of such changes. Programs of every department must absolutely contribute to the desired changes.

K to 12 Curriculum of the Department of Education which was upgraded to 13 years of basic education was expected to prepare our young generations for the challenges of our recent generations. One positive feature is the increase in the number of years, according to international standards of education. This way, it prepares them for nation building, not limited to the different stands offered but as well as those taking up Technical, Vocational and Livelihood program.

One of the best features of this curriculum is the last two years in Senior High School. For those who wish to go the tertiary level of education under CHED, there are career paths by means of the different strands in which they prepare for the profession they want to take. There is a profound preparation as to what course each student will take in college.

This trend is likewise a way in which parents will be spending less because instead of having four years in colleges and universities, they are expected to adjust the college curriculum to a lower number of years. The number of years is lessened because basic subject areas are already offered and will be taught in Senior High School. Less expenditures and less number of years will benefit parents and pave the way for more people who can enter college. Then eventually, it will also make our students remain in their places and additional two years to make them more mature when they will be in college.

Then as we see, when a child starts at five years old in Kindergarten, he will finish his basic education at 18. The child, being a graduate of Senior High School, is already allowed to work, in case he has no plans to proceed to college. It’s not like the previous curriculum that once a child cannot proceed to college, he isn’t of working age yet. So in our recent curriculum, there are no young people who are graduates of the basic education waiting for another year for employment.

Prior to the implementation of this curriculum, several professors in colleges and universities had in mind apprehensions that they may become unemployed because basic and academic subjects in the first two years in college are expected to be offered in Senior High School. In fact, we heard that even the non-passers of the Licensure Examination for Teachers who were teaching in college are the priority in the hiring process for the Senior High Schools all over the country. This is the intervention of DepEd for our college professors. It caters to them to ensure that their families will not suffer the consequences of the implementation of the new curriculum.

So, as expected, colleges and universities are now aligning their courses to the recent trends in Education. They are now offering less number of years. Not only one parent or two who hopes that the sacrifices and burdens in terms of the tuition fees because they are not offering basic academic subjects which may duplicate what are offered in our basic education. Then of course, K to 12 Curriculum products or students who graduated with this new curriculum won’t suffer much number of years in college with minimum number of units in every semester. If this happens, our tertiary level which is under the Commission on Higher Education has aligned their courses and has made great contribution to nation building.

Reno L. Gravino

Poblacion, Oslob, Cebu