Overview of Philippine educational system and its present status. Pre-Spanish to the K-12 program, includes timeline evolution of educational system

1. Prepared by:
Myra P. Oka
MaEd EdAd Student
Overview of the Philippine Educational System and
its Present Status
I. Educational System before Colonization (before 1521)
The type of education is informal and unstructured
The home serves as their school
The parents serve as teachers
Focused more on vocational than academics
Tribal tutors (for example, the babaylan)
II. Educational System during the Spanish colonization (1521-1896)
Education was formal
Established schools from the primary level to the tertiary level of education.
Focused on the Christian Doctrines
Separate school for boys (colegios) and girls (beaterio)
Missionary teachers (friars) replaced the tribal tutors
Catholic doctrine schools that were set up initially became parochial schools
which taught reading and writing along with catechism.
Education Decree of 1863 - mandated the establishment of free primary schools
in each town, one for boys and one for girls, with the precise number of schools
depending on the size of the population.
There were 3 grades: entrada, acenso, and termino

2. The curriculum required the study of Christian doctrine, values and history as well
as reading and writing in Spanish, mathematics, agriculture, etiquette, singing,
world geography, and Spanish history. Girls were also taught sewing.
The Normal School, run by the Jesuits, was also established which gave men the
opportunity to study a three-year teacher education for the primary level.
III. Educational System during American colonization (1898-1935)
Formal, structured and existence of an educational system
Act No. 74 - a highly centralized, experimental public school system was installed
in 1901 by the Philippine Commission
Thomasites were deployed to Barangay Schools
The high school system was supported by provincial governments and included
special educational institutions, schools of arts and trades, an agricultural school,
and commerce and marine institutes in 1902.
IV. Educational System during the Japanese Colonization (1941-1944)
Structured and centralized
Established the Commission of Education, Health and Public welfare, and
reopening of Schools in 1942
Created Ministry of education in 1943
the teaching of Tagalog, Philippine History, and Character Education was
reserved for Filipinos. Love for work and dignity of labor was emphasized.
V. Present Educational System (1946-present)
Patterned to the educational systems of SPAIN and of the UNITED STATES after
the Liberation
Elementary and high school is compulsory by the DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION in 1947
Became Department of Education and Culture in 1972
Changed to Ministry of Education and Culture in 1978 with major organizational
changes
Became Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports in 1982 then to Department of
Education, Culture and Sports in 1987 to 1994.
CHED was established in 1994 and TESDA in 1995
The trifocal education system refocused DECS’ mandate to basic education which
covers elementary, secondary and nonformal education, including culture and
sports. TESDA now administers the post-secondary, middle-level manpower
training and development while CHED is responsible for higher education.
DECS was transformed to DepEd, redefining the role of Field offices, framework
for school head empowerment and school-based management in 2001.
Former educational system used from 1945 until June 5, 2011

3. The K-12 program has a so-called "phased implementation", which started in S.Y
2011-2012.
o Strengthening Early Childhood Education (Universal Kindergarten)
o Making the Curriculum Relevant to Learners (Contextualization and
Enhancement)
o Ensuring Integrated and Seamless Learning (Spiral Progression)
o Building Proficiency through Language (Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual
Education)
o Gearing Up for the Future (Senior High School)
o Nurturing the Holistically Developed Filipino (College and Livelihood
Readiness, 21st Century Skills)
Preschool
o Ages 3 to 5
o Students learn the alphabet, numbers, shapes, and colors through games,
songs, and dances in their Mother Tongue.
Primary
o Age of 6 to 11
o Consists of compulsory six grades (Grades 1-6)
o Primary level (grades 1-3) medium is mother tongue
o Intermediate level (grades 4-6)
o Subjects taught are Mathematics, Science, Filipino, English, HEKASI
(Heyograpiya, Kasaysayan at Sibika)
o Minor subjects: Music, Arts, Physical Education and Health
o Computer Education and HELE are the additional minor subjects for
private schools
Secondary
o Ages 12-17
o Prerequisite of which is the completion of elementary education
o Four years of junior high school and two years of senior high school
o Junior high school is composed of grade 7 to grade 10
o Senior high school is from grade 11 to grade 12
o Spiral progression
o Subjects are connected and integrated from Grades 7 to 10
Senior High School
o two years of specialized upper secondary education
o choice of career track will define the content of the subjects that students
will take in Grades 11 and 12
o subjects fall under either the Core Curriculum or specific Tracks

4. o 7 Learning Areas under the Core Curriculum and these are: Languages,
Mathematics, Social Sciences, Literature, Philosophy, Communication and
Natural Science
o After finishing a Technical-Vocational Livelihood track in Grade 12, a
student may obtain a National Certificate Level II (NC II): provided that
he/she passes the competency-based assessment of the Technical
Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA)
o Arts and Design Track will prepare student for the creative industries in
various creative and artistic fields
o Sports track will prepare students with sports science, sports-related,
physical education-related, health-related, and movement-related courses
o Academic Track consist of Accountancy, Business and management,
Humanities and Social Sciences, STEM, and General Academic strand
CHED is responsible in the formulation and implementation of policies, plans and
programs for the development and efficient operation of the higher education
system in the country
o Bachelor Degrees - minimum of 4 years in duration
o Master Degrees - typically span 2 years for full-time students, culminating
with minor thesis or comprehensive examination
o PhD Degrees - Doctor of Philosophy, involve great deal of coursework, as
well as dissertation
“Higher Education Modernization Act of 1997” Republic Act (RA) No. 8292
o to establish a complete, adequate and integrated system of higher
education
o uniform the composition of the Governing Boards of chartered state
universities and colleges (SUCs) nationwide in order to:
o (a) achieve a more coordinated and integrated system of higher education;
o (b) render them more effective in the formulation and implementation of
policies on higher education;
o (c) provide for more relevant direction in their governance; and
o (d) ensure the enjoyment of academic freedom as guaranteed by the
Constitution.
TESDA aims to encourage the full participation of and mobilize the industry, labor,
local government units and technical-vocational institutions in the skills
development of the country's human resources.
o Institutions may be government operated, often by provincial government,
or private
o offer programs ranging in duration from a couple of weeks to two-year
diploma courses.
Training Provisions
o School Based Programs
o Center Based Programs
o Community Based Programs
o Enterprise Based Programs
o TESDA Language Skills Institutes
o Scholarship and Student Assistance Programs
o Career Guidance and Placement Programs

5. TIMELINE
CURRENT ISSUES AND PROBLEMS
1. Based on the 2013 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey
(FLEMMS), the country registered a 90.3% rate, which means that nine out of every
10 Filipinos aged 10-64 were functionally literate.
While the national rating showed an improvement from the 86.4% in 2008 and 84.1%
in 2003,
Contributory to low functional literacy is the high rate of school dropouts. about 4
million Filipino children and youth was out-of-school in 2013:19.2% lacked family
income to be sent to school and 19.1% lacked interest in attending schools.
2. Poor marks received by the Philippine education system on the Global
Competitiveness Index 2017-2018 recently released by the World Economic Forum.
In this index the Philippines ranked 66th out of 137 countries for primary education
quality, 74th for secondary education quality and 76th for quality of math and science
education.
REFERENCES
http://www.deped.gov.ph/
https://ched.gov.ph/
https://www.tesda.gov.ph/
https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/k-12/
https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2013/05/15/republic-act-no-10533/
https://www.slideshare.net/FrancisBarcelona/overview-philippine-educational-
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