DepEd opens updated SHS curriculum consultation to general public

FIRST DAY HIGH. A teacher and her students stride toward their classroom at Justo Lukban Elementary School in Manila during the first day of Academic Year 2023-2024 on Tuesday (Aug. 29, 2023). The Department of Education said about 20 million public and private kindergarten, elementary and high school learners returned to their schools, with the number expected to increase in the coming days. (PNA photo by Yancy Lim)

By Stephanie Sevillano, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – The Department of Education (DepEd) said Wednesday that the consultation on the updated curriculum guides (CG) for Grades 11 and 12 is now open to the general public and other private stakeholders.

This complies with the directives of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to ensure quality education and employability of Senior High School (SHS) graduates.

In a statement, the DepEd said the result of public consultation will be “reviewed and integrated” into the final framework of the SHS curriculum.

“The consultations are open to the general public, including teachers, learners, parents, and industry representatives,” it said.

Under the updated CG, the core subjects were reduced to five from 15, with the new subjects including Effective Communication, Life Skills, General Mathematics, General Science, and Pag-aaral ng Kasaysayan at Lipunang Pilipino; alongside time allocation, were also adjusted for the mastery of “essential competencies.”

“The updated core SHS subjects are designed to deepen learners’ foundational competencies in communication, scientific and mathematical thinking, and personal development better to prepare them for lifelong learning and active civic participation,” the DepEd said.

The updated SHS CG also organized SHS elective subjects into clusters which learners can choose from instead of taking fixed subjects under their strands.

The general public may access the SHS curriculum guides via https://bit.ly/SHS-Curriculum-Guide, and send their feedback through the DepEd’s consultation platform at https://bit.ly/SHSPublicConsultationPlatform.

Interested consultation participants may send their feedback until April 11.

The agency previously held stakeholder engagements to discuss proposed features of the updated SHS curriculum with more than 2,000 participants in 14 regions nationwide from January to February.