ONE of the biggest challenges of the Department of Education (DepEd) right now is to make sure every student who completed Grade 10 pursues senior high school (SHS).
Students in SHS will go through a core curriculum and subjects under a track of their choice.
DepEd-Davao spokesperson Jenielito Atillo admitted that the first year of the program will be experimental because they just started. But he assured that the department is doing its best to implement the program well.
Atillo said learners were at the center of the education reform. He added that by the end of the 12-year basic education, high school graduates are expected to have the basic skills needed in the workforce.
SHS covered eight learning areas as part of its core curriculum, and added specific tracks, similar to college courses based, based on four disciplines: academic, technical-vocational-livelihood, sports, arts and design.
The strands for the academic were Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM), General Academic Strand, Humanities and Social Sciences, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (Stem), and Maritime.
For technical-vocational were Agri-Fishery Arts, Home Economics, Industrial Arts, Information and Communications, Technology and TVL Maritime.
The arts and designs included Arts Production (visual arts, media arts, literary arts) and Performing Arts (Music, Dance, Theater).
The two additional years will equip learners with skills that will prepare for the future, whether it would be employment, entrepreneurship, skills development (technical-vocational training) and higher education.
Though the SHS cannot guarantee immediate employment, he said, this will create opportunities, such as standard requirements will be applied to make sure graduates know enough to be hirable.
SHS completer will also be able to apply for Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) certificates of competency and national certificates to provide you with better work opportunities.
The SHS was developed in line with the curriculum of the Commission of Higher Education (Ched), the governing body for college and university education in the country. It ensures that by the time a student graduated from SHS, s/he will have the standard knowledge, skills, and competencies needed to go to college.
u201dSHS is really necessary though, I must admit, it burdens some. A Grade 10 completer must go through Grades 11 and 12 to graduate from high school,” Atillo said.
Atillo encouraged parents to look at the benefits of the program like making their children job-ready after the six year-program, before jumping into conclusions.
DepEd-Davao projected 1,109,874 enrollees for the school year 2016-2017. Of the total enrollees, 814,767 are elementary pupils and 295,107 are secondary students.
Based on their record, the region has a total of 1,630 public elementary schools, 303 public secondary schools, 527 private elementary schools, and 261 private secondary schools.
There were 63,065 senior high school students who have been part of the opening of the implementation of the program on June 13.
As of October 2015, the department has recorded a total of 52,566 Grade 11 students in public senior high schools and 10,499 in the private school with a total of 63,065.
DepEd offered vouchers for upcoming senior high school students who wanted to study in private high schools, colleges and universities, as well as in state universities and colleges, and technical and vocational schools.
The department, however, is temporarily experiencing a classroom shortage. The construction of the school buildings, which have 1,489 total classrooms, are still ongoing. At least 400 classrooms were already made available during the opening of classes, while more than 450 will be available on August.
The DepEd started its preparations for the additional two years of high school as soon as the Enhanced Basic Education Act was signed last 2013.