ResearchersWorld -Journal of Arts, Science & Commerce ■E-ISSN 2229-4686 ■ISSN 2231-4172

IMPACT STATEMENTS ON THE K-12 SCIENCE PROGRAM

IN THE ENHANCED BASIC EDUCATION CURRICULUM
IN PROVINCIAL SCHOOLS

Marie Grace S. Cabansag, Ph.D.

Associate Professor IV
Philippine Normal University
Alicia, Isabela, Philippines.

ABSTRACT

The study described the knowledge, observations, benefits, expectations or potentials and
sources of misinterpretations on the K-12 science program on its first implementation in
selected provincial high schools in the Philippines. The impact statements of teachers,
students and parent-respondents were analyzed using thematic content coding technique.
Coding frames were constructed by adopting both “a priori” and “in-vivo” codes. The
results showed the respondents viewed the K-12 science program as a means of preparing
students toward better employment opportunities in the country or abroad. It also reports
the program is viewed for holistic development of the 21st century learners equipped with
necessary life skills who can contribute for economic and social development of the
family and community. The impact statements suggest the need for close monitoring of
the program implementation and provision of continuous professional trainings for
teachers to clear areas of misinterpretations. Misconceptions on the nature of additional
years of study further suggest the provision and wide dissemination of policy standards on
employment and education opportunities in the ASEAN Economic Community
integration.

Keywords: Impact statement, K-12 curriculum, basic education, science program.

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INTRODUCTION:
The implementation of the K-12 curriculum in the Philippines started in 2012 beginning with grade 1
and grade 7 learners and the succeeding levels were introduced as these students get promoted to the
next grade levels in the ensuing school year. Prior to this, the Kindergarten Education Act was
implemented in school year 2011–2012 by virtue of Republic Act 10157; the law institutionalized the
inclusion of kindergarten education into the basic education system of the Philippines
(PhilStar.com.,2012). Subsequently, Republic Act 10533 also known as the “Enhanced Basic
Education Act of 2013” enabled the implementation of the K-12 in the country (The Official
Gazette,2013).
The Philippine K-12 curricular program provides at least one year of Kindergarten education and a total
of twelve years of basic education similar with most of the countries in the world. The addition of two
years on the former ten-year basic education program was envisioned for mastery of learning making
learners better prepared for the world of work besides the conventional belief of just preparing them for
collegiate education. (K-12 Basic Education Program, The Official Gazette, 2012; K-12 Primer ǀK-12
Update Teachers’ Lounge, 2013). The features of the K-12 Enhanced Basic Education Program include
the strengthened Science and Math education which follows a spiral progression. The use of spiral
progression avoids disjunctions between stages of schooling and allows learners to learn topics and
skills appropriate to their developmental and/or cognitive stages. The spiral progression is also believed
to strengthen retention and mastery of topics and skills as they are revisited and consolidated with
increasing depth and complexity of learning in the succeeding grade levels (Quijano and Technical
Working Group on Curriculum, 2012).
In the articles “Additional Years in Philippine Basic Education” by the SEAMEO-INNOTECH (2010)
and the K-12 PrimerǀK-12 Update in Teachers’ Lounge of Rex publishing (2013), the comparative
data on the length of basic and pre-university education in Asia was explained and showed the
Philippine education system provides only ten (10) years for the basic education cycle and as the
preparatory education for the collegiate level while most of the countries around the globe have either
11 or 12 years of basic education cycle. The ten-year Philippine basic education system became a
disadvantage for Filipino workers abroad and for those who intend to study outside the Philippines.
Many Filipino professionals desire working abroad for greener pastures but they tend to land a job
apart from the diploma they pursued in the Philippine higher education institutions. Some persistent
overseas workers submit themselves to state policies on earning professional license besides having
earned the same in their home country in order to practice a profession abroad. Children of Filipino
migrants to other countries tend to repeat a grade level already earned in the Philippines or to enroll
additional courses to fit into the basic education program of their new home country. The Department
of Education (DepEd) of the Philippines is aware that the Filipino graduates are disadvantaged for not
being recognized as professionals abroad due to the ten-year curriculum that is usually perceived by
other countries as insufficient. According to UNESCO Educational Commission to the Philippines, six
(6) years of elementary school and four (4) years in the secondary is not adequate. The group proposed
eventually the increase to 12 years. Moreover, high school graduates are observed to have inadequate
basic competencies including mature disposition essential in real life outside the school thus, making
them unfit for university education. Whereas, graduates in high school that do not pursue collegiate
education become vulnerable to exploitative labor practices (Economic Issue of the Day in Philippine
Institute for Development Studies, 2012).
With these scenarios, the DepEd lays high confidence on the K-12 Program in providing better quality
of education that is based on spirally progressing curriculum starting with simple topics moving toward
increasing complexity in order for the learners to gain mastery of concepts and skills. Graduates of the
K-12 program are therefore envisioned as better prepared to compete globally for employment
opportunities (K-12 PrimerǀK-12 Update, Teachers’ Lounge, 2013). This change on basic education
cycle caused the conduct of stakeholder consultations, policy discourses, and education summits to
gather inputs and feedback on the educational reform, however, the K-12 Program remains an issue of

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inquiries on its implementation and effectiveness. It continuously solicits different responses among
various individuals from the educators, students, parents and various stakeholders.
The grade 7 students observed their science lessons as comparable to science classes of second year
high school biology, third year chemistry and fourth year physics in the earlier Basic Education
Curriculum. The grade 7 students are put to a certain level of confidence performing varied learning
activities aided with learning modules in the K-12 Science Program. On the other hand, the
implementation of the K-12 Program remains a formidable matter for schools not well prepared to
embrace the program. Teachers are made to adjust to innovative practices integrated in the preparation
of lessons, actual delivery of teaching, rating student performances and of the overall classroom
management. The parents foresee a longer time of schooling that will boil down to more expenses on
the education of their children. Hence, the impact statements from the immediate beneficiaries of the
K-12 Program provide salient data on the status of the first implementation of the program among
provincial schools and use such data for monitoring and basis by the technical working groups for
curricular review and further enhancement.

LITERATURE REVIEW:
The science content and science processes in the K-12 Curriculum are intertwined and are organized
around situations and problems that challenge and arouse students’ curiosity and motivate them to learn
and appreciate science as relevant and useful subject. There are varied hands-on, minds-on, and hearts-
on activities that are used to develop students’ interest and let them become active learners instead of
just relying solely on textbooks. As a whole, the K-12 science curriculum is learner-centered and
inquiry-based, emphasizing the use of evidence in constructing explanations. Concepts and skills in
Life Sciences, Physics, Chemistry, and Earth Sciences are presented with increasing levels of
complexity from one grade level to another in spiral progression, thus paving the way to deeper
understanding of concepts. These concepts and skills are integrated rather than discipline-based,
stressing the connections across science topics and other disciplines as well as applications of concepts
and thinking skills to real life. After completion of grade 10, the students’ learning competencies and
skills will be assessed to match the areas of specialization or tracks they are to pursue in the senior high
school level. These tracks will be either on Academic, Technical-Vocational Livelihood, or Sports and
Arts. Students will be required to undergo immersion activities or apprenticeship which may provide
rich experiences relevant to their chosen specialization. (K-12 Basic Education Program, 2012; K-12
Primer ǀK-12 Update, Teachers’ Lounge, 2013).
Science and Math proficiency had been pointed out by the Philippine President Benigno Simeon C.
Aquino III as one among his 10-point basic education agenda aimed at rebuilding infrastructures for
science and math education so the Philippines can produce quality graduates in these fields and will
ensure the country’s pool of expert professionals who are globally competitive (Piamonte, 2012 in the
article Primer on the Enhanced K-12 Basic Education Program, Unescoclubphilippines). Enhancing
the quality of basic education through K-12 Program is urgent and critical as the Philippines had been
left behind the countries in Asia and one among the three remaining countries in the world in terms of
offering the global trend of 12-year basic education cycle. The two other countries, Djibouti and
Angola in Africa are like the Philippines with a 10-year basic education cycle (K-12 Primer ǀK-12
Update, Teachers’ Lounge, 2013; Piamonte, 2012 in the Primer on the Enhanced K-12 Basic Education
Program, Unescoclubphilippines). Moreover, Piamonte exposed graduates of degree courses in the
Philippines are not recognized as professionals abroad. The case of licensed and registered Philippine
nurses who intend to work abroad for example, need to take state board examinations to qualify them
as professional nurses. The reason behind this scenario is the short term duration of the Philippine basic
education cycle. Hence, the urgent need to adopt a K-12 program which provides quality education and
is internationally recognized and comparable.
The curricular reforms in the Philippine K-12 “Enhanced Basic Education” are geared toward global
responsiveness and competitiveness as measured against the standards of regional or international
organizations such as the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). The Philippines is a member of the

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AEC for a regional economic integration by 2015 that promotes among other visions an open market
for employment opportunities among labor forces of the member countries. Neighboring Asian
countries of the Philippines have long been prepared in terms of the educational requirements of their
work force for a job fair at least across Southeast Asia. The requirements of the twelve-year basic
education were fully implemented among other ASEAN member countries compared to the Philippines
that started implementation in year 2012. Hence, this K-12 Program is a strategy that prepares the
Philippines in parallel assessment on quality of graduates along with competitors in regional or
international economic communities (Garcia, 2013).
Consequently, the roadmap of the Philippines toward ASEAN 2015 includes the provision of enabling
laws such as the “Republic Act (R.A.) 10157” gives the Philippine Department of Education the
authority to implement reforms in basic education and of requiring kindergarten education as
prerequisite to elementary education in all public schools in the country (RTVM, 2012).The general
kindergarten program is the 10-month training provided to children who are at least five years old upon
entry in the elementary schools. The lessons are presented through the thematic and integrative
curriculum to ensure the development of foundation skills among children and to prepare them for
Grade 1 (Brago,2012). Likewise, Republic Act 10533, the “Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013”
authorized the implementation of the K-12 in the country with the following expected benefits as
enumerated in the K-12 Primer (Teachers’ Lounge, 2013), these benefits are: a) the provision of ample
time for the acquisition and mastery of learning competencies and skills integrated in co-curricular and
community activities toward holistic development of the learner, b) the learners are better prepared for
tertiary education, c) learners earn certificates of competency after acquiring required skills in their
chosen area of specialization during senior high school training, d) lower household expenses
compared to a two-year college education, since the two-year senior high school training as part of
basic education is given free in Philippine public schools compared to privelege college education; e)
the K-12 graduate of about eighteen years old will then be capacitated to earn, and can contribute to
Philippine economic growth, f) graduates of the K-12 program will be accorded recognition abroad, g)
the learners will be holistically developed in all dimensions, h) the lessons in each level are
decongested providing room for in-depth learning of concepts and mastery, i) the integration of
kindergarten education into the basic education system provide better preparation toward grade 1 level
learning competencies, and j) the K-12 graduates will be able to meet the standards for higher
education in the country and abroad, equipped with the 21st century skills and enriched learning
competencies which will be acquired from longer exposure and focus on core subjects such as Science,
Mathematics and English together with elective courses prepare students to be responsive to the needs
of the industrial and manufacturing sectors.
The realization of K-12 curriculum benefits rest largely on the action of the education sector whereas
the roadmap to ASEAN 2015 is placed on the competitiveness of Filipino professionals and the
competitiveness of graduates of Philippine Educational institutions via K-12 program (Garcia, 2013).
The proximity of time between implementation of the K-12 program in Philippine schools and the
integration of the country to ASEAN economic community in 2015 causes all the cramming of the
technical working groups and the mixed reactions by the teachers, students, and parents who are
directly affected. This study therefore aimed to document the impact of the initial implementation of
K-12 Program focusing on science education in grades 7 and 8 of the school year 2013-2014. The
impact statements serve as the yardstick that measure how much of the K-12 program issues and
benefits are understood by the stakeholders and thereby provide data for curricular review as the K-12
Program is on its gradual year to year implementation.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

The study aimed to describe the impact statements on the initial implementation of the science program
in the K-12 enhanced basic education curriculum in provincial schools. Specifically, the study sought
to answer the following:

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1. What are the views of the teachers, students and parents on the implementation of the Science
program in the K-12 enhanced basic education curriculum?
2. What are the benefits ascribed by the respondents to the K-12 science program?
3. How do respondents relate the potential impact of the K-12 science program in life situations? and
4. What are the views of respondents as sources of misinterpretations in the K-12 Science program?

METHODOLOGY:
The qualitative method of research was used in gathering and documenting the impact statements on
the first implementation of the K-12 science program as experienced by grade 7 and 8 students, their
teachers and parents from the four congressional districts in the province of Isabela, Philippines.
The respondents were selected through cluster sampling technique. The clusters consist of the four
congressional districts of Isabela and the towns per district were randomly picked. Twenty five (25)
teachers who were directly involved in the teaching of science in grades 7 and 8 and were willing to
share information about the study were requested to fill out a questionnaire after a brief discussion on
the K-12 science program of the enhanced basic education. The questions revolved on what they
observed having been done in schools in relation to the K-12 science program, the benefits they ascribe
to it, the potentials, and issues of misinterpretations in the implementation of the K-12 science program.
The fifteen (15) parents with children enrolled in grade 7 or 8 and the selected eighty four (84) students
of grade 7 and 8 who gave consent to participate in the study have also been requested to share
information in similar manner as the teacher respondents.
The impact statements were written by each of the respondents on the questionnaire to ensure precision
and accuracy of data collection. The data gathered were consolidated into themes and treated
statistically using frequency endorsement count and percentage.
The written responses were coded using thematic content analysis as the main technique. The responses
analyzed by coding strategy generated the main themes, sub-themes and categories. Coding frames
were constructed by adopting both “a priori” and “in-vivo” codes (Barbour, 2007 and Charmaz, 2006).
“A priori” and “in-vivo” codes are distinguished from each other in that the former are those whose
sense is apparent from the data themselves whereas the latter have meanings which are special to the
participants (Barbour, 2007).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS:

The thematic content analyses began with categorizing the impact statements into the four major
themes as statements of a. observed practices and knowledge on K-12 Science program, b. impact
statements on benefits derived from the program, c. potential impacts of the program on future life
situations, and d. views on sources of misinterpretations on the program. The sub-themes identified as
either the statements describing the program, the learners and teachers or the society. These statements
grouped by sub-themes were finally categorized into more definite themes of more coherent ideas as
presented in graphs. The categorized impact statements were further analyzed by coding frames of
“priori” or impact statements whose sense or meaning is apparent from the data and “in-vivo” with
meanings which are special to the respondents (Barbour, 2007).

VIEWS ON THE SCIENCE PROGRAM IN THE K-12 ENHANCED BASIC EDUCATION

CURRICULUM:
The practices and knowledge on K-12 Science program as indicated in Figure 1 present the general
impact statements. These statements were drawn either from one’s personal encounter of the
respondents or through information drives spearheaded by the Department of Education. The
statements showed that the parents, students and teachers are commonly aware of certain issues about
the program while the rest of the issues were left to the concern only of the students and teachers.

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Grades are based on level of proficiency

Use of learning modules, technology

Activity-based learning

With electives in TLE

Parents
Uses a spiral progression of topics
Students
Holistic development of learners
(Knowledge,skills,attitude) Teachers
Increase level of performance

Increase of 2 years in Basic Education

0 20 40 60 80 100
(Percentage)

Figure 1: Views of teachers, students and parents on k12 science program

The parents, students and teachers have common understanding on K-12 science program in terms of
three issues which are the increase in the number of years in schooling, increase of performance, and of
holistic development of learners. The parents and students share a common view that the K-12 program
will provide elective courses on Technology and Livelihood Education. This information had drawn
much attention to parents as a significant characteristic of the program that is different from the earlier
basic education curricula. The economic status of the Filipino family serves as a strong motivation to
children in school to pursue education. It is a common belief that education is a stepping stone toward
better living standards. The impact of offering courses on technology and livelihood education is
exceedingly high among parents compared to those of the student- respondents because of varying
perceptions. The parents perceive the possibility of their children gaining vocational skills for work to
earn additional income for the family but for the students exposed and have access to communications
technology perceive the courses as avenues for learning more technological skills suited for computer
operations which are applicable for games and social media networking. Both perceptions contribute to
the rechanneling of course objectives to match desired outcomes of instruction.
The statement on the increase of two years on basic education also obtained very high impact among
parents. The financial expenditure of the Filipino family focuses on the education of children and the
additional years of schooling means additional stress on family budget. The common responses of
parents on financial stress brought by expenses in school include: seeking cash loans from financial
institutions or business firms which they promise to pay in the form of farm yields in harvest time, or
by asking for advance payment of farm services for the next cropping season. And if all possible
measures are exhausted, the family has to stop the child from attending school. On the other hand, the
parent-respondents who belong to the upper economic class favor the additional years of basic
education based on the advantages of comparable length of basic education as the other countries of the
world. These insights call for the attention of education leaders in enriching the community of salient
information referring to the delivery and outcomes of the additional senior high school education.
The impact statement on the observed increase in performance or knowledge bring a holistic
development among learners and drew more concern for parents than the teachers and student-
respondents. Many of the students recognized the increased level of performance that the K-12 science
program claim to realize; this thinking could be traced from what they actually experienced since the
mix of their science subject consist of the science lessons offered in higher levels in secondary school

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having Biology for second year high school in the old basic education curriculum, Chemistry for third
year and Physics for fourth year. The impact of the program among students also dealt with the
provision of learning activities, use of technology in the delivery of instruction and of lessons in
increasing difficulty which is a characteristic of the spiral progression of topics. These experiences
communicated by the students to their parents bring a reasonable impact as parents normally desire to
give their children quality education.
In a small group discussion, some students disclosed that learning is more interesting, effective and
enjoyable in K-12 because they learn Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Earth Science all in one year
and there are varied learning activities which enhance their talents and skills. Moreover, students find
the topics easy at first and gradually become hard but there is mastery of the topics because they are
discussed in their own pace and longer years to study. On the contrary, some students did not agree that
K-12 program is more interesting, effective and enjoyable because the topics are too difficult and they
need to stay longer in school for two years on senior high school.
Figure 1 also shows that the teachers’ knowledge on the program being the prime actors, revolve more
on the delivery of topics in spiral progression and on grading system based on level of proficiency. The
initial implementation of the program normally brings pressures to teachers on these two concerns as
new practices are difficult to follow with great accuracy. The use of instructional modules and
technology such as laptop and projectors had also brought impact on teachers. On the other hand, the
issue on the provision of elective subjects in Technology and Livelihood Education did not draw
attention to the teachers in science. The pool of teachers specializing in technology and livelihood
education is concentrated in Technical Vocational Schools apart from the basic education schools
directly supervised by the Department of Education and their number will not be enough to address the
needed teaching force for the elective courses in K-12 program. The least attention of science teachers
on the issue can be redirected toward helping solve the gap of needed teaching force by providing
science teachers some technical and livelihood trainings akin to their science preparations such as on
horticulture and on raising of animals.

THE BENEFITS ASCRIBED TO THE K-12 SCIENCE PROGRAM:

The benefits ascribed by the respondents to the K-12 science program (Figure 2) were the advantages
experienced by the learners and by the teachers.

Less work for teachers, simpler lesson

preparation
Students become responsible for ones own
learning
Talents are honed through activities, more
participative learners
Creative strategies in teaching Parents
Increased educational resources (teaching Students
aids)
Teachers
Increased employment for teachers
Functional learning, in depth knowledge &
development of skills

0 20 40 60 80 100
(Percentage)

Figure 2: Benefits ascribed to the K-12 Science program

The parents who were not directly benefited drew attention on increased employment of teachers in the
K-12 program as well as seeing teachers with increased teaching resources like modules and gadgets.
From this point of view, parents consider the possibility of creative teaching strategies able to

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transform learners into gaining functional understanding and becoming responsible for one’s own
learning. Teachers on the other hand consider the increased teacher employment as having the most
evident impact of the program. The onset of the program implementation had triggered hiring of more
teachers in the public schools. Teachers also experienced the impact of the program on the use of
activities that led students become more participative and had enhanced students’ talents. The activities
introduced by teachers are aided by gadgets making them more creative in their teaching however, the
depth of knowledge and skills development were deemed to have less impact to teachers as they
probably look for better results than what they actually yielded from the students’ performance. This
findings support the study of Cabansag (2013) that explained the vulnerability of science teachers of
becoming motivated and unmotivated by the same factor. The motivation of science teachers in
introducing varied learning activities may diminish and put them under stress when the results of their
efforts are not compensated by students’ performances. A lesser percentage of the teacher-respondents
regarded lesson preparation as simpler and less work in the K-12 program since their instructional
modules provide almost all necessary steps they are supposed to be planning and writing. Similarly,
there was less impact on teachers on issues of student’s responsibility for self-learning. Figure 2 also
shows that learning activities paired in science lessons had the most noticeable impact of the K-12
program among students. Their attention was also drawn toward the use of instructional aids that goes
with the activities. They also recognized having acquired in depth learning, developed skills and their
becoming responsible for their learning as brought by the implementation of the K-12 science program.
The supervisors of instruction should in effect, consistently encourage teachers in providing quality
learning tasks in classes to sustain interest of the teachers and students in the teaching-learning process.

THE K-12 SCIENCE PROGRAM POTENTIAL IMPACT:

The potential impact of K-12 science program on future life situations focused on economic and social
benefits as shown in Figure 3. The impact of skills training and specializations will prepare the students
in the world of work had the greatest impact among parent- respondents. The parents also hoped the K-
12 graduates will be globally competitive. Prior to enrollment to grade 11, the students will be assessed
in terms of learning competencies and skills acquired from grade 7 through grade 10. Results of the
assessment will be used to guide the incoming senior high school students in choosing an area of
specialization to focus either on Academics, Technical-Vocational, or Sports and Arts (K-12 PrimerǀK-
12 Update, Teachers’ Lounge, 2013).

Figure 3: Views on potential impact of K-12 Science program on life situations

Science as one of the core subjects and specializations in academics will prepare students in the science
related degrees and will equip them with competencies to meet the demands and standards set by
universities abroad; and K-12 graduates will be well prepared to pursue professions and earn mutual
recognition as the graduates of universities in other countries. The teachers and students have similar

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views on becoming globally competitive as a result of the implementation of the K-12 program as a
whole (Figure 3). The teacher- respondents had remarkable regard on the capability of the K-12
graduates of getting a job after graduation. The certifications of competencies will be issued after
proper evaluation by the government agency called “Technical Education and Skills Development
Authority (TESDA)” will enable the K-12 graduates get a job requiring technical and vocational skills.
Finally, Figure 3 shows that student respondents view the potential impact of the K-12 program on the
global scenario in terms of competitiveness and in meeting the standards of other universities abroad.
These impact statements point out to high hopes of the respondents on the possibility of K-12 graduates in
Philippine schools for mutual recognition on educational preparations for university work will eventually
qualify them to get equal opportunities for employment in the global market. These impact statements are
the expected outcomes which are yet to be seen in the next five years. Policies on employment in the
global market and opportunities on education in the country and abroad should therefore be widely
disseminated for better positioning of the country’s human resource. Economists and authorities in the
labor market should generate a map of employment opportunities that suit the skills and trainings of the
work force of the country to optimize the potentials offered by this education program.

SOURCES OF MISINTERPRETATIONS IN THE K-12 SCIENCE PROGRAM:

The additional two-year training in senior high school has been designed for students to have sufficient
time to consolidate and master the academic and technical skills embodied in the desired learning
competencies in the 21st century (Philippine Institute for Developmental Studies, 2012) but some of the
parents and teacher-respondents view the additional years of study in terms of expenses (Figure 4)
notwithstanding the advantage of the senior high school years given free as part of basic education in
public schools compared to a more expensive two- year college work in higher education. The birthing
years of new programs usually cause pains both to the implementer and receiver which include
shortage of allotted funds or delay of release of funds resulting to insufficient resources. Structures
such as classrooms take time for construction and normally get realized later.
The sequencing of learning competencies depend on concepts and skills that are integrated rather than
discipline-based, stressing the connections across science topics and other disciplines as well as
applications of concepts and thinking skills to real life (Piamonte, 2012 in “Primer on the Enhanced K-
12 Basic Education Program.” Unescoclubphilippines). Teacher respondents who usually beg off or
refuse the idea behind the sequence of competencies considered the issue as source of
misinterpretation. The suggested learning activities paired to the learning competencies allow multi-
disciplinary concepts to surface during the processing of information. The facility of the teacher to
focus on desired competencies could be a factor to consider. This probably stems from other issues as
shown in Figure 4 such as the different points of view of trainers or lecturers on capability seminars for
K-12 program hence, leading to confusions; a typical issue among teachers is on matters of grading
system. Unlike the old curriculum that uses quantitative or numeric values, the K-12 curriculum on the
other hand uses qualitative descriptions coded with characters of the alphabet as A- for Advanced, P-
Proficient, AP- for Approaching Proficiency, D- Developing, and B- for Beginning. The transmutations
from computed values to qualitative descriptions also have some technical matters and could bring
misinterpretations. Other impact statements also reveal that teachers consider insufficient trainings and
seminars for teachers to cause misinterpretations on the nature K-12 curriculum.

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Figure 4: Views on sources of misinterpretations on the K-12 Science program

The prevailing idea on basic education is just a preparation for college or university admission and not
as preparation for employment thus, the provision of Technology and Livelihood Education “TLE” in
the K-12 curriculum (designed to prepare students for employment after graduation from senior high
school) is presumed by some parents as preparing semi-skilled youth to the labor force at an early age
of eighteen (18) and could lead to manpower exploitation. The traditional Filipino folks consider the
age of eighteen as rather young to make independent decisions and take serious responsibilities such as
earning for a living.
The SEAMEO-INNOTECH (2010) report showed that the Philippines should improve its educational
goals to make them clearer more focused on the acquisition and mastery of learning competencies and
skills desired in the 21st century. According to the report, while the current educational goal of the
country on developing functional literate Filipinos by 2015 is anchored on the UNESCO 4 Pillars of
Learning, the goals should be redirected to shift focus to 21st century competencies given the realities
of today’s knowledge society. The organization also reported that both elementary and secondary
education levels in the Philippines were found to be congested of subjects or lessons compared with
Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, and Singapore. In elementary level, certain subjects such as
mathematics, sciences, social studies, and other subject areas should be decongested. The SEAMEO-
INNOTECH (2010) also recommended the convergence of the 2010 Secondary Education Curriculum.
As for secondary education, it is necessary to support the spiral progression curriculum model which
follows world standards of offering an integrated approach in the delivery of the different subject areas
that promotes critical thinking and active participation to suit the demands in the 21st century learning.
The report further reminded the need to develop a higher system of secondary education with
considerations on the provision of opportunities for learners with other forms of intelligences such as
trainings for students who are inclined on taking technical and vocational disciplines (SEAMEO-
INNOTECH, 2010). This report explains the rationale of enhancing the basic education curriculum of
the country and the imminence of implementation is supported by the visions of the ASEAN Economic
Community integration by year 2015.

CONCLUSION:
The impact statements from the surveyed stakeholders of the K-12 curriculum put emphasis on the role
of education in realizing holistic development of the 21st century learners equipped with necessary life
skills who can contribute for economic and social development of the family and community. Science
as one of the focus subject areas in the K-12 curriculum has been viewed as venue for honing students’
talents obtained through various learning activities. Misconceptions on the nature of the additional two

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years of basic education known as the senior high school level pose negative impact among parents on
the lower economic status. The impact statements suggest the need for close monitoring of the program
implementation coupled with continuous professional trainings of teachers to clear areas of
misinterpretations such as on grading system, skills development for employment standards, and on
processing of learning activities to attain target competencies and attainment of mastery. The impact
statements further suggest the provision and wide dissemination of policy standards on employment
and education opportunities in the ASEAN Economic Community integration.

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