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DepEd to implement K to 12 program next school year


Starting next school year, the Department of Education (DepEd) will implement the first phase of the Aquino administration's K to 12 basic education program.

 
The K to 12 program includes kindergarten, six years of elementary education (grade 1 to 6), four years of junior high school (grade 7 to 10), and two years of senior high school (grades 11 and 12).
 
The DepEd said the additional two years in high school will be used for in-depth specialization, depending on the career track students wish to pursue.
 
In an interview aired over GMA News TV's "Balitanghali," DepEd assistant secretary and spokesman Tony Umali said they will start implementing the program for the School Year 2012-2013.
 
He noted, however, that they will only change the curriculum of the first and seventh grades for now.
 
"Next school year ang sinasabi nga po natin ay ang curriculum palang po ang ating ipatutupad," he said.
 
Umali explained that the curriculum, which uses the so-called "spiral progression approach," aims to teach students more upon entering high school. 
 
He cited as an example Mathematics, which high school students learn one by one through the years (that is, general Mathematics in first year, Geometry in second year, Algebra in third year, and Trigonometry in fourth year).  But under the K to 12 curriculum, those in first year (seventh graders) would have a taste of all mathematics subjects right away.
 
"Generally, parang ganyan. 'Yan po ang usual na ginagamit naman pong uri ng curriculum sa ibang bansa," he said, adding that school hours for first graders would be cut down to four hours.
 
Umali noted, however, that they won't have any 11th and 12th graders until 2016.  
 
"So mahaba pa po ang panhaon ng ating paghahanda," he said.
 
He added that they are still coordinating with private institutions on how to implement the program in their schools.
 
"Pinag-uusapan pa po namin ano ang gagawin, kailangan rin po kasi i-adjust ang curriculum nila," he said. —  Kimberly Jane Tan /LBG, GMA News
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