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PASIG CITY, 7 November 2024 — Education Secretary Sonny Angara emphasized that one of the Department of Education’s (DepEd) priorities is to fast-track the review of the Senior High School (SHS) Curriculum and reduce the subjects to let learners focus more on work immersion.
“So, we must have flexibility in our system. If we reduce the subjects of our SHS curriculum, the students will have more time for the on-the-job training or work immersion needed by the industry so that our senior high school graduates will become more employable even if they lack work experience,” Secretary Angara said during the 2024 Regional Conference on Educational Planning in Asia.
“So, we’re on the right direction to reduce the core subjects of our SHS curriculum to just five or six subjects,” he added.
On Monday, the Department met with academic experts to accelerate efforts in reviewing and streamlining the SHS program and subjects.
The meeting with consultants from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) sought to provide recommendations on the structure of the SHS curriculum and on the content of English, Science, and Math standards and curriculum guides.
Moreover, DepEd has collaborated with ADB to provide technical assistance and professional guidance to DepEd specialists in revising the SHS curriculum.
Education Secretary Angara previously emphasized that the country’s basic education curriculum was already crowded according to education experts from other countries.
DepEd Undersecretary for Curriculum and Teaching Gina Gonong, Assistant Secretary Joyce Dr Andaya, Teacher Education Council Executive Director Jennie Jocson, Office of the Secretary Director Maggie Del-Valle Ramoso attended the said consultation meeting. EDCOM Executive Director Karol Mark Yee was also in attendance.
ADB were represented by consultants Margaret Bigelow, Mary Coupland, Michael Murray, Mel Dixon, Gerard Edward McCloughan, and Dagmar Arthur to discuss their role, highlighting the provision of technical advice to the Department based on evidence-based approaches and strategies on the process of curriculum review and revision.
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