The Department of Education (DepEd) has released the guidelines in forging partnerships for the implementation of the Senior High School program under the K-to-12 scheme next year.
In a statement posted on the DepEd website, Education Secretary Br. Armin A. Luistro, FSC said they hope to partner with local government units, national government agencies, private companies and non-government organizations.
The guidelines provide the procedure for building these partnerships, he said.
“Our partnership-building activities shall include research and needs analysis, identification of potential partners, meeting with potential partners, designing and finalizing formal agreements—either through Memorandum of Agreement or Memorandum of Understanding—and managing, monitoring and evaluating the partnerships,” Luistro added.
WORK IMMERSION
The linkages are important in providing work immersion opportunities that will expose Senior High School students to actual workplace setting and enrich their competencies.
Other areas of partnership include the use of company facilities and equipment, additional training opportunities for teachers, and additional resources in the form of donations.
Donations may be in the form of parcel of land, infrastructure such as building, classroom, machinery, tools, equipment, training, consultancy, logistics and other technology support.
Among the national government agencies that DepEd hopes to partner with are the Departments of Labor, Trade and Industry, and Public Works as well as the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority (Tesda).
SCHOOLS
A total of 5,813 public schools nationwide will begin offering Grade 11 in 2016 and Grade 12 in 2017. A list of public senior high schools and another on non-DepEd senior high schools are available at the DepEd website, www.deped.gov.ph.
The Senior High School program offers subjects under four tracks or specializations: academic, technical-vocational-livelihood, sports, and arts and design.
These are on top of the core curriculum that consists of eight learning areas: Language, Science, Mathematics, Communication, Philosophy, Humanities, Social Science, and P.E. & Health.
STRANDS
Senior High School students may choose the track that they will undertake aside from their core subjects.
Under the academic track are strands on: Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM); Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS); Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM): and General Academic Strand (GAS).
The technical-vocational-livelihood track, meanwhile, includes the Agri-Fishery, Home Economics, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and Industrial Arts strands.
The K-to-12 program adds two years to high school to bring to 13 the total number of basic education years.
The program is divided into stages: Kindergarten to Grade 3; Grades 4 to 5; Grades 7 to 10 or Junior High School; and Grades 11 and 12 (Senior High School).