GSE 425- SEMINAR IN SCIENCE TEACHING

Has Change Come to

Philippine
Education?
BY:
CARISSE ANGELI CRUZ
CARMELA MENDOZA
JOCEL SWIN
Based on the article, we came up with
our feedback/reaction as educators:
• The article from the Manila Bulletin was written by Merlina
Hernando-Malipot and was published last May 19, 2019
• Based on the title itself it talks about the major changes in the
Philippine education
• These major educational reform were the k-12 curriculum and
the free tertiary education
• On the first part of the article, some groups and stakeholders
expressed their concerns regarding the effect of these reforms
(especially K-12 curriculum) in the country’s education system
• Among the concerned groups were the Alliance of Concerned
Teachers (also known as the ACT) were they pointed out
through their Secretary Raymond Basilio, that these school
year will also be experiencing the “perennial” problems of
Education sector like the shortage of teachers, support
personnels, instructional materials and facilities
• Amidst the said problems, Department of Education Secretary
assured that the schools are indeed ready for the opening of
classes this year through its annual “Brigada Eskwela”. Also the
DepEd’s Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla asssured that the
department continues to address these concerns within their
capabality.
• On the part of the higher education, they had now an increased
funding, making the free tertiary education possible. Thus
benifiting 1.3 million students from public universities and 100,
000 from private universities
• Another change from the higher education is the
synchronization of its Academic Year to Fiscal Year starting this
year 2019
• Despite the department’s assurances regarding the new
curriculum, some groups pointed out that its goal for
“providing a holistic education for all Filipino students” is
telling a different story based of the learning outcome of the
students
• The article pointed out the “red flags” or the problems
encountered during the implementation of the said curriculum
• Among these problems encountered was the poor early
childhood comprehension in reading and listening, low scores
in the National Achievement Tests, deprived education
because of poverty, incompetency of some teachers and the
work load of the public school teachers
• It was also pointed out in the article the passing rate in
licensure examinations had barely reached the target
• As educators in secondary public and private schools, we all
agree that indeed change had come in the Philippine
Education in terms of the curriculums.
• We also agreed that the new curriculum has both the good
and bad aspect. In the side of the teachers, yes it is quite
advantageous because it created a lot of work opportunities
for us. Also, by adding the additional two years in the high
school, we provide students additional knowledge and skills
wherein they can use should they wish not to longer pursue
higher education
• In the side of public school teachers, the curriculum had
somewhat added so much paper works that lessens their time
in teaching in the classroom. Also, they are being sent to
various seminars leaving their students with activities that is a
no good substitute for the real teacher
• In the case of a private school teacher, although there is no
much paper work like in the public school, we can safely say
that teaching part is not that easy. We also do the various
school forms, lesson logs, computing grades and making
instructional materials.
• The problem of private institution lies in the number of its
work force, the teachers. As mentioned earlier, these
education reform created many job opportunities for the
teachers. And since the salary and benefits in the public sector
is much appealing, teachers from the private schools opted to
transfer in the public school. This leaves the students in the
private schools with less teachers yearly.
• The lack of experience of some teachers may affect the
quality of learners that we produce.
• And when these learners completed their secondary
education and decided to pursue tertiary education, some of
them may experience a hard time adjusting to another kind
of education
• In the case of those who do not wish to pursue college
education and decides to have a job already, some companies
may be hesitant to hire them
• This scenario in terms of the quality of students we produce in
the public and private is being experienced through the years
since the implementation of these education reforms
• In general, we can say that educational reform in the
secondary (K-12 curriculum) still needs improvements in terms
of some of its policies while the free education in tertiary
education is no doubt very beneficial to those seeking to
continue in college but higher education may encounter a
hard time because of the students coming from different
tracks which is compatible with the course that they want
pursue.