Deputy Speaker and former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo recently filed a bill with the Philippines’ lower house of Congress seeking to replace the K to 12 basic education programme with a K+10+2.

Under her K+10+2 proposal, basic education will cover compulsory Kindergarten and 10 years of basic education with, for those seeking to proceed to professional degree studies such as accounting, engineering, law, medicine, an additional two years of post-secondary, pre-university education.

K to 12 also known as Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 or Republic Act No. 10533 was enacted a decade ago with the aim of strengthening the curriculum of and increasing the number of years for basic education. Section 4 of the said law outlined the stages of the enhanced basic education program: at least one (1) year of kindergarten education, six (6) years of elementary education, and six (6) years of secondary education, in that sequence.

The additional years that a student must spend before they can work or proceed to higher education proved to be controversial and unpopular to some sectors. A 2022 Pulse Asia survey commissioned by a Philippine senator found forty four percent of Filipinos expressing dissatisfaction with K to 12.

There have been calls for outright abolition to amendment of certain provisions of the said law. A local national daily noted that these calls have gained traction lately as evidenced by the bill filed by Deputy Speaker Arroyo.

While the proposed bill retains the current number of years that a student must take before admission into a university, any structural changes will possibly impact current comparability advice on post K-12 bachelor’s degrees from the Philippines.

This year, UK ENIC updated its advice for bachelor’s degree from the Philippines. It now considers degrees awarded from 2022 onwards comparable to a UK bachelor’s degree. In a statement, it said that this ‘reflects increased confidence in the suitability of recent and future graduates from Philippine universities for admission to postgraduate study in the UK’.

UK ENIC is the UK National Information Centre for global qualifications and skills and provides advice on comparisons (also called comparability advice) of international qualifications against UK qualifications and framework levels.

This comparability advice is largely premised on the reforms to the basic education system in the Philippines culminating in the passage of the K to 12 law. Since a major outcome of the K-12 law is harmonised basic and tertiary curricula, any possible disruptions to this harmonised pathway might affect existing and future international recognitions. Legislators anticipate that it will still be a long process before the proposal is put in legislation. In the meanwhile the Philippines continues with the K to 12 basic education rhythm.