Last July 22, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) officially launched its senior high school (SHS) support program in a turnover ceremony, Teach Together: Launch of SHS Projects by CHED.
Commissioner Minella Alarcon and Chairperson Patricia B. Licuanan present certificates to Dr. Carmela Oracion and Fr. Bienvenido Nebres for the invaluable help through consultation to the SHS Support Program.
The ceremony formally announced the availability of the SHS teaching guides developed by CHED in partnership with the Philippine Normal University (PNU) in print and online versions. This increased accessibility aims to ensure that SHS teachers from all over the country, especially higher education institutions now offering SHS, have instructional materials on hand as SHS is implemented this SY 201617.
57,000 printed copies will be delivered in the coming weeks to State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs), as well as private institutions offering SHS, while digital versions of the guides shall be publicly accessible to SHS teachers through teachtogether.chedk12.com. These materials have also been donated to the Department of Education (DepEd) for the use of public SHS teachers.
SHS Support team lead Gerson Abesamis gives a firsthand walk-through of the Teach Together website, which will be used by SHS teachers nationwide
Guided by the thrust “Teach Together”, the initiative recognizes that teaching SHS varies across the country in terms of context, location, and experience. With this, besides containing digital copies of the teaching guides, the Teach Together website strives to create a community of teachers. Through forums, teachers can share best practices and join discussions on teaching strategies, tools, and resources.
Celebrating combined efforts of the education sector
The ceremony celebrated the efforts of a broad coalition of higher education institutions and organizations in the development of these materials since 2014.
CHED worked closely with PNU, the Department of Education (DepEd), the Private Education Assistance Committee (PEAC), Ateneo de Manila University, University of the Philippines, and various Centers of Excellence and Centers of Development in Teacher Education for the comprehensive development and implementation of the program.
Chairperson Patricia B. Licuanan and Commissioner Cynthia B. Bautista present the teaching guide spines to SHS Support partners from the Department of Education, Philippine Normal University, the British Council, and the Private Education Assistance Committee for their guidance in the development of the teaching guides
To ensure the quality and relevance of the materials, 395 Math and 294 Science teachers across 11 regions were engaged through nationwide series of consultations and focus group discussions. The British Council, the UK government’s international arm for cultural relations, brought in consultants from Sheffield Hallam University to aid in revising and ensuring the efficacy of the materials under the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math strands. Education and pedagogy experts also participated in enhancing the Teaching Guides with appropriate methodologies and strategies.
Framework for college readiness
As a realization of the comprehensive review of the Teaching Guides, a framework has been incorporated in every lesson that guides SHS teachers. The SHS for SHS Framework,which stands for “Saysay-Husay-Sarili for Senior High School” assists our teachers in creating lessons and assessment tools, supports them in facilitating activities and questions, and guides them towards deeper content areas and competencies.
Given this learning framework, CHED hopes that SHS graduates be more equipped for higher education. These efforts are also in preparation for the Revised General Education Curriculum (CHED Memorandum Order No. 20, Series of 2013), which will be implemented on June 2018, when the first batch of SHS graduates proceed to college.
Commitment to K to 12
Since 2013, CHED has been working with DepEd for the development of the SHS curriculum, and in 2014, in the development of SHS teaching guides. In line with this commitment, CHED, in partnership with PNU developed the teaching materials for 19 Core Courses and Academic Track subjects.
Through the SHS Support Program, CHED fulfills its responsibility to Republic Act 10533, in working with DepEd for the crafting of a harmonized basic and tertiary curricula (Section 5) and the development and conduct of teacher education and training programs (Section 7), among others, to ensure a “smooth and successful transition to K to 12” (Section 12).
This initiative has since expanded to become the K to 12 Transition Program: a 5-year effort of the Commission to help mitigate the impact of the full implementation of SHS on higher education institutions, while leveraging period to invest in an unprecedented scale, towards the building of the capacity of the education sector. As of June 2016, 4,085 successful faculty and staff scholars have been awarded and will commence their graduate studies beginning this June 2016.
CHED K to 12 Transition Program 