Baguio schools gear up for senior high school program

By Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY – The city schools division has stepped up preparations for the opening of the senior high school program of the K to 12 curriculum in 2016.

City schools division superintendent Francis Ceasar Bringas said they have fast-tracked the completion of additional classrooms and facilities to prepare public high schools for the program.

Assistant city schools division head Agustin Laban said seven out of the 21 public high schools in the city have been identified to offer the senior high school program or Grade 11-12 starting 2016.

These are the Baguio City National High School, Irisan National High School, San Vicente National High School, Mil-An National High School, Joaquin Smith National High School, Guisad Valley National High School and Sto. Tomas National High School.  One school in Irisan has been proposed as “stand-alone” senior high school.

Laban said that with these eight institutions, the Department of Education (DepEd) can accommodate 60 percent of students graduating from public junior high schools for the senior high school program.

The remaining 40 percent can enroll in various private schools and colleges with financial assistance from the DepEd through education vouchers amounting to P20,000 per student.

Graduates from private junior high schools can also avail of the assistance from the DepEd amounting to P16,000 or 80 percent of what the public graduates will receive.

Laban said major tertiary and technical-vocational schools in Baguio are also eligible to offer senior high school programs like the St. Louis University, University of Baguio, University of the Cordilleras, Easter College, STI, AMA among others.

The Dep Ed said senior high school is “two years of in-depth specialization for students depending on the occupancy or career track they wish to pursue.”

“Two years of senior high school intends to provide for students to consolidate acquired academic skills and competencies Skills and competencies relevant to the job market.”

The senior high school curriculum offers four academic tracks for the students to choose from:  academic, technical-vocational-livelihood, sports and arts and designs.

Under the academic track are the following strands: Accountancy, Business and management (ABM); Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS) and General Academic Strand (GAS).

Under the Tech-Voc-Livelihood track are the following: Information and Communications (ICT), Industrial Arts, home Economics and Agri-Fishery Arts.

The sports track centers on sports and fitness while the arts and designs include strands on music, dance, film/media, visual arts, indigenous and theater arts.