Hindi nila naiintindihan ang sinasabi nila

Dear insansapinas,

I just read an article giving a thumbs up on  the implementation of K-12 . I do not know but I got the drift that the writer does not understand what she is talking about.  When I wrote a few blogs earlier that I did not find the curriculum for the K-12 yet, I have not really come across the curriculum of this new education program . So when I saw the words new curriculum linked by the writer to some materials/articles, I thought it was really the curriculum. Guess what?  She does not know what a curriculum is. One article that was linked was a justification of the K-12 offering. 
Wikipedia defines curriculum as:

Curriculum has numerous definitions, which can be slightly confusing. In its broadest sense a curriculum may refer to all courses offered at a school. This is particularly true of schools at the university level, where the diversity of a curriculum might be an attractive point to a potential student.A curriculum may also refer to a defined and prescribed course of studies, which students must fulfill in order to pass a certain level of education.

So I am looking for these courses that are going to be offered--math, science, language, blah blah in lieu of the current curricular program. Eh sinabi, the curriculum will be done in phase. Ano? If you are constructing a house, is the plan done in stages too? Di ba you have already the floor plan/architectural design even before you start

buying the construction materials.





The objective of enhancing the employability of the students as early as kindergarten is absurd. The objective could be providing a more solid foundation to prepare the students for  high school where the end objective is to provide them not only knowledge but  to equip them with skills so they can join the labor market even before college. 


 When I was in  academe, there was a year when  curriculum preparation was my breakfast, lunch, dinner and  snacks. The committee would subject me to "interrogation" as to why some subjects were to be offered; why were these subjects offered first and why some general education subjects had to be removed from the program. The questioning was so intense that I  mumbled words /subjects in business even I was deep in my sleep. Before the curriculum was approved, I had to carry reams of paper and all colors of highlighters in the back seat of my car wherever I went. Parusa talaga. 


Then kahit yata pigain ko ang aking utak, I can not understand why this is so.


1. 1. The K-12 will solve the annual growing number of out-of-school youth. 
How will the K-12 solve this problem? 



Tell me how. Will the Out-of-school-youths believe in the program  that even though they are  resources-challenged, they are going to 
go to school. I do not find any stipulation that the Deped is going to lure them back by giving them support.  If this is because of the success of the program which would take years before it can be evaluated, maghintay muna kayo ng Pasko. Suntok sa buwan yata ito.


2.  The K-12 will address low achievement scores and poor academic performance of elementary and high school students. 


And I thought, the aim of the K-12 is to enhance employability of the graduates? So which is which?  The curricular program of other countries is designed to make the students excel in the examinations. There was an attempt in Singapore to revise their curriculum to make their students get interested more on entrepreneurship than the examination-oriented curriculum program. Parang naghahalo ang balat sa tinalupan. 


The writer mentioned about  the TIMMS where the Filipino students got low scores but it is also interesting to note that it was stated that the length of schooling does not contribute to high scores of the students. 

 According to results of the TIMSS, the length of schooling does not necessarily mean better scores. In fact, some countries with the same or shorter school cycle garnered the highest scores while those implementing the K-12 model or more years of schooling got lower scores.

4. The K-12 will open doors for more jobs for the youth, even without a college diploma.

Really? Employment opportunities will depend on the economy. Higher GDP growth means more higher production. With higher production comes the need for workers. Until the economy is improved, the qualified workers will remain qualified and unemployed.


 5. Filipino graduates will be automatically recognized as “professionals” abroad. 


Now this is stupid conclusion. Each country has its curricular program for its professional degrees like Accounting, lawyering, nursing and physicians.


The nursing in the Philippines is considered a degree in the US because of the similarity in the practice and theories. But not in UK where they have an educational system which is also different from the United States. Even the practice of accounting is different. 


But take for instance, lawyering. There was a time when reciprocity is being practised in some States but the amendments of the laws and new legislations make it difficult for Philippine graudate to pass the bar exam. Take  corporate law as example. Here in the States, there is such a thing as S corporation which operates like a partnership. In the Philippines, to put up a corporation, you need at least five persons even in names only to make up the incorporators. Here a corporation can be created by an individual without having to comply with minimum required capitalization.


Pinaysaamerika