Senate seeks update on K-10 curriculum pilot test

MANILA, Philippines — Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III has urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to update the Senate on its pilot testing of the new K-10 curriculum in 35 schools nationwide.

During the Senate basic education committee’s Oct. 18 hearing on the revised curriculum or the “Matatag” Curriculum, Pimentel asked DepEd Bureau of Curriculum Development director Jocelyn Andaya for updates on the pilot implementation, which started on Sept. 25.

Andaya said that under the revised curriculum, the learning competencies were trimmed down from 11,738 to 3,664 to focus on literacy, numeracy, patriotism, good manners and right conduct.

Mother tongue was removed as a separate subject and integrated in the language program.

Vice President Sara Duterte, concurrent education secretary, also wanted to include “peace education” as among the competencies “close to her heart,” Andaya added.

“The review took one year and a half, and for the revision, we made sure there are no overlaps and they are not repetitive. The level of care we placed there was very important to us,” she noted.

Pimentel instructed DepEd officials to prepare a presentation for the next hearing on how the Matatag Curriculum will improve the current K-12 program.

After the pilot testing, the new curriculum will be implemented in phases: preschool and Grades 1, 4 and 7 in school year 2024-2025; Grades 2, 5 and 8 in SY 2025-2026; Grades 3, 7 and 8 in SY 2026-2027 and Grade 10 in SY 2027-2028.