On January
20, 2012, President Aquino signed into law Republic Act No. 10157 mandating among
others the institutionalization of Kindergarten Education as part of basic
education and for school year 2011-2012 shall be implemented partially, and
thereafter it shall be made mandatory and compulsory for entrance to Grade 1.
Thereafter,
on May 15, 2013, President Noynoy Aquino signed into law Republic Act No. 10533
also known as the “Enhance Basic Education Act of 2013” atleast one
(1) year of kindergarten
education,six (6) years of elementary education, and six
(6) year of secondary education, in that sequence. Secondary education
includes four (4) years of junior high school and two (2) years of senior
highschool education.
Kindergarten
education shall mean one (1) year of preparatory education for children at
least five (5) years old as a prerequisite for Grade 1. Elementary education
refers to the second stage of compulsory basic education which is composed of
six (6) years.
The entrant age to this level
is typically six (6) years old. Secondary education refers to the third stage
of compulsory basic education. It consists of four (4) years of junior high
school education and two (2) years of senior high school education. The entrant
age to the junior and senior high school levels are typically twelve (12) and
sixteen (16) years old, respectively.
Basic
Education shall be delivered in languages understood by the learners as the
language plays a strategic role in shaping the formative years of learners. For
Kindergarten and the first three (3) years of elementary education,
instruction, teaching
materials and assessment shall
be in the regional or native language of the learners. The Department of
Education (DepEd) shall formulate a mother language transition program from
Grade 4 to Grade 6 so that Filipino and English shall be gradually introduced
as languages of instruction until such tim when these two (2) languages can
become the primary languages of instruction at the secondary level.
For purposes of this Act, mother language of first Language (LI) refers to language or languages first learned by a child, which he/she identifies with, is identified as a native language user of by others, which he/she knows best, or uses most. This regional or native language refers to the traditional speech variety of Filipino sign language existing in a region, area or place.
THE K – 12 CURRICULUM
The passage
Republic Act No. 10533, brought about a restructuring of the curricula of
Philippine schools particularly in the secondary levels. Under the Implementing
Rules and Regulation of R.A 10533, particularly Section 10, Article II it was
provided that:
The DepEd shall adhere to the
following standards and principles, when appropriate in developing the enhanced
basic education curriculum:
•
The curriculum shall be learner-centered,
inclusive and developmentally appropriate;
•
The curriculum shall be relevant, responsive and
research- based;
The
curriculum shall be gender-and culture sensitive
•
The Curriculum shall be contextualized and
global;
•
The Curriculum shall use pedagogical approaches that
are constructivist, inquiry-based, reflective, collaborative and integrative;
•
The curriculum shall adhere to the principles
and framework of Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) which
starts from where the learners are and from what they already know proceeding
from the known to the unknown; instructional materials and capable teachers to
implement the MTB-MLE curriculum shall be available. For this purpose, MTB-MLE
refers to formal or non-formal education in which the learners mother tongue
and additional languages are used in the classroom;
o The curriculum shall use spiral progression approach to
o Ensure mastery of knowledge and skills after each level and;
o The curriculum shall be flexible enough to enable and allow
o Schools to localize, indigenize and enhance the same based
o On their respective educational and social contexts.