Education Secretary Leonor Briones affirmed that the K to 12 education program is primarily geared to benefit Filipino learners and the country.
“I always insist that K to 12 is not only for our regional friends or for our international neighbor or for the global community, we are doing this for ourselves,” Briones said during the 2nd National K to 12 Conference held at PICC on January 10-11, 2017.
Briones maintained that the implementation of K to 12 is not propelled only on the advice of the international community nor as required by the ASEAN, but because the Filipinos should realize the rich advantage of the new curriculum in making the youth more productive and competitive, not only overseas but more so in their country.
She added, “We are doing K to 12 for ourselves and for the Philippine education. We are doing this to be able to compete in our own country so that we can equip our learners with appropriate skills, creativity, and intelligence to cope with the changing world.”
The K to 12 is the innovative curriculum of DepEd which covers Kindergarten and 12 years of basic education. The program aims to provide sufficient time for mastery of concepts and skills, develop life-long learners and prepare graduates for tertiary education, middle-level skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship.
Briones said that when she assumed the stewardship of DepEd, it was her vision that beyond quality, the constitutional provision is making education accessible, relevant, and liberating.
“We want quality education to be liberating from intellectual, social and even material poverty,” she emphasized.
The Education Chief recalled that when President Rodrigo Duterte solicited her opinion in the implementation of the new curriculum, especially the Senior High School (SHS) program, her answer was to follow the mandate of the law.
The K to 12 Program is mandated by Republic Act 10533, otherwise known as “Basic Education Act of 2013.” The DepEd began the new learning program in its efforts to make a change towards a better Philippines as early as 2011.
K to 12 education reform is the boldest move made by the government in the history of the Philippine educational system. It requires courage, determination, and political will of revolutionizing the Philippine educational system amid challenges in more than 70 years.