DepEd plans to reduce SHS core subjects to focus on work immersion

Photo courtesy: republicasia

THE Department of Education (DepEd) is planning to lessen the number of core subjects in the senior high school (SHS) curriculum so that Grades 11 and 12 students could engage themselves more on on-the-job training or work immersion.

Speaking at the 2024 Regional Conference on Educational Planning in Asia, Education Secretary Sonny Angara said the DepEd eyes to reduce the SHS core subjects to “five or six.”

“We must have flexibility in our system,” Angara said. “If we reduce the subjects of our SHS curriculum, the students will have more time for the on-the-job training or work immersion needed by the industry so that our senior high school graduates will become more employable even if they lack work experience.”

All SHS students should take the core curriculum subjects, regardless of their chosen learning strand. Currently, Grades 11 and 12 students have 17 core subjects:

Oral Communication
Reading and Writing
Komunikasyon at Pananaliksik sa Wika at Kulturang Pilipino
Pagbasa at Pagsusuri sa Iba’t ibang Teksto Tungo sa Pananaliksik
21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World
Contemporary Philippine Arts from the Regions
Media and Information Literacy
General Math
Statistics and Probability
Earth and Life Science
Physical Science
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Physical Education and Health
Personal Development
Understanding Culture, Society and Politics
Earth Science
Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction

On Monday, the DepEd discussed with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) its efforts to streamline the SHS program and subjects, and collaborated with them to provide technical assistance and professional guidance to DepEd specialists in revising the SHS curriculum.

In July, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. directed Angara to improve the K-12 program to equip students with skills needed for work, noting that there were no improvements in the employability of SHS graduates.

A study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PDIS) found that only “a little over 20 percent” of SHS graduates enter the labor force, citing the need to re-examine the effectiveness of their curriculum’s work preparation component.

Study SHS curriculum first

Meanwhile, the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) urged the Education department to study the whole SHS curriculum first before implementing their plan to cut the number of the students’ core subjects.

“Dapat ang mas tingnan natin ano yung direksyon. Saan patungo? Ano yung orientation ng pagtuturo ng ating senior high school? ‘Pag tiningnan po natin yung ating present curriculum, marami po dito eh tumutugon na doon sa mga pangangailangan ng industriya—sciences, mathematics, and of course, language. Kakaunti na lang dito yung humanities. Kakaunti lamang dito yung social sciences,” TDC chairperson Benjo Basas said in a Facebook reel.

He added, “Sa tingin ko, doon natin po tingnan, doon natin po simulan: sa pag-uusap ano yung curriculum, ano yung gustong marating? Gusto ba ng ating system na maging mahusay na manggagawa na lamang sa ibang bansa or wherever yung ating mga products. Sa tingin namin hindi ganon. Dapat tingnan natin sa kabuuan itong curriculum natin.”

Basas noted that it is also important to continue teaching Philippine arts, culture and history to the students.

Joanna Deala