Secondary Education (High School) is meant to build on the foundation knowledge, skills and attitudes developed at the elementary level and to discover and “enhance the aptitudes and interests of the learner as to equip him with skills for the productive endeavor and/or prepare him for tertiary schooling.” The K to 12 curriculum consists of four (4) years of Junior High School (JHS), Grades 7-10, and Two (2) years of Senior High School (SHS), Grades 11- 12.
The High School Age Levels Under K to 12 Implementation
- AGE 12: Grade 7 (First Year Junior High School)
- AGE 13: Grade 8 (Second Year Junior High School)
- AGE 14: Grade 9 (Third Year Junior High School)
- AGE 15: Grade 10 (Fourth Year Junior High School)
- AGE 16: Grade 11 (First Year SENIOR High School)
- AGE 17: Grade 12 (Second Year SENIOR High School)
The High School Level Curriculum Under K to 12 Implementation:
At the JHS level, the learner takes Eight (8) core compulsory subjects as follows: English; Filipino; Mathematics; Science; Araling Panlipunan; Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao; Music, Art, Physical Education and Health (MAPEH); and Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE). The TLE subjects that are offered are based on the Training Regulations from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to enable the learner to obtain the National Certificate required by industry.
The TLE subjects in Grades 7 and 8 are exploratory. This means that the Grade 7and 8 learner is given the opportunity to explore from a maximum of 4 TLE mini-courses in Grade 7 and another 4 in Grade 8 which the school offers depending on community needs and school resources.
In the exploratory courses, the learner is taught 5 basic competencies common to all TLE courses. The basic competencies are:
- mensuration and calculation
- use of tools and equipment
- interpretation of plans/drawing
- occupational health and safety in the workplace, and
- maintenance of tools and equipment.
In Grades 7 and 8, the learner does not yet obtain a Certificate of Competency (COC). The exploratory courses are a prelude to the earning of a COC in Grade 9 and an NC I/II in Grade 10.
In Grade 9, the learner chooses one course to specialize in from among the exploratory courses that he/she was oriented to in Grade 7 and 8. At this level, the learner obtains a Certificate of Competency. In Grade 10 he/she pursues the TLE specialization course that he/she has chosen in Grade 9 for him/her to obtain at least a National Certificate Level I or Level II (NC I/NC II) depending on the TLE course chosen.
Senior high school, the apex of secondary education, consists of Grades 11 and 12. At this level, the learner goes through a proposed core of not more than 7 compulsory subjects and a required specialization for the learner’s career pathway chosen from among 1) entrepreneurship, 2) tech-voc, and 3) academics. Specialization in academics includes course offerings in 1) science, 2) math 3) languages – foreign and Philippine languages, 4) journalism, 5) sports, and 6) arts.
The proposed core compulsory subjects for Grade 11 are: 1) English, 2) Filipino, 3) Math, 4) Logic, 5) Life Sciences, and 6) Contemporary Local Issues. For Grade 12, the proposed core compulsory subjects are: 1) English, 2) Filipino, 3) Philippine Literature, 1st semester, 4) World Literature, 2nd semester, 5) Math, 6) Physical Sciences, and 7) Contemporary Global Issues.
The subjects in senior high school are mostly the general education subjects in the first two years of college brought down to the basic education level. The specialization courses equip the senior high school learner with knowledge and skills in the career path of his/her choice. Those who choose to go to college will take any specialization in academics. Those who opt to go for tech-voc specialization will pursue the TLE specialization that began in Grade 9.
If the learner chooses tech-voc as a specialization in Grades 11 and 12, he/she continues the TLE specialization that he/she started in Grade 9 and pursued in Grade 10. This enables him/her to acquire NC II. The vertical and horizontal transfers in Grades 11 and 12 presented in Table 5 refer to the advancement in the level of certification either upward like a ladder ( vertical) or sideward like a bridge. An example of a vertical ladder is obtaining NC II for Building Wiring Electricity after getting NC I for Building Wiring Electricity. Horizontal transfer means going into different fields of training at the same qualification level. An example is Building Wiring Electricity NC II to Carpentry NC II.