This document provides an overview of Outcomes Based Education (OBE) and the K-12 education program in the Philippines. OBE focuses on measuring student progress based on learning outcomes rather than comparing students. It allows for customized learning paths. The K-12 program extends basic education to 12 years by adding 2 years to senior high school. It aims to strengthen early education, use local languages and culture to enhance relevance, and ensure continuous learning across grades to better prepare students for tertiary education or employment.

1. OUTCOMES BASED
EDUCATION
What is OBE?
The utilization of outcome based education is largely
designed to show student progress based on the 'outcome' of
learning skills. In a traditional education approach, student
skill levels are determined by completing textbooks but the
approach of outcome based education would rely solely on
the individual contributions of a student and not on their
comparative success to other students. The idea is to teach
students material based on their grasp, where weaker
students achieve success based on their skills while highly
capable students are provided enrichment.
In an outcome based education setting, the curriculum is
designed only with the learning outcomes defined for an
educator but no further input is made on how these outcomes
should be approached. The teacher is largely responsible for
the overall lesson plans, engagement of the students and for
providing the study skills necessary to correlate ideas.

2. OBE Lesson Plan Format
LESSON PLAN
#___
Teacher: Term:
Learning Area: Week:
Grade: Duration:
Context:
Content:
Link w/ Previous Lesson: Link w/ Next Lesson:
Outcomes - LOs & ASs:
Presentation / Activity / Assessment:
List the Forms of Assessment: Resources: Integration:
Teacher Reflection:

3. K-12 PROGRAM
K-12 PROGRAM
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.

4. What are the Salient Points in K-12?
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.
Research shows that children who underwent Kindergarten have better
completion rates than those who did not. Children who complete a
standards-based Kindergarten program are better prepared, for primary
education.
Education for children in the early years lays the foundation for lifelong
learning and for the total development of a child. The early years of a human
being, from 0 to 6 years, are the most critical period when the brain grows to
at least 60-70 percent of adult size..
[Ref: K to 12 Toolkit]
In Kindergarten, students learn the alphabet, numbers, shapes, and colors
through games, songs, and dances, in their Mother Tongue.

5. 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.
Discussions on issues such as Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), Climate
Change Adaptation, and Information & Communication Technology (ICT)
are included in the enhanced curriculum.
BUILDING PROFICIENCY THROUGH LANGUAGE (Mother tongue-
based mulitilingual education)
Students are able to learn best through their first language, their Mother
Tongue (MT). Twelve (12) MT languages have been introduced for SY
2012-2013: Bahasa Sug, Bikol, Cebuano, Chabacano, Hiligaynon, Iloko,
Kapampangan, Maguindanaoan, Meranao, Pangasinense, Tagalog, and
Waray. Other local languages will be added in succeeding school years.
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).
After Grade 1, every student can read in his or her Mother Tongue. Learning
in Mother Tongue also serves as the foundation for students to learn Filipino
and English easily.
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.
For example, currently in High School, Biology is taught in 2nd Year,
Chemistry in 3rd Year, and Physics in 4th Year. In K to 12, these subjects

6. are connected and integrated from Grades 7 to 10. This same method is used
in other Learning Areas like Math.
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, 21st
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
Life and career skills

7. What are the subjects to be taught in
K-12?
Incoming grade 1 public school students will have more subjects but fewer school
hours when classes begin in June 2012.
They will be the first to test the new curriculum that the Department of Education
(DepEd) has developed for its K to 12 program.
The program will run on a K-6-4-2 education model, wherein a student has to
study in grade school for 6 years, in junior high school for 4 years (grades 7 to 10),
and in senior high school for two years (grades 11 to 12).
The incoming grade 1 students of school year 2012-2011 are the so-called "guinea
pigs" of the program. DepEd started implementing its revised curriculum last
school year, when these students were in kindergarten.
Starting with this batch, no public school student in the Philippines will be
admitted to Grade 1 without taking up kindergarten.
Private schools are also covered by the program, but officials have yet to discuss
its implementation.
Based on the curriculum guide provided by DepEd, the incoming grade 1 students
will be taking up 6 subjects for an entire school year. Each subject will be taught
for a maximum of 40 minutes per day:
 Reading and Writing in the Mother Tongue - 40 minutes
 Oral Fluency in Filipino - 40 minutes
 Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao (EsP) - 30 minutes
 Mathematics or Arithmetic - 30 minutes
 Araling Panlipunan (AP) - 30 minutes
 Music, Arts, Physical Education, Health (MAPEH) - 30 minutes
When the second half of the school year comes, a 7th subject, Oral Fluency in
English, will be introduced. This subject will be taught for 40 minutes.
Despite the increase in the number of subjects, the total hours to be spent by a first
grader in school would still be less.
Before this, the grade 1 level used to have only 4 subjects, each lasting an hour or
more daily:
 English - 100 minutes per day

8.  Filipino - 80 minutes per day
 Mathmatics - 80 minutes per day
 Sibika at Kultura - 60 minutes per day
This set of subjects, along with the schedule, was introduced when DepEd
overhauled its curriculum in 2002. Among the features of this revised curriculum is
the inclusion of the subject Makabayan.
Makabayan was not offered to students in grades 1 to 3, but some concepts of the
subject were integrated in Sibika at Kultura.
Education Secretary Armin Luistro explained that the shortened time will "make
education less stressful and more enjoyable for our young learners."
DepEd has already prepared revised curriculums for grades 2 to 6, but these will
not yet be implemented until the incoming grade 1 students reach these levels.
Incoming grade 2 to 6 students in June 2012 will not be covered anymore by the
new program -- at least for the duration of their stay in grade school.
Still no Science
Just like in the old curriculum, Science will still not be offered as a separate subject
to grade 1 students.
In the 2002 revised curriculum, Science and Health concepts were integrated in
English. But in the new program, Science will be integrated into more subjects:
Mother Tongue, English, Health, and Math.
In a forum with businessmen on March 28, Luistro explained that DepEd wants to
promote the idea that "science is a study of everyday life."
"These concepts and skills are integrated rather than discipline-based, stressing the
connections across science topics and other disciplines as well as applications of
concepts and thinking skills to real life," he said.
Just like in the old curriculum, the K to 12 program will offer Science as a separate
subject starting grade 3.
High school freshmen included
The revised curriculum will also be introduced to incoming high school freshmen,
or the grade 7 students.

9. They will have 2 years added in their high school period. The additional years will
offer students subjects or electives that will offer specialization depending on the
occupation or career track that students wish to pursue.
Incoming 2nd to 4th year high school students will not encounter these additional
years in high school anymore.
Based on the curriculum guide by DepEd, grade 7 will have the same subjects as in
grade 1, minus the Mother Tongue subject, since this will be offered from grades 1
to 3 only. But the high school freshmen will have the Technology and Livelihood
Education (TLE) subject, which will offer various skill-enhancing topics for the
entire high school level.
K-12 CURRICULUM MODEL

10. Compare and Contrast RBEC and K-
12 Curriculum
THE PHILIPPINE education system is improving by developing its curricula.
From (NSEC) New Secondary Curriculum to (BEC) Basic Education Curriculum
to (RBEC) Revised Basic Education Curriculum to (SEC 2010:UbD) Secondary
Education Curriculum 2010: Understanding by Design to K to 12 Basic Education
Curriculum.
K to 12 Curriculum implemented this year for Grade 1 and Grade 7 (High School
Year 1), with its first batch of graduates by March 2018. What is its difference
from the previous curricula? Why do we consider it “The Future of the Present
Generation”?
Previous curricula concentrated and changed only the content and teaching
strategies, whereas theorists of K to 12 gave emphases on Psychologies of
learning, students’ multi-intelligences, and learners’ diversity which are necessary
to ensure quality education. They considered Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Stages of
Learning. These learners are allowed to learn topics and skills appropriate to their
developmental scheme that made the school adhere to age requirement. The K to
12 is the first curriculum that changes the number of years of learners’ stay in
school.
Natural negative reactions are observable in any change. Complaints and questions
can be heard from parents whose children are affected by the additional two years
of stay in school. As an analysis, it is only added by one year. Five years old is
kinder, age 6 is grade one, elementary graduate by age 11, age 12 will enter in
grade 7, and then the child will graduate in grade 12 by the age of 17. A common
graduate of high school of previous curricula is 16 years old.

11. The many advantages the K to 12 will bring to the learners outweigh the additional
one year stay in school. The graduates of the K to 12 are well-equipped with skills,
and have mastered the competencies they deserved. This curriculum is sufficient to
prepare students for work. It will enable students to acquire Certificates of
competency or National Certification in accordance to TESDA training regulations
equivalent to two-year college degree. The holder of which is recognized globally
with higher employment opportunities and higher earning potential, that will surely
improve the economic status of every family, which is the foundation for a long-
term socio-economic development of our country.
The K to 12 is a learner-centered and a research-based curriculum. It is a
decongested curriculum which allows mastery of competencies and enables
students to better cope with the lessons. It envisions holistically developed learners
with 21st century skills, leading to better career pathways. It is a CURRICULUM
that CHALLENGES the government, education sector, school heads, especially
the teachers that surely could make a great CHANGE for our future.
Comparison of the Curriculum of the Old education and K to 12
Education
Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) 2002
BEC is restructuring of the NESC (1983) and the NSEC (1989) in
order to raise the quality of the Filipino learners and graduates
and empower them for lifelong learning.
2010 Secondary Education Curriculum
The 2010 Secondary Education Curriculum (SEC) is the revised
2002 BEC incorporating Understanding by Design (UbD) which
seeks to contribute to functional literacy for all and the

12. development of 21st Century core skills needed for global
competitiveness.
K to 12 Curriculum 2012
The K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum is geared towards the
development of holistically developed Filipino with 21st century
skills who is ready for employment, entrepreneurship, middle level
skills development and higher education upon graduation.
REFERENCES:
http://www.teach-nology.com/edleadership/assessment/outcomes_based_ed/
barrwilson.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/ncs-ii-lessonplans.doc
http://www.gov.ph/k-12/
http://thedailyguardian.net/index.php/iloilo-opinion/15645-k-to-12-the-future-of-the-present-
generation
http://www.cfo-pso.org.ph/pdf/11thconferencepresentation/day2/dir_jocelyn_dr_andaya-
K_to_12_basic_education_program.pdf
http://www.rappler.com/nation/3449-more-subjects,-less-time-in-school-for-1st-graders