ACADEMIC year 2025-2026 has shifted to first gear in the third week of this month, as 27 million enrollees were expected back to their classrooms, with leaders and critics’ eyes focused once more on the K-12 basic system of education.
Of the total, 4.7 million were expected to have registered for the Grades 11 and 12 levels.
The 13-year basic education program, carried through in 2013 when then President Benigno Aquino III signed the proposed measure sponsored by then Senator Juan Edgardo Angara, now the education secretary, and supported by Senator Jinggoy Estrada.
This week, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he would leave it up to Congress to decide whether or not to abolish the K-12 basic system of education, underlining he wants improvements while it remains in place.
The 13-year program includes Kindergarten and 12 years of schooling (six years of elementary, four years of junior high and two years of senior high).
The law sought to make Filipino students globally competitive by providing a more comprehensive, learner-centered, and contextually relevant education system.
But critics of the curriculum said it has failed to deliver its promise, and had only produced overburdened teachers and students.
The President, in a mix of English and Filipino in his episode of BBM Podcast, said “It’s costing parents more because we added two more years. They have to pay tuition, buy school supplies, buy books.
“But after 10 years, there was no advantage. There was no improvement, and graduates still can’t find jobs.”
The President added while there have been mounting calls to abolish the program, the Department of Education must push for improvement particularly in the graduates’ chances of finding employment while the K-12 system is still in place.
The President recommended partnering with the private sector to lessen job mismatch.
In a volte-face, Senate President Pro Tempore Estrada said filed Senate Bill 3001, or the Ratinalized Basic Education Act, seeking to remove senior high school, citing its failure to achieve its intended goals.
Estrada’s measure does not repeal Republic Act 10533 or the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 in its entirety but aims to eliminate the additional two years of senior high school, which have cost students and parents both time and money but falling short on its promises.
“Ever since this education reform was put in place, it has been met with criticisms and objections from various groups. It has been 12 years now since the enactment of the law, yet it still has not fully achieved its goal,” Estrada said in a statement.
We join the rest of the population in waiting for a thoughtful review of the K-12 curriculum.
