Discussion Papers

No.425
by OKABE Masayoshi
August 2013
Abstract
In 2012 the Philippines launched its K to 12 Program, a comprehensive reform of its basic
education. Through this reform, the Philippines is catching up with global standards in
secondary education and is attaching a high value to kindergarten. The structure, curricula,
and philosophy of the education system are undergoing reform and improvement. The key
points of the new policy are preparation for higher education, eligibility for entering
domestic and overseas higher educational institutions, and immediate employability on
graduating, all leading toward a holistically developed Filipino. This policy appears
admirable and timely, but it faces some pedagogical and socioeconomic problems. The
author wants to point out in particular that the policy needs to address gender problems and
should be combined with demand-side approaches in order to promote poverty alleviation
and human development in the Philippines.
http://www.ide.go.jp/English/Publish/Download/Dp/425.html
K12 research paper
PERCEPTION OF PARENTS OF THE STUDENTS
AFFECTED BY ADDITIONAL TWO YEARS IN BASIC EDUCATION
A Research Paper Presented to
The Faculty of the Language and Literature Department
Sampaloc, Manila
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Course
ENG 2-Communication Arts and Skills I
October 2011

Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION

A.

Background of the Study

The Philippine education system pursues the achievement of excellent undergraduates in

the elementary and secondary level. The Department of Education pronounces the addition
of two more years in the basic education of students, which according to them will benefit
not only the Filipino youth but all the Filipino in the Philippines. (Luistro, 2010)
The administration asserts that with the implementation of such program, the problem of
unemployment in the country will be resolved. In as much as employment in the Philippines
is concerned, the K12 education also responds to the fact that most countries in the world
already have the same plan in their educational institutions. With this, the standards of
these countries go a notch higher than what the country has, thus, creating an expansion in
the global competency. (DepEd, 2010)
We need to add two years to our basic education. Those who can afford pay up to fourteen
years of schooling before university. Thus, their children are getting into the best
universities and the best jobs after graduation. I want at least 12 years for our public school
children to give them an even chance at succeeding. (Aquino III, 2011)
K12 educational systems are additional years to secondary level. This research contains
some information about curriculum of K12. This means that the present four years in high
school will be called Junior High School and additional two years as senior High School. The
model, which is being proposed, is K-6-4-2 where K means Kindergarten (5 years old), 6
means six years in elementary (6 to 11 years old), 4 means four years in Junior High School
(12 to 15 years old) and 2 means two years in Senior High School (16 to 17 years old).
(DepEd, n.d).
Kindergarten will start in school year 2011 2012. The new and enhanced curriculum in
Grade 1 and first year high school will start in school year 2012 2013. The first year senior
high school or the eleventh year will begin in school year 2016 2017. The first graduates of
the 12- year curriculum will be in 2018. (DepEd, n.d).
Enhancing the quality of basic education in the Philippines is urgent and critical. 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 task.
Our children deserve to receive the best education our country can provide for them and our
economy depends on an educated and skilled workforce to be successful in the global
market.
B. Statement of the Problem
This study aims to answer these following questions:
1.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the K-12 program or the additional 2
years to Basic Education?
2.

Will the parents agree or disagree to the K- 12 program?

C. Significance of the Study

Parents of the students. This research would be able to help the parents of the students who
are affected by the K-12 program, this will give them an idea of what will be the advantages
and disadvantages of the program, and if it will help their children grow from the academic
nature.
Students. The students will benefit from the study by letting them know how they are going
to be able to understand the addition of 2 years from their schooling. Students will know
how it will provide a better quality of education to them.
Teachers. This study will benefit the teachers from the school, for them to be prepared for
the additional two years to the basic education. It is important for them to know the
advantages and disadvantages of the program, because they will be the one providing the
knowledge to the children.
School. This research will also benefit the school, so they will anticipate the additional cost
to the program, also the additional teachers and everything that they should be anticipating
for.
D. Scope and Limitation
This study focuses only on the perception of the parents students affected by the K-12
program since it has been implemented this year the study will only focus on what the
parents think and how it will affect them. It will also focus on the circumstances that will put
one in favorable position, and those circumstances that will put one in unfavorable position.
The study will only ask the parents about K-6-4-2 and not go beyond asking them if theyll
still let their children continue to study or not.
E. Materials and Methods
This research utilizes the descriptive method since the researcher aims to discuss and to
know the perception of parents regarding to the additional years of basic education. The
main goal of this type of research is to describe the data and characteristic what is being
studied.
The idea behind this type of research is to study frequencies, averages, and other statistical
calculations. Although this research is highly accurate, it does not gather the causes behind
a situation. Descriptive research is mainly done when a researcher wants to gain a better
understanding of a topic.
Interview, books and newspaper were researchers major instrument in gathering
information and were augmented with other data collected through readings
E.

Definition of Terms

Department of Education. It is the executive department of the Philippine government

responsible for the management and governing of the Philippine system of basic education.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Education_(Philippines))
Education. The wealth of knowledge acquired by an individual after studying particular
subject matters or experiencing life lessons that provide an understanding of something.

Elementary. A school for the first four to eight years of a childs formal education, often
including kindergarten.
K12. A scheme of Department of education which contains the additional one year for
elementary and additional one year for secondary.

Secondary. It is an institution where the final stage of schooling, usually a compulsory up to

specifies age, takes place. It follows elementary or primary school and may be followed by
university (tertiary) education.
Private School. It is also known as independent schools or non state schools, are not
administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select
their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather
than relying on mandatory taxation through public (government) funding, students can get a
scholarship into a private school which makes the cost cheaper depending on a talent the
student.
Public School. It is an education required for the children as stipulated by the laws in the
government national, regional, or local financially supported by the civil through taxes.
Perception. It is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of the environment by
organizing and interpreting sensory information.

Chapter 2
DISCUSSION
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the K-12 program or the additional 2 years to
Basic Education?
ADVANTAGES
To Individuals and Families
1.
An enhanced curriculum will decongest academic workload, giving students more time
to master competencies and skills as well as time for other learning opportunities beyond
the classroom, thus allowing for a more holistic development.
2.
Graduates will possess competencies and skills relevant to the job market. The K+12
proposal will be designed to adjust and meet the fast-changing demands of society to
prepare graduates with skills essential for the world of
3.
Graduates will be prepared for higher education. Due to an enhanced curriculum that
will provide relevant content and attuned with the changing needs of the times, basic
education will ensure sufficient mastery of core subjects to its graduates such that
graduates may opt to pursue higher education if they choose to.

4.
Graduates will be able to earn higher wages and/or better prepared to start their own
business. There is a strong correlation between educational attainment and wage structure
and studies specific to the Philippine setting show that an additional year of schooling
increases earnings by 7.5%. This should also allow greater access to higher education for
self-supporting students.
5.
Graduates could now be recognized abroad. Filipino graduates, e.g. engineers,
architects, doctors, etc., could now be recognized as professionals in other countries. Those
who intend to study abroad will meet the entrance requirements of foreign schools.
(Cruz,2010)
For the Society and the Economy
6.
The economy will experience accelerated growth in the long run. The objective of the
K+12 programs is to improve quality of basic education. Several studies have shown that
the improvements in the quality of education will increase GDP growth by as much as 2%.
Studies in the UK, India and US show that additional years of schooling also have positive
overall impact on society.
7.
The Philippine education system will be at par with international standards. K+12 will
facilitate mutual recognition of Filipino graduates and professionals following the Washington
Accord and the Bologna Accord.
8.
A better educated society provides a sound foundation for long-term socioeconomic
development. The Enhanced K+12 Basic Education system will contribute to the
development of emotionally and intellectually mature individuals capable of pursuing
productive employment or entrepreneurship or higher education disciplines. (Cruz,2010)
DISADVANTAGES
1.
Parents have to shell out more money (for transportation and food) for education of
their children.
2.
The government does not have the money to pay for two more years of free education,
since it does not even have the money to fully support todays ten years. DepEd must first
solve the lack of classroom, furniture and equipment, qualified teachers, and error- free
textbooks.
3.
Filipinos right now are accepted in prestigious graduate schools in the world, even with
only ten years of basic education.
4.
As far as the curriculum is concerned, DepEd should fix the current subjects instead of
adding new ones. The problem is the content, not the length, of basic education. As an
editorial put it, we need to have better education, not more 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 Grade 11 and 12, colleges and universities will have no
freshmen for two years. This will spell financial disaster for many private Higher Education
Institutions (HEIs).
8.

The drop-out rate will increase because of the two extra years. (Cruz, 2010)

Will the parents agree or disagree to the K- 12 program?

The additional two years in basic education may not be the only answer to the quality of the
educational system. Quality may also depend on the curriculum, the quality of educators
and the facilities provided for by the school campuses. With the continuing increase in
school tuition, the upgrade on quality education should have already been included. The
additional two years will only be to the advantage of the schools and will only make
education a more lucrative business. The question remains. Will the new system assure
graduates of employment after graduation? If not, the DepEd should instead enhance what
we already have and not add to the burden of education. (Malou, 2010)
K-12 will give more job opportunities to high school graduates. It will make more globally
competitive Filipino students and it will maximize their time on choosing their career base on
their ability. (Jennifer, 2011)
I agree in K+12 it is because that students will have more time to choose the right course
that best suits in their skills and they will be more capable and matured to confront college
career, which is a new special field endeavor.( Anonymous, 2011 )
It depends on the value of education, not on the duration. Why not give more support and
develop the schools and students' potentials? I think it is more effective to attain the
excellent literacy of every Filipino youth. (Liezel, 2011)
This is part of President Benigno "NoyNoy" Aquino III's Educational Reform Program. The PNoy Administration believes that adding more years to basic education in the Philippines
could help solve the problem of unemployment, keep up with global standards, and help
filipino students to have more time to choose the career that best suits their skills.
Its a given fact that the Aquino administration has good intentions in implementing this K-12
plan. But no matter how good these intentions are, there would still be parts of the society
who would give them a hard time making this education amendment. Sadly, the Philippine
education system is far behind other countries. If this K-12 plan would push through, help
the concerned parties have that optimism that this would bring our education system a few
notches higher. Make everybody realize that yes, we do have quality education here and we
are able to produce skillful, well-rounded, and competent young citizens.
Chapter 3
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS,
AND RECOMMENDATIONS
SUMMARY

This paper attempted to determine the advantages and disadvantages and the
perspective of the parents regarding K12 program.
This research design used in this study is the descriptive research method wherein
data from documents were used to answer the research question posed.
Education in the Philippines has and always been a treasure for all Filipinos who wish to
improve life a little bit especially those belonging to the middle and low income group. But
with the advent of the K+12 Basic program of the Department of Education where formal
education starts from Kindergarten, six years in elementary, three years junior high school
and two years senior high school. Counting the number of years that parents will devote to
spending for their children's education means more work, more efforts to exert, more
waiting years before they will finally see their children graduate from basic education.
Parents think of the longer period before they can witness their children earn their living, a
common dream of a typical Filipino parent.
However, if this program will be fully materialized, Filipino graduates of basic education
become highly comparable and competent as with their other Asian and global counterparts.
Parents may shell more for school needs but they just have to think that their children can
already enroll in other countries, if they wish to, because of the competitive basic education
curriculum. This should be the thinking of a rational parent, a must for a progressive country
like in the Philippines.
CONCLUSIONS
According to the study, the following conclusions are proven:
1.
The parents of the students that are involved in the study said that the implementation
of the K12 program that it is a must, because the primary objective of the program is to
improve the quality of education so that, when the students finished the basic education
they will be more productive.
2.
The most important contribution of the program to the students is to improve their
abilities, and revolutionized the Philippines in terms of educational attainment.
RECOMMENDATIONS
After drawing the conclusion, the researcher suggests:
1.
There should be a researcher having the comparison between the curriculum with
K+12 rule and the other traditional 6 years in Elementary 4 years in High School.
2.
After some time -2018 to be exact- A researcher conducts a study the effectiveness of
the program.

References:
BOOK
Seamo-Innotech (2010, August 25). Additional Years in Philippine Basic Education:

Rationale and Legal Bases. Deapartment of Education, 7(2), 79-80.

ELECTRONIC MEDIA
Luistro, M. (2010, October 6). Youth Philippines on the K-12 Proposal: We are giving our
Conditional Suports. Retrieved October 1, 2011
fromhttp://spokespersonabdl.blogspot.com/2010/10/youth-philippines-on-k-12-proposalwe.html?showComment=1300190604098#c518705997496408288
DepEd (n.d). The Implementation of the K+12 Systems In The Philippines.
Retrieved September 30, 2011 from
http:// www.oppapers.com/essays/The-Implementation-Of-The-K-12-Systems/613651
DepEd (2010). Discussion Paper on the Enhanced K+12 Basic Education Program. Retrieved

October 1, 2011 from http:// www.deped.gov.ph/cpanel/uploads/issuance/K12new.pdf

Guiterrez, M. (2010, October 6). K12 education. Retrieved October 5,2011
from http:// www.allvoices.com
Aquino III, B. (2010). Discussion Paper. Retrieved September 26, 2011
from http:// www.deped.gov.ph
Cruz, I. (2010, October 14). Education Debate. Retrieved October 4, 2011
from http:// www.mlephil.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/pros-cons-of-the-k12-debate/
Bolisay, J.(2011). Rhetorical Pattern: Argumentative Essay. Retrieved October 4,
2011
from http://www.oppapers.com/essays/K-12/443561
DepEd (2010). Basic Science Development Program of the Philippines.
Seamo-Innotech (2010, August 25). Additional Years in Philippine Basic Education:
Rationale and Legal Bases. Deapartment of Education, 7(2), 79-80.
Anonymous (2011, March 15). Retrieved October 7, 2011
from http://spokespersonabdl.blogspot.com/2010/10/youth-philippines-on-k-12-proposalwe.html
Bartolome, L. (2011, April 13). Parents Philippines on the K12 proposal.
Retrieved October 1, 2011 from

http://spokespersonabdl.blogspot.com/2010/10/youth-philippines-on-k-12-proposal-we.html?
showComment=1286452242113#c7300993773511852353

http://katherine-thecrescentmoon.blogspot.com/2011/11/k12-research-paper.html