The big shift: a new curriculum has sparked fresh debates on the role of education in national development. (Education).

Thousands of grade school pupils and high school students came back to school last June expecting the same curriculum that have determined their school life for the past years. To their surprise, a new curriculum awaited them. Curiously, everyone seem to have only the vaguest idea of how the change will impact their lives.

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW.

The new curriculum is called Basic Education Curriculum (BEC). It is the product of studies, researches, consultations and observations made during the past few years. It was the product of an increasing clamor for revisions in the curriculum.

Studies have shown that the National Elementary Achievement Test (NEAT) and the National Secondary Achievement Test (NSAT) mean percentage scores of the past few years were only about 50%. The lowest scores were recorded in science and math, which meant students found those subjects the most difficult.

There was a need for students to concentrate more on science and math, but the congested curriculum made it impossible for students to focus on the basic skills needed for functional literacy and also overloaded teachers.

Thus, after a series of regional consultations with Superintendents, Supervisors and School Heads, the Department of Education (DepEd) conceptualized a refined curriculum which concentrated on: (1) fewer learning areas with (2) better integration of competencies and topics and (3) with additional time for the mastery of the basic subjects.

The New Subjects. Perhaps the most distinct feature of the new curriculum is the number of subjects. Instead of the standard seven to eight high school subjects a day--English, Math, Science, Filipino, Physical Education, Health and Music (PEHM), Technology and Home Economics (THE), Values, Social Studies and the Revitalized Homeroom Guidance Program (RHGP)--we now have only five subjects: English, Math, Science, Filipino and Makabayan. These subjects are considered the basic tool subjects. Makabayan, which will be taught in Filipino, covers PEHM, THE and Social Studies. Values will be integrated in all the subjects. Teachers will teach Makabayan four times a week, with the fifth day alloted for integrative teaching. Makabayan, by its very name, intends to teach patriotism and a deeper appreciation of culture and history, to students.

Elementary pupils will, likewise, have only four major subjects: Filipino, English, Mathematics, Science, Health, and Makabayan.

Grades 1, 2 and 3 pupils will study the subjects for 80-100 minutes everyday; while Grades 4, 5 and 6 will study these subjects for an hour everyday. Pupils will spend more time on the major subjects as research shows that elementary education is the foundation of a child's academic development. As with the high school curriculum, elementary pupils will also be studying Makabayan. And like its high school counterpart, Makabayan will cover Social Studies, EPP (Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan), MSEP (Musika, Sining at Edukasyong Pangkatawan). Character Education (or Values) will be integrated in all the learning areas.

The Methodology. Undersecretary Fe Hidalgo of the Department of Education, during her presentation of the 2002 Basic Education Curriculum at Teachers' Camp last March, said that "Education, to be effective, can no longer be a one-way, or a top-to-bottom process."

She is referring to the methodology of the new curriculum as an interactive one. The teacher is no longer someone who spoonfeeds information to students, but a facilitator of the learning process who enables learners to "become active constructors of knowledge" and not just "passive recipients of information."

The teacher/facilitator helps students to "learn not primarily answers but how to reflect on, characterize and discuss problems and "form or find valid answers."

The teacher/facilitator is expected to know his/her discipline well and is prepared to do collaborative teaching with peers from other disciplines, to share knowledge and resources with them and to build a community of effective educational practice.

Thus, teachers are encouraged to integrate concepts from the other disciplines. This means an English teacher is not just expected to know and teach language and communication concepts, but also math, science and values concepts. She integrates these concepts in English and thus reinforces the pupils' learning.

Sounds new? Not entirely. Non-government organization (NGO) workers and Non-formal Education teachers use the facilitator approach and the integrative method for adult literacy learners. NGO workers call it popular education.

Dr. Ellen Donato, Assistant City Schools Superintendent of the Department of Education in Baguio City admits that the approach of BEC "is not totally new."

Principal Magdalena Candido of Kibungan National High School says," It is more of a modification."

The BEC emphasizes competence in learning, which includes acquiring the essential abilities such as linguistic fluency and scientific-numerical competence.

THE IMPLEMENTATION

As early as January 2002, Dep Ed officials began laying groundwork for the new curriculum. But it was only in March 2002 that Regional Heads and School Heads sat down to plan for its implementation in their respective areas or schools.

School heads then explained the new curriculum to their teachers. In turn, the teachers met to identify entry points in their subjects for the integration of other subject concepts. These seminars varied from five to ten days.

OFF TO A BAD START?

The new curriculum being an ideal one notwithstanding, very few people know about it and even fewer understand it when it was introduced this schoolyear.

Seemingly, DepEd's haphazard implementation is not well thought out. Already, there are apprehensions that this curriculum might fail largely because essential preparatory activities were not properly implemented.

Inadequate Information Dissemination. While the Regional and School Heads have gone through several in formation dissemination seminars, it appears that these were not echoed adequately to the teachers. The irony is that crux of the new scheme is the teachers.

A teacher IGOROTA interviewed was vague about the new curriculum.

In fact, Mrs. Candido admits most do not know about the curriculum as Superintendents only began fully disseminating information with School Heads and teachers last summer.

As she puts it, "Kasla kurang ti information."

Only the Superintendents, Supervisors and School Heads know about it. Parents have an idea what it is but still know only so little about it.

Not surprisingly, the students, the ultimate recipients, have the least idea about the new curriculum.

"Much of the uproar over the BEC is the fact that it's conceptualization, dissemination and implementation did not go through an exhaustive consultation process with teachers, parents and students," the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) and the National Union of Students in the Philippines (NUSP) pointed out in their statement.

They also believed that it would have been better for DepEd to have went ahead with its original plan to implement the new curriculum in selected pilot areas rather than implementing it nationwide outright.

On the other hand, Mrs. Fe Garcia, a mother whose children go to public schools and former professor at Baguio Colleges Foundation (BCF), is apprehensive about the removal of the certain subjects. She said the new curriculum is confusing.

Nevertheless, she remains optimistic about the new curriculum since the students will be concentrating a lot more on the major subjects.

Another mother whose son also goes to a public school said she does not even know there existed a new curriculum.

Apprehensions on the Integrative Approach, A THE teacher from Baguio City National High School has doubts on the use of the integrative approach in teaching the subjects of Makabayan.

For one, since there are three subjects under Makabayan and three different teachers who teach them, computation of grades might be confusing and time-consuming.

He further questions the methodology of the subject. Every week for four days, teachers teach Makabayan. The fifth day of every week will be devoted to a culminating activity where teachers identify entry points for their lessons in the activity.

For example, if teachers may opt to let students participate in an activity such as Panagbenga, they must identify entry points for lessons in PEHM, THE and Social Studies in the said activity. The problem arises when not all the three teachers can identify entry points.

Mrs. Candido, however, said that teachers will not be forced to strictly identify entry points. They will only be integrating concepts where they see fit.

Lack of Teacher Guides. Another problem Mrs. Candido identified was the lack of prototype lessons and textbooks which are supposed to guide teachers.

DepEd officials promised to provide School Heads prototype lessons and textbooks. But so far, the teachers have not received them.

The prototype lessons and new textbooks are vital to the implementation of the new curriculum. Because of the abruptness of the implementation, the teachers can possibly work out the curriculum only with the aid of such guides. However, teachers are expected to use old textbooks, reference materials, existing technology, such as the internet, to complement their lessons. With regards to the latter, schools who have easy access to the internet are the exception not the rule.

Are the teachers ready to become facilitators. Mrs. Candido has seen that putting the concept of the teacher as facilitator into practice is not without problems. This is applicable in an ideal environment, where the class is homogenous. The reality is that public schools have mixed classes, where fast learners, average learners and slow learners comingle. A facilitator can be effective if dealing with one or two levels of learners, but not three.

Compounding the problem of the preparedness of the teachers to become facilitators is the question of their teaching competence.

In 1992, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) reported that only 71% of Math teachers, 21% of Chemistry teachers, 8% of Physics teachers, 41% of Biology teachers and 40% of Gen. Science teachers were prepared to teach these subjects.

And, then, the perennial problem of inadequate facilities. "Not all schools have facilities," Mrs. Candido points Out. To illustrate her point, she cites Dalipey Annex, Kibungan National High School's satellite school in Dalipey, Poblacion, Kibungan. It is a five hour hike from Poblacion; making mass information inaccessible and the transportation of equipment difficult. Lessons are conducted in the church building, in a residential house and in a make-shift building covered with a tent. Other schools experience the same lack of facilities. This is another problem warranting a full separate article. Still the point has been made: granting that the system is perfect and the facilators are ready--where are the tools? Where will learning take place?

Can BEC really work? Dr. Donato remains unfazed, saying apprehensions about a new thing is normal. Like Mrs. Candido, she believes that the new curriculum is ideal and good for the students but one can not fully realize the new curriculum's impact only after a year or so of implementation.

Still, the new curriculum started with a huge handicap.

WHAT NOW? BEC may not be the panacea to the continuing education crisis, but, like it or not, the curriculum is here to stay.

But in order to get the most of it, the teachers must take it upon themselves to fully understand BEC's philosophy, precepts, concepts and methodology, then competently put them to practice. And it better be now.

Students and parents couldn't do worse by keeping an open mind while, at the same time, making sure that the schools are really exerting their best efforts to make the new curriculum work.

We really do not have a choice. The younger Filipinos can only have a better chance at life if the educational system will be transformed. But as we all fear--it's not going to be an easy task.

References: The Basic Education Curriculum Primer; Intersect Magazine (2001 issue)