By Aileen
P. Refuerzo
BAGUIO CITY – Public elementary and high schools will open on June
4 with the Department of Education piloting the K-12 program’s new curriculum
for Grade I and Grade VII.
City schools division administrative officer Atty. Augustin Laban
III said the K-12 curriculum will use the Mother-Tongue Based Multi-Lingual
Education (MTB-MLE) where the country’s 12 “mother tongue languages” will be
used as medium of instruction.
The languages are Tagalog, Iloko, Kapampangan, Pangasinense,
Bikol, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray, Maguindanaoan, Maranaoan, Tausog and
Chavacano.
“K-12 offers a more balanced approach to learning that will
enable children to acquire and master lifelong learning skills as against a
congested curriculum under the ten-year basic education for the
21st century,” Laban said.
The “K” in the K-12 basic education program stands for the
institutionalization of kindergarten as part of the basic education system and
is “compulsory for admission to Grade 1.”
This means that children aged five years old are required to
enroll in kindergarten classes prior to their admission to Grade 1.
The “12” on the other hand refers to the 12 years basic education
required under the program spread out as follows: six years in the elementary,
four years in junior high school and two years in senior high school.
“A 12-year program is found to be the adequate period for learning
under basic education and is a requirement for recognition of professionals
abroad,” Laban said.
“A student who completes the K-12 will be equipped with skills,
competencies and recognized certificates equivalent to a two-year college
degree.”
Laban said the additional two years of senior high school will be
offered for free in public schools.
He said the House of Representatives approved the 2012 budget
amounting to P238.8 billion which includes P2.4 billion for the kindergarten
component of the program and more budget is expected to be earmarked when the
Grade 11 component is introduced in
2016.
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