Education Secretary Sonny Angara admitted yesterday that the K to 12 program has produced lackluster results and left it to Congress to scrap the senior high school (SHS) curriculum.
The admission came as Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada filed a measure seeking to rationalize the basic education system in the country by removing the SHS, citing reason that it “still has not fully achieved its goal” to produce skilled and job-ready graduates 12 years after the enactment of Republic Act No. 10533, also known as the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013.
In a statement, Angara pointed out that the Department of Education (DepEd) is set to implement changes in the SHS this school year 2025-2026, through the pilot run of the revised SHS curriculum.
“The implementation [of the SHS program] in the last decade leaves plenty to be desired. There were too many subjects and… they have been unable to choose subjects,” he wrote in Filipino.
“Having said that, the decision to continue with the SHS program or not rests with Congress,” he added.
For his part, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, said any changes made to the system of education must still live up to the goals set under the K to 12 vision, which is concise but effective learning.
“While policy decisions rest with the DepEd and CHED, college curricula must avoid duplication so students can focus on their specialization and graduate in less than four years,” he said.
“They should not bear the burden of extra semesters simply because the original intent of the K-12 reform, made 12 years ago, has yet to be fully realized,” the lawmaker added.
