THE PROS AND CONS OF THE K-12 CURRICULUM IN

THE PHILIPPINES
The cons are that the parents have to spend 2 extra years for school, and if their children
decide to enter college, there's an additional 2-year spending that was never supposed to
be there. As for those affected who are NOT the students, the college professors will
have to cope with the first generation of K+12 students. There would be no college
freshmen FOR 2 YEARS.

But that's it. Those are ALL the problems that they have to face.

For 2 years worth of sacrifice, these are what you'll get:

The students are more competent, they're not there to cope up with the world because
they're up to speed. The unemployment rates would plummet, because the K+12
program makes high school graduates eligible for MANY jobs that previously required a
two-year college degree. During the 2 year empty period, unemployed graduates can
start going out again, entering a LOT of job openings that the first generation of K+12
students made from having no college grads for 2 years.

The extra 2 years also gives more time for students to think of what to become as a
member of society. That's more than enough time. It also reduces the risk of students
shifting a lot due to a lack of contentment in school.

Vocational programs are also easier to access, like what Don Bosco is doing to its current
students, giving them practical lessons on mechanics and etc.

Think of it for the long term. More people who have jobs is what's important. K+12
allows us to have that.

The PROS
1. “Enhancing the quality of basic education in the Philippines is urgent and
critical.”
2. “The poor quality of basic education is reflected in the low achievement scores of
Filipino students. One reason is that students do not get adequate instructional
time or time on task.”
3. International test results consistently show Filipino students lagging way behing
practically everybody else in the world. In the 2008 mathematics exam, for
example we came in dead last.
 4. “The congested curriculum partly explains the present state of education.” Twelve
years of content are crammed into ten years.
5. Inadequate preparation of high school graduates for the world of work or
entrepreneurship or higher education.
6. Most graduates are too y oung to enter the labor force.
7. The current system reinforces the misperception that basic education is just a
preparatory step for higher education.”
8. OFWs, especially the professionals, and those who intend to study abroad, are at
a disadvantage. Our graduates are not automatically recognized as professionals
abroad.
9. The short basic education program affects the human development of the Filipino
children.

The CONS
1. Parents shell out more money (for transportation and food) for the education of
their children.
2. The government does not have the money to pay for two more years of free
education.
3. We can do in ten years what everyone else in the world takes 12 years to do so.
4. DepEd should fix the current subjects instead of building new ones. The problem
is the content, not the length of basic education
5. A high school diploma will not get anybody anywhere, because business firms will
not hire fresh high school graduates.
6. Every family dreams of having a child graduate from college.
7. While students are stuck in senior high, colleges and universitites will have no
freshmen for 2 years. This will be a financial disaster for many private HEIs
(Higher Education Institutions)
8. The drop-out rate will increase because of the two extra years.