Philippine Basic Education

by Act Phils on Friday, June 29, 2012 at 7:22am · PRESS RELEASE: June 29, 2012 Teachers retain FAILED remarks on PNoy’s Report Card as his second year in office as President of the Philippines ends. President Aquino’s second year in office ends tomorrow and we, teachers, one of his so-called “masters” has not found a reason to celebrate his Presidency. His core program on education, K to 12 is anti-teacher and anti-people in essence. His “Social Contract with the Filipino People” which was embodied in our country’s 2012 national budget is a contract that prioritizes foreign debt, dole out programs, bloated intelligence funds, and dwindling allocations for social services. “It is a budget that does not serve the fundamental needs of our people and instead makes use of ineffective measures like the Conditional Cash Transfers and public-private partnerships (PPPs),”Mr. Benjie Valbuena, Vice-chairperson of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said. PNoy pro...

The following is the backpage of the Philippine Collegian Issue 3 , Wednesday, 27 June 2012. The Philippine Collegian is the weekly newspaper of the students of the University of the Philippines, Diliman.

http://www.kilusangmayouno.org/news/2012/06/%E2%80%98education-contractual-work%E2%80%99-workers-protest-k12-anew Asserting their call for the junking of the K+12 education program, workers led by labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno held a protest action today in front of a high school in Quezon City, saying K+12 will only seal the fate of the youth as contractuals for big capitalists. Launching their signature drive against the education program, the workers asked parents waiting for their children in front of the school, as well as the students, to sign a petition. “K+12 seeks to systematically produce contractuals who receive lower wages and are denied of benefits, job security, and other rights. K+12 will give away diplomas for entry into severe exploitation by big capitalists,” said Roger Soluta, KMU secretary-general. “K+12’s implementation is another dictate of the biggest foreign capitalists on the Aquino government. Big capitalists seek to re-align the country’...

‏ DepEd: Pupunan ng K-12 program ang kakulangan ng natututunan sa elementarya. @ STATEOFDNATION __________________________________________________ The K to 12 program, according to DepEd, answers what elementary school children are failing to learn. The Philippines has performed poorly in the international standardized exams for Grade 4 pupils. Each year, the average scores of elementary pupils fail to reach the passing mark in national achievement exams. It is clear that basic education in the Philippines is not working that well even at the primary level. "Do not leave for tomorrow, what you can do today." This is as old as "First things first". The video above talks about a valedictorian candidate from an elementary school. The principal is worried that even the top student from this primary school may find high school difficult. With the lack of learning materials and equipment, grade school children are not being prep...

This question was raised by Finnish educator Pasi Sahlberg to a group of senior high school students in Manhattan ( New York Times, 2011 ). 2 out of the 15 students raised their hands. In Finland, according to Sahlberg, the number would be about twice as much and with greater enthusiasm. He also noted that being admitted to a teacher education program in Finland is more difficult than getting into either law or medicine. Sahlberg would probably be surprised if he had asked two Filipino children named Enrico and Danica. The following video is from Rappler.com , introducing us to these two kids (" Meet Enrico and Danica, Child Workers "): These are the words from Enrico: Ang pangarap ko ay maging isang titser para maturuan ko iyong ibang kabataan na hindi pa gaano, wala pang gaanong kaalaman (My dream is to be a teacher so that I could teach children who don't know that much.)" And from Danica: "Ang pangarap ko po sa buhay ay magin...

The classroom is the centerpiece of a school's education. Inside each room is a teacher and pupils engaging with one another. The main purpose is to create a climate suited for learning. Classroom management could be a challenging task to any teacher. There are times when a teacher needs complete silence and there are times when a teacher wants active participation from the students. The objective is always keeping the attention of the pupils. Both lectures and activities can be held inside a classroom. In the following video of GMA News, the situation in a school in Urbiztondo, Pangasinan is highlighted. About 500 students are crammed inside a covered court with only portable blackboards dividing the different classes. The challenges are crystal clear. There are 5 section in grade 4 and 4 sections in grade 3, with each section numbering more than 50 students. The covered court also sits right next to busy roads so vehicular traffic adds considerably ...

"...For those in senior high school, we developed a curriculum based on the Rice Terraces. What we did was embed the engineering concepts of the Ifugaos in the math and science subjects. The Ifugaos already had this engineering knowledge even before the arrival of the Spaniards in the Philippines. What we’re showing is that engineering is not a foreign concept for Filipinos. If early Filipinos didn’t understand engineering, then they couldn’t have built the Rice Terraces. These early Filipinos already have a hydro and agricultural system that has been preserved for the past 2,000 years. That’s my point when I say that the old curriculum is a little alien for Filipinos...." -Bro. Armin Luistro, DepEd Secretary The K+ 12 Basic Education Program: Helping Filipino Children Adapt to Ever-Changing World __________________________________________________________________________ "Posted below is one of my many letters for DepEd to mainstream the modules. These lette...

 Rep. Antonio L. Tinio (09209220817) ACT Teachers Party-List Representative Antonio L. Tinio hit the Aquino government’s $1B pledge to the International Monetary Fund’s emergency pool. Based on the latest Reference Exchange Rate issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the pledge amounts to P42.26 B. Tinio says that the contribution to the kitty, allegedly for crisis prevention and resolution and to meet the potential financing needs of IMF members, works as a loan for countries mostly in Europe, currently under economic crisis. “PNoy again displayed the utmost insensitivity to the education sector.  Our country pays its Kinder teachers P3,000 a month, and its  class sizes sometimes bulge to 70 students per classroom.  Our public school teachers are themselves drowning in debt because their salaries cannot keep up with the rising costs of living.  Why would our President extend loans to countries whose Kinder teachers are paid around five time...

The following are excerpts from an interview of DepEd Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro by Philippine Graphic ( The K+ 12 Basic Education Program: Helping Filipino Children Adapt to Ever-Changing World ). The DepEd secretary states why changes in curriculum are necessary. In K to 12, he emphasizes that teaching in both math and sciences require a Filipino touch: "... If we look at the old education system, a lot of the subjects included are very alien to Filipinos, especially the sciences and math. I think that’s why in the past several years, we have rated very low in those two subjects, science and math. I think the old curriculum was not really enmeshed with essential elements of the Filipino culture. We have to ask the question: How does a Filipino naturally think? That’s why the heart of the reform of the K+12 Program begins in kindergarten and Grade 1.... ...It also involves developing a way of thinking, a way of speaking and a way of looking at reality. Let us take as an examp...

A request has been recently made by the Philippine government to Canada's Ministry for Citizenship and Immigration to relax its hiring rules for Filipinos. Currently, Canada equates a four year college degree in the Philippines to two years of tertiary education. The request is made in the light of a looming shortage in Canada's labor force. ( http://dfa.gov.ph/main/index.php/newsroom/dfa-releases/5727-dfa-secretary-bats-for-canadas-recognition-of-phl-earned-academic-degrees-to-spur-hiring-of-filipinos ) At first glance, the recognition of education may be mistakenly regarded as a simple matter of years. And with this cursory perspective, sound bites that translate standards of education to number of years can be propagated. And if repeated enough, this becomes true in the minds of the public. A colleague of mine could not believe that government officials (DepEd division superintendents in Pangasinan) in the Philippines could issue such a statement: "the six division ...