The K to 12 Program covers Kindergarten and 12 years of basic education (six years of primary education, four years of Junior High School, and two years of Senior High School [SHS]) to provide sufficient time for mastery of concepts and skills, develop lifelong learners, and prepare graduates for tertiary education, middle-level skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship.

Salient Features:

Strengthening Early Childhood Education (Universal Kindergarten)

Every Filipino child now has access to early childhood education through Universal Kindergarten. At 5 years old, children start schooling and are given the means to slowly adjust to formal education.

Making the Curriculum Relevant to Learners (Contextualization and Enhancement)

Examples, activities, songs, poems, stories, and illustrations are based on local culture, history, and reality. This makes the lessons relevant to the learners and easy to understand.

Students acquire in-depth knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes through continuity and consistency across all levels and subjects.

Ensuring Integrated and Seamless Learning (Spiral Progression)

Subjects are taught from the simplest concepts to more complicated concepts through grade levels in spiral progression. As early as elementary, students gain knowledge in areas such as Biology, Geometry, Earth Science, Chemistry, and Algebra. This ensures a mastery of knowledge and skills after each level.

Building Proficiency through Language (Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education)

Students are able to learn best through their first language, their Mother Tongue.

Aside from the Mother Tongue, English and Filipino are taught as subjects starting Grade 1, with a focus on oral fluency. From Grades 4 to 6, English and Filipino are gradually introduced as languages of instruction. Both will become primary languages of instruction in Junior High School (JHS) and Senior High School (SHS).

Gearing Up for the Future (Senior High School)

Senior High School is two years of specialized upper secondary education; students may choose a specialization based on aptitude, interests, and school capacity. The choice of career track will define the content of the subjects a student will take in Grades 11 and 12. SHS subjects fall under either the Core Curriculum or specific Tracks.

Nurturing the Holistically Developed Filipino (College and Livelihood Readiness, let Century Skills)

After going through Kindergarten, the enhanced Elementary and Junior High curriculum, and a specialized Senior High program, every K to 12 graduate will be ready to go into different paths – may it be further education, employment, or entrepreneurship.

Every graduate will be equipped with:

1. Information, media and technology skills,

2. Learning and innovation skills,

3. Effective communication skills, and

4. Life and career skills.

Source: http://www.gov.ph/k-12/