Makati ready to implement Grades 1 and 7 curriculum

The Department of Education-Makati is all set to implement the curriculum for Grades 1 and 7 on the opening of classes on June 4 as part of the implementation of the Kindergarten to 12 (K to 12) program.

In a report to Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay, DepEd-Makati officer-in-charge Priscila De Sagun said all the teachers who will be handling Grade 1 and Grade 7 (first year high school) are now undergoing a series of trainings for the K to 12 education program curriculum in time for the start of classes.

De Sagun said with the implementation of K to 12, elementary will still consist of grades 1 to 6 while grades 7 to 10 will comprise junior high school, which will still be four years. On the other hand, Grades 11 to 12 will form senior high school, she said.

Meanwhile, city-owned University of Makati has chosen to pilot test the K to 12 program, offering senior high school or Grades 11and 12 also this coming school year.

The K to 12 program is a revision of the 10-year basic education system implemented in the country that consists of six years of elementary and four years of high school. It has a kindergarten as base, followed by six years of elementary (Grades 1 to 6), four years of junior high school (Grades 7 to 10), and two years of senior high (Grades 11 to 12).

"The K to 12 program hopes to decongest the curriculum by spreading lessons over 12 years instead of cramming them into 10. It is expected to fill in the deficiencies and strengthen the students' competencies in core subjects such as English, Math, and Science," De Sagun said.

The K to 12 also aims to do away with college remedial classes by improving the quality of high school instruction, thus upholding the rights of Filipino children who, at 18 or below, are legally and emotionally still kids unprepared for university education or for work.

De Sagun said the new Grades 1 and 7 curriculum will use the so-called "spiral progression approach" that aims to teach students more upon entering high school.

She cited as an example Mathematics, which high school students learn one by one through the years (that is, general Math in first year, Geometry in second year, Algebra in third year and Trigonometry in fourth year). But under the K to 12 curriculum, those in first year (seventh graders) would be introduced to the basics of all the said mathematics subjects.

De Sagun said the training also involved the Mother Tongue Curriculum that will also be implemented starting academic year 2012-2013, in which Tagalog will be the medium of instruction in the National Capital Region.

Under the guidelines of Department of Education, the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) will be implemented in all public schools specifically in kindergarten, Grades 1, 2 and 3. It will be executed in two modes: as a learning/subject area and as a medium of instruction.

Meanwhile, the annual school cleanup, Brigada Eskwela, has already started in the 38 public elementary and high schools in the city.

De Sagun said although Makati has been able to maintain its school buildings, facilities and classrooms all year-round through its district engineering offices, volunteer parents, students, teachers and other stakeholders have been doing the cleaning and decorating of classrooms, gardening and covering of books.

The Brigada Eskwela is the yearly schools maintenance program of the Department of Education that aims to make schools conducive to learning, while at the same time giving the opportunity for a community to come together for a worthwhile undertaking. - makati.gov.ph — ARA