“Education is not just about simplifying the curriculum, but about ensuring that our students learn the skills and knowledge they need for a meaningful life and for the development of our society.”

MANILA – A teachers  union is concerned with the streamlining of Senior High School’s core subjects from 15 per semester to only five per year, raising serious concerns about the comprehensive development of students. 

In a statement, Alliance of Concerned Teachers-National Capital Region Union (ACT NCR) said that while they recognize the need to address curriculum congestion, they are worried that this “drastic reduction may compromise the holistic education our youth deserve.” 

The Grade 11 core subjects which were reduced to five are Effective Communication, Life Skills, General Mathematics, General Science, and Pag-aaral ng Kasaysayan at Lipunang Pilipino. 

“Education is not just about simplifying the curriculum, but about ensuring that our students learn the skills and knowledge they need for a meaningful life and for the development of our society,” ACT NCR said in Filipino. 

In a statement, the Department of Education (DepEd) said “the new core SHS subjects are designed to deepen learners’ foundational competencies in communication, scientific and mathematical thinking, and personal development to better prepare them for lifelong learning and active civic participation.”

The SHS program will also shift to only two tracks: Academic and Technical Professional. The previous tracks were four which are: Academic, Sports, Technical-Vocational-Livelihood and Arts and Design.   

ACT NCR Union criticized the shift toward more electives and clustering of subjects under the Academic and Tech-Voc categories saying that their “experience shows that such restructuring often aligns with neoliberal education policies that prioritize producing workers for the market rather than cultivating critical thinkers for society.”

“The proposed ‘doorway option,’ which allows students to take subjects from other strands, sounds promising in theory, but we question whether schools—especially those in underserved communities—will have the resources to genuinely offer this flexibility,” ACT NCR Union said. 

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Read: K to 12 | ‘A huge step backward’ in science, technology devt

The teachers’ union  also said that the DepEd failed to explaim how they will be prepared for the changes in the SHS curriculum. “Once again, teachers are expected to shoulder the burden of curriculum revisions without adequate training, resources, or compensation.”

“Hilong-hilo na ang mga guro sa Senior High School. Many of them lost their positions in colleges due to the reduction of the General Education Curriculum during the height of the K-to-12 implementation. And now, here it is again—they’re worried about having no subjects to teach, and worse, possibly being transferred to Junior High School or even losing their jobs,” they said. 

Read: K to 12 | Teachers fear mass lay-offs by 2016 

They said that any curriculum reform must prioritize teachers’ welfare as a central consideration.”The well-being of teachers must never be treated as a secondary issue. Teachers are already overworked, underpaid, and burdened with large class sizes, inadequate facilities, and excessive administrative tasks. Introducing new curriculum demands without addressing these fundamental welfare concerns is both unjust and counterproductive to achieving quality education.”

ACT-NCR demanded that the DepEd include concrete provisions for teacher support in the SHS curriculum revision. These must include reduced teaching loads, appropriate compensation for additional preparation time, and comprehensive professional development programs.

They also called on Education Secretary Sonny Angara to substantially extend the consultation period beyond one week and to conduct face-to-face consultations with teachers, students, and communities across the country. 

The DepEd opened an online public consultation for the revised Senior High School (SHS) curriculum under the basic education program, which is set to be piloted in School Year 2025-2026. The education department hoped to gather feedback from the public consultations from April 4 to 11.  

The Strengthened SHS Curriculum follows Deped’s stakeholder engagements from January to February 2025 where 2,000 participants from 14 regions shared insights on curriculum improvements. The DepEd said that the feedback from the online consultations will be reviewed and integrated into the final SHS curriculum framework. 

ACT-NCR urged Angara to conduct a comprehensive review of the K-to-12 curriculum before implementing any changes. “The voices of classroom teachers—those who will directly implement the revised curriculum—must be central to the entire process, not merely considered as an afterthought.”

They also demanded full transparency on how these curriculum changes will be supported, particularly in terms of funding for facilities, learning materials, and teacher training. “Without these essential components, even the most well-designed curriculum will fail in implementation.”

“We remain firmly committed to an education system that truly serves the Filipino people—not corporate interests or the demands of the global market. Genuine curriculum strengthening begins with recognizing the needs of our learners, teachers, and communities—not with conforming to foreign models of education that do not reflect our local context,” the group added. 

The K to 12 program was signed into law under the administration of late President Benigno Aquino III. Many student and youth organizations as well as parents and teachers opposed the said program. Several petitions against K to 12 were also filed with the Supreme Court.

After more than a decade of implementation, the program is now under review. The K to 12 program added Kindergarten and two years of senior high school in the Philippines’ basic education. (RVO, DAA)