THE K-12 program was signed into law as Republic Act No. 10533, also known as the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013. It was created to improve the country’s education system, adding two more years to the traditional 10-year basic education. 

     Other countries such as the United States of America, Japan, Germany, and Canada also have K-12 programs. People saw it as a big but challenging step towards education.  The idea was simple but ambitious, given that the Philippines is a developing country. The K-12 curriculum aligns the Philippine Education System with international standards, giving students opportunities to master their skills and prepare for college or work. At first glance, this seems like a good and effective idea. 

     The K-12 curriculum sounded like the long-awaited solution to the country’s outdated education system. However, as the years progressed, K-12 changed multiple times, and teachers and students had to adapt. The program officially began in 2012-2013 with the introduction of Kindergarten and an additional two years of Senior High School. In 2014, DepEd finalized the Senior High School Curriculum, which offers specialized tracks such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Humanities and Social Sciences, and Accountancy, Business and Management, Technical-Vocational-Livelihood (TVL), and Arts and Design. 

     In the years 2018-2020, minor adjustments were made to the curriculum based on feedback from students, teachers, and schools. The pandemic forced a shift to blended and online learning, thus impacting the delivery of K-12 education. The Department of Education (DepEd) once again adjusted the curriculum and mode of delivery. It is more like an extended, tiring experience that students and teachers just had to get through. According to Lesaca (2024),  of The Manila Times, the literacy rate and comprehension of students decreased, highlighting the need for   DepEd to re-evaluate the K-12 curriculum. It feels like every year, the very institution that implemented K-12, DepEd, will announce another overhaul. With this in mind,  two questions keep ringing in my mind as a student: Why implement it in the first place if you are going reform it again? Does that mean K-12 program is not effective?

     This question isn’t asked out of rebellion, it comes from exhaustion as a student, as someone who experienced the K-12 curriculum. The promises of K–12 were broad and ambitious: improved learning outcomes, increased opportunities for employment for Senior High School graduates, and better preparedness for college. Did the promises come true? 

     During that period, I held a strong belief that completing Grade 11 and 12 under the K-12 system would be sufficient to secure employment. As a Senior High School graduate, I was hopeful that the additional two years of specialized education would create a path to many job opportunities. However, the reality I faced was far from what I was promised. Despite my efforts, all the organizations that I have applied to still require a college degree as a basic qualification. 

     This experience left me deceived and frustrated, as it became evident that the system had not fully prepared Senior High School graduates for the workforce as it was originally intended. The K-12 experience has been plagued with problems from the start. Teachers weren’t given enough time or training to transition smoothly into the new curriculum. The sudden shift to the K-12 system required the teachers to adapt new curricula and teaching methods quickly; learning materials were often delayed or incomplete. 

     Hence, many public schools, especially in rural areas, lacked the necessary facilities and materials to support the expanded curriculum. Teachers in the Philippines faced numerous challenges despite the curriculum being deemed timely and commendable by Okabe (2019). Issues included would be a lack of knowledge and experience of school administrators and insufficient support for rural schools. One of the challenges of the K-12 system is that teachers are limited by resources such as poor-quality supplies and inadequate technology. Worst, the job readiness or the promise of employment to Senior High School students never fully materialized. Many employers still preferred college graduates, and students who could not afford college were stuck, hence overqualified for entry-level jobs but underqualified for more skilled work. The result? The students still need to enroll in college. 

     In response to the dissatisfaction of many, they launched the MATATAG Curriculum in 2023. According to DepEd, the Matatag Agenda curriculum is a comprehensive and well-organized educational framework that improves the standard of teaching in the Philippines. This new initiative fixed some of the problems by simplifying the early grade curriculum and prioritizing five critical skills: language, reading, literacy, mathematics, Makabansa, and proper behavior. This supports the original goal of the K-12 program, which was to give students a strong and solid foundation before moving to complex topics. The changes may be the steps to the right education; however, why wasn’t this the clarity of focus of the original K-12? Why didn’t they anticipate these issues before they implemented the K-12 program? This year,  there have been discussions and rumors about potential changes to the K-12 program, especially the removal of Grades 11 and 12 if a student passes an exam. However, DepEd has not officially announced any plans to completely remove these years from the curriculum. Director Salustiano Jimenez (2024) of DepEd- Central Visayas reassured the public that those two years will remain intact and will not be abolished.  

     Reform is necessary. The Matatag Curriculum might be a better version of what K-12 tried to be. But reform alone is not enough; we need accountability. We need a system that doesn’t just respond to failure but anticipates success. Moreover, we must stop treating students like passengers stuck in a broken car and be told to be patient while the driver figures things out. It appears that there are plans to implement further reforms in our education system. Hopefully, these changes will not be as extensive as those implemented in the past.