Push Admin

Senate panel inquiry on K-to-12 to focus on curriculum: chair

Article (news)

ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="A teacher checks the temperature of students before starting their classes at the Jose Magsaysay Elementary School (JMES) in Makati City on March 30, 2022. A total of 117 students went to JMES physically as the local government of Makati resumed its face-to-face classes last Monday in 12 public schools for the first time since the start of the COVID19 pandemic. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/07/12/20220330-covid-makati-school-in-person-class-gc-2946.jpg"/><figcaption>A teacher checks the temperature of students before starting their classes at the Jose Magsaysay Elementary School (JMES) in Makati City on March 30, 2022. A total of 117 students went to JMES physically as the local government of Makati resumed its face-to-face classes last Monday in 12 public schools for the first time since the start of the COVID19 pandemic. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA - The upcoming Senate panel inquiry on K-to-12 will focus on reviewing its curriculum and highlighting the need for going back to basics, its chairperson said Tuesday.The country&#x27;s K-to-12 curriculum with more than 200 competencies is &quot;highly congested,&quot; according to Sen. Sherin Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Basic Education.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/business/07/08/22/comprehensive-review-of-ph-education-system-sought">Group seeks comprehensive review of PH education system to curb &#x27;learning crisis&#x27;</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/30/22/marcos-wants-learning-materials-to-focus-on-basics">‘I’m not talking about history’: Marcos wants learning materials to focus on ‘basics’</a></li></ul>&quot;There are 200+ competencies that a student needs to learn in one grade level. We have 200 days in a school year. Experts are saying to narrow down to the most essential ones,&quot; he told ANC&#x27;s Headstart.&quot;Number 2 is the employability of our senior high school students. That&#x27;s why a lot of parents are dissatisfied with K-to-12 because we added 2 years but they&#x27;re not employed.&quot;Government must lead in employing senior high school graduates as an example, Gatchalian added.&quot;Government mandated K-to-12 but it’s not hiring K-to-12 grads. If government will not walk the talk then obviously people will not believe in the potential of K-to-12,&quot; he said.The country&#x27;s K-to-12 curriculum must also focus on the basics such as reading, Gatchalian said, citing a World Bank study that found 10-year-olds cannot read or comprehend a simple story even prior to the pandemic.&quot;We need to go back to reading. We need to address that at an early stage. From Kinder to Grade 3, we have to emphasize that,&quot; he said.&quot;The tendency of students is if they cannot read and if they have problems in school they drop out. One of the things we are proposing is let’s tap the education graduates. They have to perform x amount of hours for their internship. Let’s use that time to teach.&quot;Government should also look into what the learning language should be, the senator added.&quot;This is a very difficult decision the country has to make. From Kinder to Grade 3 they&#x27;re mandated to teach the mother tongue, when you reach Grade 4 you will be taught English,&quot; he said.&quot;In theory, if you&#x27;re taught in your mother tongue, learning is faster...We also need to balance the mother tongue theory and the strength of our citizenry, English.&quot;Gatchalian said he would also prioritize the salary increase of teachers to Salary Grade 13 or an entry level of P30,000.&quot;That will just put us a little bit in the middle when it comes to salary in the region,&quot; he said.<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2118139" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

The upcoming Senate panel inquiry on K-to-12 will focus on reviewing its curriculum and highlighting the need for going back to basics, its chairperson said Tuesday.