Senate OKs bill institutionalizing K to 12 program

The Senate on Monday approved on third and final reading a bill seeking to institutionalize the government’s K to 12 program, which seeks to add two more years to basic education in the country. Senate Bill No. 3286, otherwise known as the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2012, seeks to add two more years to the current 10-year curriculum. The program covers kindergarten and 12 years of basic education, which is six years of primary education, four years of junior high school, and two years of senior high school. SB 3286 sponsor Senator Edgardo Angara, who chairs the Senate committee on education, arts and culture, said that the additional two years will help Filipinos be more globally competitive.   “K to 12 is about enhancing the curriculum that better prepares every Filipino child, and about innovating lessons that are taught to each learner,” he said in a statement released Monday. “This is more than just about expanding basic education by adding two years to a 10-year cycle. This is about the State, the Filipino people as a single policy, fulfilling the solemn duty to educate and nurture its citizens to the best of our collective abilities,” he added. He said the Department of Education, the Commission on Higher Education and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority will be in charge of designing the enhanced basic education curriculum. He also said that the DepEd will conduct a mandatory evaluation and review of the program by 2014, after which a report shall be submitted to Congress. The Senate on Monday also approved on third and final reading Senate Bill 3323, which seeks to declare the Chinese New Year as a special working holiday. — BM, GMA News