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How did this affect the Filipinos, especially the students?
A child may first take optional preparatory classes for 1 year, then kindergarten for another year. After graduating from kindergarten, the student will study in elementary school from Grade 1 to Grade 6. After graduation from elementary, the student will be in high school, studying from 1st year to 4th year. After graduating from high school, the student may take college courses one at a time. Notice that the "middle school", as with other countries including the United States, is not included in the curriculum for these young students.
After K-to-12 program implementation
After K-to-12 program implementation
High school students belonging to the 1st and 2nd year levels were then addressed as Grade 7 and 8 students, respectively, as "junior" high school students. Those who were already in 3rd or 4th year high school were unaffected by the time of the K-to-12 implementation, and were eligible for college after graduation from high school. Those who were included for the junior high school will be required to study in Grades 11 and 12, which is senior high school, before they become eligible for college.
In Grades 11 and 12, whose former is expected next school year (S.Y. 2016-2017), students may take subjects that they want, similar to college. After graduating from senior high school at Grade 12, the students may already apply for jobs garnered for them by the government as soon as they reach 18 years old, or study in college.
Graduates of senior high school are to be considered as "skilled workers", whereas graduated of college are "young professionals". While professionals gradually become promoted to higher positions by taking specializations, skilled workers will unlikely be promoted and therefore remain at the worker level, so studying in college remains very important even after the "improvement" of the curriculum.
Please take note that this article is a general description of the K-to-12 program and does not necessarily elaborate its advantages and disadvantages and also does not explain if it really needed to be implemented, because there are simply so many factors to consider.