barbara's blog

As we all know that science is all around us.  Being a STEM student is fun and amazing.  The truth tells us that STEM encompasses the most-engaging and hands-on subjects in our school. Strong STEM skills lead to more beautiful art, more engrossing performances, and more polished productions.

STEM classes develop those soft skills that so many careers need, and so many students lack – skills like communication, problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, and data analysis.

In a technology-based society, technology is forever changing. It’s also used in almost every aspect of our lives. As work places change with updated software, and office equipment and machinery become more advanced, STEM knowledge is vital. Keeping up with technology, is incredibly important.

The good thing is SHS graduates will be equipped with skills (through electives) that will make them good at certain field(s). Skill competency in the global job market – K-12 system aims to improve Filipino students’ mathematical, scientific, and linguistic competence.Graduating from SHS may lead to Employment, Entrepreneurship, Higher Education, and Middle-Level Skills Development.

Senior high school (SHS) students take a core curriculum plus applied track and specialized subjects based on the track or discipline of their choice: academic, technical-vocational-livelihood (TVL), sports, and arts and design.

Among the tracks, only academic and TVL have strands or subcategories. The academic strands are accountancy, business and management (ABM); humanities and social sciences (HUMSS); science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); prebaccalaureate maritime; and general academic.

The TVL strands are agrifishery, home economics, information and communications technology, industrial arts and TVL maritime. But the Senior High School Department of this institution doesnt offer agrifishery and TVL maritime.

There are at least 15 core curriculum or general subjects, which aim to advance learning in English, Filipino, humanities, mathematics, science, mass media and well-being.

Applied track subjects, which are adapted to a particular track and strand, include English for academic and professional purposes; practical research (qualitative and quantitative); Filipino; empowerment technologies; entrepreneurship; and inquiries, investigations and immersion.

A senior high student will take at least 33 subjects, each totaling 80 hours, divided into four semesters in two years.

The disadvantages of the K-12 program are the lack of classrooms and the bloating of the curriculum – you simply stretched the 10 years of the current curriculum to 12 years of curriculum – there is no improvement in content – and lack of teachers.

There are no advantages. An extra 2 years deprives a family of income in a society where the issue of poverty has not been addressed.

If I may add, there is no disadvantage today. Most of those who finish college will find that they need massive corporate training to keep up with the demands of professional life. In technical fields, you might be slow but you will learn as you go along. One cannot be thoroughly prepared in 10 or 12 years of education. 

The goal of education in the Philippines must be defined. Does the Philippines want to become like the United States as a technology center? Unless there is something compelling it may take another generation to surpass the United States. Learning in the United States has one simple principle: access to many fields of interests through a multitude of media, and experts available to help kids in high school. These are the better issues to address now. Without a significant transformation of the support needed for kids to attain excellence, K-12 is just a a waste of time. 

We do realize that there are many college graduates who are launched quite early in the employment game and they are often without jobs. But this all the more argues for the strategy that the employment problem must be resolved. K-12 graduates will only face the same problem.

It is an educational program that is under the K-12 that is launched by DepEd. STEM strand is under the academic track. It aims to fostering inquiring minds, logical reasoning and collaborating skills focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. STEM is an intertwining discipline when it is applied on the real world. STEM students are diverse, challenged, and can have a various opportunity awaits in the future.
In STEM strand it will allows you have a wide variety of future opportunities after graduation. For example, pursuing an engineering major opens many doors; a graduate can seek a career in such diverse fields as chemical engineering, computer science, or environmental science. The flexibility in many different areas of this specialization and the experiences that students may have in this strand will not only prepare them in current workforce but also give them tools ans skills necessary to help evolve their field of study far into the future. Also, in the STEM strand the societal impact of our everyday lives is affected by this strand because based on my observation everything that moves is connected by the STEM strand.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton