Transformational journey of learners through MATATAG curriculum
Vice President of the Philippines and
Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd) Sarah Duterte launched the
MATATAG curriculum on August 10, 2023 in Pasay City, as a revised curriculum
for Kindergarten to Grade 10 in the Philippines to take effect on school year
2024 to 2025, and primarily designed to address the challenges of the
current K to 12 curriculum, such as the congested content, misplaced
prerequisite learning competencies, and cognitive demand imbalance.
MATATAG stood for, “Make the curriculum
relevant to produce job-ready, Active and responsible citizens; TAke steps to
accelerate the delivery of basic education services and provision facilities;
TAke good care of learners by promoting learner well-being, inclusiveness
learning, and positive learning environment; and, Give support for teachers to
teach better.”
On the other hand, Republic Act No.
10533 or the Enhanced Basic Education Act is the current educational curriculum
of the country, which increased the number of years of basic education,
resulting in the creation of senior high school or grades 11 to 12, which kick
started in 2012 to 2013.
For learners who needed to stay flexible
with this change pondered on the rightness and justice of this revision, on the
ground that K12 is aligned to international standards with other countries in
the world that observed 12-year basic education cycle, and the Philippines
prior to its effectivity was among the remaining three nations, with Djibouti
and Angola, and the last in Asia that was not observant of K12.
After a thorough empirical search and
research for a better truth, an evidenced-based presentation was made by the
Department of Education (DepEd) Caraga during the recent Caraga Regional
Development Council (RDC) full council meeting in Surigao City stating that the
Filipino learners displayed poor performance in national and international
assessments in the past years. A World Bank study in 2021 reported that more
than 90% of Filipino learners aged 10 years old struggle to comprehend
age-appropriate text. Meanwhile in Caraga, the results of the 2018 National
Achievement Test (NAT) revealed that only 36.9 percent and 43.61 percent of
elementary and secondary learners achieved a Mean Percentage Score (MPS) of at
least 66-85 percent, or at least moving towards mastery. The agency further
identified the overload of subjects and lessons under the previous Kindergarten
to Grade 10 curriculum as among the issues which contributed to the said
results, hence prompting DepEd to revise the curriculum.
Moreover, the decision to revise the
curriculum was a sturdy recommendation of 1,168 collaborators and
contributors, comprising of 117 DepEd specialists; DepEd teachers, school heads
and supervisors; 126 consultants and higher education institutions; 205
external parties including civil society organizations and industry and
government stakeholders; 180 individuals from private schools and
organizations; and lastly seven international experts.
Therefore, the endorsement and approval
to consider the MATATAG curriculum was tediously reviewed by experts and
frontline in education and in the community, not just for any political reason
and propaganda, with a goal to have a streamlined process for implementation
and ensuring that learners will have flexibility and adaptability to this
transformation journey.
For a smooth buy-in and acceptance of
the general public, the MATATAG curriculum took note of pilot implementation to
some primary and secondary schools in Caraga Region particularly in identified
schools in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte and in Siargao Island, Surigao del
Norte, including capacity building, learning resources, senior high school
(SHS) curriculum revision and stakeholders’ support. (RLE/PIA-Caraga)
