K to 12 curriculum should undergo review following CHR report — Binay

Senator Nancy Binay on Saturday suggested a review of the K to 12 curriculum following the report of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) that tackled the challenges faced by new graduates amid the COVID-19 pandemic.  

The CHR report revealed that fresh graduates in the country tend to lack "soft skills" and job readiness and are highly vulnerable to scams.

The commission looked into the situation of the youth in school-to-work transition as well as their experiences in the context of the implementation of the K to 12 program and COVID-19 crisis.

“Talagang kailangan ng review kaya namin pinasa ang pagtatayo ng Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM) kung saan for three years aaralin nila yung existing curriculum at pagbibigay ng recommendation kung ano ang dapat ayusin sa mga problema na nakita nila during the EDCOM,” Binay said in a radio interview.

(We really need to review it, so we approved the creation of the EDCOM, which will study the existing curriculum every three years and give recommendations on how to fix the problems.)

Among the top issues observed among the first two years of K to 12 graduates were related to communication skills, working as a team, and critical thinking, according to the CHR report. 

“These issues are heightened and even augmented by the circumstances brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as working from home or losing one’s job and finding another one only when the market re-opens,” it added.

Even before the pandemic hit, the education sector was already facing a major problem, Binay said.

“Even before the pandemic talagang may malaking problema na tayo tapos nangyari pa ang pandemic, nagpatong patong ang hirap kasi ang laki ng catch-up na kailangan nating gawin,” Binay said.

(Even before the pandemic, we really had a big problem, and when the pandemic happened, the challenges continued piling up, meaning we had a lot of catching up to do.)

“Unang una yung limitasyon pa natin sa funding. Every year na tinatalakay natin itong budget yung kakulangan ng classrooms, kakulangan ng teachers, I think isa yan sa major na nakakadagdag dun sa kakulangan ng mga graduates na napoproduce ng education system,” she added. 

(First of all, we still have limitations on funding. Every year that we discuss the budget, the lack of classrooms and teachers is one of the major factors that contributes to the lack of graduates being produced by the education system.)

The Department of Education (DepEd) and the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) signed a data sharing agreement on Thursday to commence the comprehensive national assessment of the Philippine education sector’s performance.
 
The EDCOM II also presented its 28 priorities, which center on early childhood care and development, basic education, teacher education, and governance and finance. —VBL, GMA Integrated News