K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum

Republic Act No. 10533
“An Act Enhancing the Philippine
Basic Education System by
Strengthening Its Curriculum and
Increasing the Number of Years for
Basic Education, Appropriating
Funds Therefor and for Other
Purposes”
Approved: May 15, 2013
Effective: June 8, 2013

CORE LEARNING AREAS/DOMAINS FROM K TO 12

 Students do not get adequate instructional
time or time on task. Philippine basic
education is congested (based on a study of
SEAMEO-Innotech).
 Our high school graduates are not
adequately prepared for the world of work.
WHY K TO 12?

 The 10-year basic education cycle hinders
the recognition of Filipino professional
abroad.
 The Washington Accord prescribes 12 years
of basic education as an entry to recognition
of engineering professionals
WHY K TO 12?

 The Bologna Process also requires 12 years
of education for university admission and
practice of profession in European countries
 The Philippines is the only country in Asia
and among the three remaining countries in
the world that has a 10-year basic education
cycle.
WHY K TO 12?

 During the assessment done by the prestigious organization
Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study
(TIMSS), they conclude that the problem about the present
curriculum in squeezing 12 years of basic education into
just 10 is that students are overloaded with subjects which
resulted to poor quality of basic education as reflected in
the low achievement scores of Filipino students.
 International tests results like 2003 TIMSS rank the
Philippines 34th out of 38 countries in HS II Math and 43rd
out of 46 countries in HS II Science; for grade 4, the
Philippines ranked 23rd out of 25 participating countries in
both Math and Science. In 2008, even with only the science
high schools participating in the Advanced Mathematics
category, the Philippines was ranked lowest. This quality of
education is reflected in the inadequate preparation of high
school graduates for the world of work or entrepreneurship
or higher education.

Section 2. Declaration of Policy
1. The State shall establish, maintain and support a complete, adequate, and integrated system of
education relevant to the needs of the people, the country and society-at-large.
2. Every graduate of basic education shall be an empowered individual who has learned, through a
program that is rooted on sound educational principles and geared towards excellence, the
foundations for learning throughout life, the competence to engage in work and be productive, the
ability to coexist in fruitful harmony with local and global communities, the capability to engage in
autonomous, creative, and critical thinking, and the capacity and willingness to transform others
and one’s self.
3. The State shall create a functional basic education system that will develop productive and
responsible citizens equipped with the essential competencies, skills and values for both life-long
learning and employment. In order to achieve this, the State shall:
a) Give every student an opportunity to receive quality education that is globally competitive based on
a pedagogically sound curriculum that is at par with international standards;
b) Broaden the goals of high school education for college preparation, vocational and technical career
opportunities as well as creative arts, sports and entrepreneurial employment in a rapidly changing
and increasingly globalized environment; and
c) Make education learner-oriented and responsive to the needs, cognitive and cultural capacity, the
circumstances and diversity of learners, schools and communities through the appropriate
languages of teaching and learning, including mother tongue as a learning resource.

Guiding Principles
and Features of
K to 12
Curriculum

IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE
ENHANCED BASIC EDUCATION ACT OF 2013
10.2. Standards and Principles
a) The curriculum shall be learner-centered, inclusive and developmentally
appropriate;
b) The curriculum shall be relevant, responsive and research-based;
c) The curriculum shall be gender- and culture-sensitive;
d) The curriculum shall be contextualized and global;
e) The curriculum shall use pedagogical approaches that are constructivist,
inquiry-based, reflective, collaborative and integrative;
f) The curriculum shall adhere to the principles and framework of Mother
Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) which starts from where
the learners are and from what they already know proceeding from the
known to the unknown; instructional materials and capable teachers to
implement the MTB-MLE curriculum shall be available.
g) The curriculum shall use the spiral progression approach to ensure
mastery of knowledge and skills after each level; and
h) The curriculum shall be flexible enough to enable and allow schools to
localize, indigenize and enhance the same based on their respective
educational and social contexts.

1. It is learner-centered – The learner is the very reason of the entire
curriculum system. Who the learner is in his/her totality, how he/she learns
and develops and what his/her needs are were highly considered in the
making of the K to 12 curriculum framework.
The holistic learning and development of the learner is its primary focus.
Teacher creates a conducive atmosphere where the learner enjoys learning,
takes part in meaningful learning experiences and experiences success
because he/she is respected, accepted and feels safe even if in his/her
learning exploration he/she commits mistakes. He/she learns at his/her
own pace in his/her own learning style. He/she is empowered to make
choices and to become responsible for his/her own learning in the
classroom and for a lifetime.
The learner-centered K to 12 curriculum gives prime importance to
developing self-propelling and independent lifelong learners.

2. It is inclusive – The vision statement of DepEd states, “We affirm
the right of every Filipino child especially the less advantaged to
benefit from such system.” It reaches out to all kinds of learners
regardless of ability, condition, age, gender, ethnicity, and social
status. It is built on the principle that every child has a right to
education and that the education system needs to be flexible to
accommodate the learning needs of all learners. The emphasis is on
making schools learner-friendly, mainstreaming learners with
disability into general schools, and creating a non-discriminatory
education system where all learners have equal opportunity to learn.

3. It is developmentally appropriate – The K to 12 curriculum
considers the various developmental stages of learners. Selection of
activities is informed by age-appropriateness, individual differences,
and social and cultural diversity.
4. It is standard-based and competency-based – What learners
should know and be able to do and the levels of proficiency at which
they are expected to demonstrate what they know and can do are
clearly stated in the form of standards unpacked into competencies.
With a standards- and competencies-based curriculum, learners
understand what are expected of them, parents are clear on what are
expected of their children, teachers are guided on what to teach and
how to teach, and the DepEd is provided with a common reference
tool for national assessment.

5. It is research-based – The new features of the K to 12 curriculum are backed up
by hard data. The use of Mother Tongue as a medium of instruction from K to Grade
3 is supported by a research finding that children learn better and are more active
in class and learn a second language even faster when they are first taught in a
language they understand.
The strengthening of ICT-integration in the basic education curriculum in order to
meet the 21st century skills required by employers, the use of the spiral progression
approach in the teaching of Math and Science, and the development of alternative
delivery modes to provide equal opportunity for all are backed up by the
recommendations of the DepEd-commisioned researches conducted by SEAMEO
INNOTECH and University of Melbourne.
Other research recommendations that were integrated in the K to 12 curriculum
are the use of the expanding spiral progression approach in the teaching of
Science, Mathematics, Araling Panlipunan, MAPEH and Edukasyon sa
Pagpapakatao and the deliberate teaching of the investigatory process in Science
as a separate topic by Grade 7.

6. It is relevant and responsive – The K to 12 curriculum is
aligned with national education and development goals
enunciated in the laws of the country and to the ten-point
education agenda of the President. It also responds to the
Millennium Development Goals and Education for All.
As the curriculum framework shows, the K to 12 curriculum is
designed to respond to the needs for a nationalistic and
productive citizenry who contributes to the building of a
progressive, just, and humane society and whose personal
discipline is grounded on ethical, moral, and spiritual values.
The curriculum likewise addresses the demands of global
citizenship and partnership for development that ensures
environmental sustainability. In short, the K to 12 curriculum
responds to the learning needs of the learner of the 21st
century and the local, national and global community.

7. It is value laden – The curriculum offers a subject
In Values Education with the descriptive title
Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao. This is one of the core
and compulsory subjects from Grades 1 to 10.
Values and Character Education is also one of the 6
domains in Kindergarten. In the K to 12 curriculum,
every teacher is a Values Education teacher as all
subject matter is a potent vehicle for values
integration.
In the K to 12 curriculum, the learner learns and
develops in a value-driven environment where
everyone is respected and is valued for he/she is.

8. It is culture-responsive and culture sensitive – to be truly
inclusive, the K to 12 curriculum respects cultures and
experiences of various ethnic groups and uses these as
resources for teaching and learning. Teachers are expected to
provide lessons that cater to a culturally diverse population
and honor the cultural heritage of all learners.
Given the multi-cultural characteristics of Philippine schools,
the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE)
makes the curriculum truly culture-responsive. Learning
mother tongue language helps learners retain their ethnicity
identity, culture, heritage and values.
To make it responsive to Muslim learners, the K to 12
curriculum continues to offer Madrasah education with
subjects in Arabic Language and Islamic Values Education
(ALIVE) as a vital component of the basic education system.

9. It is decongested – To allow for mastery of competencies
and to give more emphasis to the development of student
understanding and on learning how to learn, repetitions of
competencies are weeded out. The new curriculum was
redesigned in line with the standards and competencies
desired of a K to 12 graduate.
10. It is seamless – The K to 12 curriculum consists of a
continuum of competencies which provides transition from
one grade level to another without unnecessary duplication.
The continuum of standards and competencies from the
elementary to secondary level is ensured by the unified
curriculum framework for each learning area from
elementary to high school. The standards and competencies
are developed following expanding spiral progression model.
This means learning is built upon prior knowledge, skills,
values and attitude of students to ensure vertical continuity.

11. It is flexible – The flexibility of the curriculum is in keeping with the
constitutional mandate of schools “to encourage non-formal, informal, and
indigenous learning systems, as well as self-learning, independent, and out-
of-school study programs particularly those that respond to community
needs” (Article XIV, Section 2(1).
12. It is ICT-based – ICT is taught in the junior high school as one of the
Technology and Livelihood Education courses and is now integrated starting
Grade 1 not Grade 4 as it is done in the 2002 Basic Education Curriculum.
The K to 12 curriculum promotes the use of technology for an engaging,
effective, and efficient instruction.
13. It is global – The K to 12 curriculum is benchmarked with curricula of
other countries. It meets international standards not merely by adding two
years to the 10 years of basic education is equivalent to the 12-year basic
education offered in other countries. Graduates of the K to 12 curriculum
will be recognized as such in other countries.
It expands the local orientedness of the learner to national and global
concerns. It enables learners to relate local, national and global events and
concerns and builds patterns of interconnectedness which help them make
sense of their own lives and the world.

14. It is integrative – For holistic learning, subjects are taught using
the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach. Learners do not
learn isolated facts and theories divorced from their lives. Learning
involves change in knowledge, skills, values and attitudes.
Learning is organized around the 4 fundamental types of learning: 1)
“learning to know”, 2) “learning to do”, 3) “learning to be”, and 4)
“learning to live together”. The K to 12 curriculum emphasizes the
significant role that co-curricular activities and community
involvement play in the holistic development of the learner. They are
genuine opportunities for contextualized learning. The co-curricular
activities and community involvement programs enable learners to
build on their classroom learning and apply the knowledge and skills
learned.

15. It is broad-based – K to 12 curriculum provides for a
broad general education that will “assist each individual in
the peculiar ecology of his own society, to (a) attain his
potentials as a human being; (b) enhance the range and
quality of individual and group participation in the basic
functions of society; and (c) acquire the essential
educational foundation of his/her development.”

16. It is enhanced – The K to 12 curriculum is a product of the
collaborative effort of curriculum specialists, subject specialists,
practitioners and education stakeholders representing NGOs,
business and industry, public and private education institutions,
educational institutions, government agencies such as CHED,
TESDA, NEDA, DSWD, and DOLE. This curriculum was crafted
based on the suggestions from sectoral representatives, college
readiness standards formulated by CHED, recommendations
from researches and feedbacks from practitioners. The K to 12
curriculum takes pride in the unified frameworks for elementary
and high school for all the learning areas.

The K to 12 curriculum builds on the previous curricular
reforms. The 1957 2-2 Plan for secondary education and 1958
revised elementary education curriculum provided for the
preparation of students in the world of the academe or the
world of work. However, it limited the students to only two
choices – college or vocational education. The K to 12
curriculum affords the student more choices after graduation, at
least four (4) – employment, entrepreneurship, middle level
skills development, or higher education.

1. Constructivist. Teaching of all the subjects is
anchored on the belief that the learner is not an empty
receptacle who is mere recipient of instruction. Rather,
the learner is an active constructor of knowledge and a
maker of meaning.
The role of the teacher becomes one of a facilitator, a
guide on the side” rather than a dispenser of
information, the “sage on stage”. The student becomes
the active “meaning-maker” not the teacher imposing
meaning. This means that learners construct their own
knowledge and understanding of what is taught out of
their experiences.

2. Inquiry-based. The curriculum ensures that the
learners have the opportunity to examine concepts,
issues and information in various ways and from various
perspectives. It provides them opportunities to develop
skills of creative and critical thinking, informed decision-
making, and hypothesis building and problem solving.
The learners are encouraged to become active
investigators by identifying a range of information,
understanding the sources of information and evaluating
the objectivity of information. They are thus better able
to draw meaningful conclusions which are supported by
evidence. Rather than examining an issue from any one
perspective, the learners are challenged to explore other
possibilities by applying higher order thinking skills in
their decision-making endeavors.

3. Reflective. Reflective teaching means making the
learners look at what they do in the classroom, think
about why they do it, and think about if it works.
Reflective teaching encourages learners to engage in a
process of self-observation and self-evaluation. By
collecting information about what goes in their
classroom, and by analyzing and evaluating this
information, they identify and explore their own
practices and underlying beliefs. This may then lead to
changes and improvements in their learning.

4. Collaborative. Learning is a social activity and so
must be collaborative. Learning is intimately associated
with connection with other human beings-classmates,
teachers, peers, family as well as community. The
teaching-learning process is a rich opportunity to teach
what it means to “live together”, the fourth pillar of
learning. The teaching-learning process should be
interactive and must promote teamwork.

5. Integrative. Subject matter is taught using interdisciplinary
and multidisciplinary approaches. Science is taught in relation to
Math and vice versa. The content in Science, Health, Art, and
Physical Education may become a reading material in English or the
content in Araling Panlipunan and Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao
serves as reading material in Filipino. What is taught in Science is
reinforced by the lessons in Health. With the thematic approach,
within each subject itself, the connectedness of topics taught is
shown. Co-curricular activities and community involvement
complement teaching-learning in the classroom. They are real life
opportunities for contextualized and integrative learning.
Learning is contextual. Learning cannot be divorced from their lives.
Learners do not learn from isolated facts and theories separate
from the rest of their lives.
Every end of the quarter is an opportunity to integrate learning by
way of a culminating activity.

The K to 12 curriculum has a balanced assessment
program. Assessment in the K to12 curriculum is, in
the words of Cronbach, comprehensive and involves
multifaceted analysis of performance that uses a
variety of techniques which has primary reliance on
observations of performance and integration of
diverse information. It makes appropriate use of
both traditional and authentic assessment tools. It
practices self-assessment (assessment as learning),
formative assessment (assessment for learning) and
summative assessment (assessment of learning).

Levels of Proficiency
Equivalent
Numerical
Value
Beginning (B) 74 – below
Developing (D) 75 – 79
Approaching Proficiency (AP) 80 – 84
Proficient (P) 85 – 89
Advanced (A) 90 – above
GRADING SYSTEM

AREA PERCENTAGE
Knowledge 15%
Skills 25%
Understanding 30%
Transfer 30%
TOTAL 100%

1.Quizzes
2. Periodical Examinations
Paper and pencil test using multiple
choice, true or false, matching type
Paper and pencil test using constructed
response type like essay tests, fill in the
blanks, performance tasks
3. Participation

1.Quizzes
Paper and pencil test involving case
analysis
3. Role Play

1.Quizzes
3. Recitation
Explain/justify something based on
facts/data, phenomenon or evidence
Tell/retell stories
Make connections of what was learned
Apply what has been learned in real life
situations

1.Authentic Performance Task
Transfer is assessed thru product and
performance
Performance includes participation in
group activities/projects
Products include projects, homework,
experiments, formal and informal
themes, portfolio, and other outputs

• CMO 11, series of 2011, “Policies and Standards for the
Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (Ph. D Mathematics)
Program”
• CMO 10, series of 2011, “Policies and Standards for the
Master of Science in Mathematics (M. Sc. Mathematics)
Program”
• CMO 19, series of 2007, “Minimum Policies and Standards
for Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Bachelor of
Science in Applied Mathematics”

CMO 19, series of 2007,“Minimum Policies and Standards for
Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Bachelor of Science
in Applied Mathematics”
ARTICLE IV
COMPETENCY STANDARDS
Section 6 Competency Standards
Graduates of a BS Mathematics/Applied Mathematics program are expected to:
a. Develop an appreciation of the power of mathematical thinking and achieve a command of the
ideas and techniques in pattern recognition, generalization, abstraction, critical analysis, problem-
solving and rigorous argument;
b.Acquire and develop an enhanced perception of the vitality and importance of mathematics in the
modern world;
c.Apply analytical and critical reasoning skills to express mathematical ideas with clarity and
coherence;
d. Know how to use problem-solving approaches to investigate and understand mathematical
content;
e. Formulate and solve problems from both mathematical and everyday situations;
f. Communicate mathematical ideas orally and in writing using clear and precise language;
g. Make and evaluate mathematical conjectures and arguments and validate their own mathematical
thinking;
h. Determine the truth or falsity of mathematical statements using valid forms of argument;
i. Appreciate the concept and role of proof and reasoning and demonstrate knowledge in reading
and writing mathematical proofs;
j. Show an understanding of the interrelationships within mathematics; and,
k. Connect mathematics to other disciplines and real-world situations.

CMO 10, series of 2011, “Policies and Standards
for the Master of Science in Mathematics (M. Sc.
Mathematics) Program”
ARTICLE IV
Graduates of M.Sc. Mathematics are expected to:
 Demonstrate success in teaching and possess the ability to work
with undergraduates in research;
 Achieve a certain level of fluency in advanced mathematics;
 Be able to pursue various career options such as research,
teaching, and other professional practice.

ARTICLE IV
Section 3. A graduate the of the Ph.D. in Mathematics program is expected to:
 acquire the requisite knowledge and skills in mathematics and move beyond the
relatively passive role of receiving knowledge to become active and self-motivated
scholar;
 develop a commitment to the professional standards and practices of mathematics;
 attain a level of training and knowledge suitable for advanced and independent research;
 possess the competence to sit as a member of a panel in a thesis/dissertation defense;
 have the ability to referee or review a research article in his/her field of specialization for
possible publication in a journal;
 demonstrate a commitment to the continued improvement of teaching that utilizes
research-based practices;
 participate in course and curriculum development and provide public or professional
service; and
 have the maturity and desire to conduct research and direct or advise graduate students.

As teachers, we are all like
pencils. We go through a lot of
sharpening. We are used and
sometimes abused.
No matter what, we will
always leave a mark.

K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum

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K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum