Press Release - EDCOM 2: DepEd, PIDS conduct assessment of MATATAG pilot implementation

In a Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) Sub-Committee on Basic Education meeting held at UP BGC on June 11, 2024, the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS) presented their initial assessments on the MATATAG K-to-10 pilot implementation.

The MATATAG curriculum was implemented in 35 pilot schools (out of 47,678 schools) distributed across 13 divisions in seven regions. DepEd reported that as of May 24, 2024, 267,900 teachers and personnel were trained for the MATATAG curriculum implementation, which include training at different levels of governance.

To determine its immediate impact, an external monitoring was conducted by the PIDS and the Assessment, Curriculum, and Technology Research Center (ACTRC), commissioned by the DepEd.

The study sought to assess the immediate impact of MATATAG K-to-10 curriculum on teachers' pedagogy and welfare and learning outcomes of the students, and document the challenges and opportunities of the current and the pilot curriculum. PIDS presented the preliminary results from focus group discussions and key informant interviews with teaching and administrative personnel, and from the teachers' survey.

Preliminary findings show that the MATATAG curriculum appears to be generally well-accepted among stakeholders, and while the new curriculum improves teacher instruction, it also has no apparent impact on hours work and selected measures of well-being.

Impact on expected competencies covered

The preliminary findings also suggest that there is no statistical difference in the expected percentage of competencies covered in MATATAG pilot schools vs non-pilot schools.

When asked about the percentage of expected competencies to be covered by the end of the school year, about 90% of the expected competencies under the pilot and non-pilot curriculum will be covered. On the other hand, competencies mastered by students stand at 81% in both curricula.

PIDS explained that the 2021 curriculum is already lesser and more compressed compared to the curriculum in 2016. "The 2021 curriculum is already lesser, halos kamukha na ng MATATAG. According to the FGDs, mas maganda ang flow