55 schools in CV to roll out revised senior high curriculum

Local

MORE than 55 schools in Central Visayas are also preparing to roll out a drastically revised senior high school (SHS) curriculum under the Department of Education’s (DepEd) pilot program.

The DepEd-Central Visayas confirmed that the new SHS curriculum will be implemented in selected schools across the region starting School Year 2025–2026.

The pilot run will span from June 16, 2025, to March 31, 2026. The full rollout nationwide is expected in the following school year.

Out of approximately 125 schools in the region that expressed interest, only those that met the early compliance deadline were included in the pilot program.

Others were excluded due to late submission of requirements.

The revised curriculum cuts core subjects from 15 to just five. These include effective communication, life skills, general mathematics, general science, and the study of history and Filipino society.

The rest will now be electives, allowing students to tailor their learning to their interests or career tracks.

Work immersion, once limited to 80 to 120 hours, will be expanded up to 320 or even 600 hours, in response to industry feedback that SHS graduates were inadequately prepared for employment.

Under the new structure, SHS students in academic tracks can also opt to take technical-vocational-livelihood (Tech-Voc) electives.

These may lead to national certifications from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda), which will offer free assessment through a DepEd partnership.

“This would not be enough for our learners to land a job,” said DepEd 7 Director Salustiano Jimenez, referring to the previous immersion setup.

Alongside the curriculum overhaul, DepEd 7 is working to address a persistent issue, which is the stark divide between basic and functional literacy.

The Philippine Statistics Authority Central Visayas (PSA 7) reported a basic literacy rate of 95.7 percent but a significantly lower functional literacy rate of 67.6 percent, a gap of 28.1 percentage points.

DepEd 7’s Project Development Officer Adolf Aguilar said the regional office is ramping up reading and comprehension programs and encouraging school-based literacy initiatives.

The department also pointed to existing senior high school subjects in English and Filipino that integrate media and information literacy, designed to enhance critical thinking.

The issue of functional literacy took center stage at the Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey (Flemms) Regional Forum held on May 29 in Cebu City.(MyTVCebu)