K+12 in the Philippines

Many of us believe that in order for a person to achieve his success, he must have a good background in education and the attitude of a survivor. A great education begins with the desire to learn (Osterberg, 2004). Education is important in everybody. It gives us knowledge about the world around us, strengthens our perspective in life and helps build opinions and have points of view in everything about life. Education is really important in bringing our dreams to reality. It opens up doors to every opportunity that would give success in one's life (Oak, 2010).

In our country's case, the Philippine government offers only 10 years in basic education (6 years for elementary and 4 for high school years), which is the lowest as compared to 12 years in many countries in the world (PCER, 1999).

The poor mastery of lessons is common due to the congested curriculum and to the great number of population in public schools. High school graduates of 10-year basic education curriculum are also believed to lack basic competencies and maturity. They cannot legally enter into contracts and are not emotionally mature for entrepreneurship / employment (DepEd, 2010).

According to the National Framework Plan for ICTs in Basic Education (2010), the poor performance of students across our country shown in recent national and international achievement tests, and the great number of dropouts both in elementary and secondary levels, pushes the government to add 2 more years in the basic education curriculum or also termed as the K+12 education program.

What is K+12? The K+12 program means Kindergarten and the 12 years of elementary and secondary levels. Kindergarten refers to the 5-year old cohort that takes a standardized kinder curriculum. Elementary education refers to primary schooling that involves six or seven years of education. Secondary education refers to high school (DepEd, 2010).

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