On June 16, the Philippines opened its new academic year with a bold experiment: a pilot rollout of the revised K to 12 curriculum in 889 schools. The overhaul trims bloated subject loads and reorients senior high school toward employability — a long-standing critique of the original 2013 law.
Under the new framework, core subjects are reduced from 15 per semester to just five per year. Students now choose between two streamlined tracks — Academic or TechPro — and can select electives freely. The goal: focus on core competencies, not bureaucratic box-checking.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara, a fiscal moderate, is also tackling the 165,000-classroom shortage with a push for public-private partnerships. “We can’t wait 50 years to fix this,” he said. “We need the private sector at the table.”
Critics of the original K to 12 law — including Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada — argue that senior high school should be scrapped entirely. But the Marcos administration is betting on reform, not repeal, to restore public trust in the education system.
