University of Makati all set for DepEd's K+12 program

MANILA, Philippines - The University of Makati (UMak) is all set to blaze the trail for the Department of Education’s K (Kindergarten)-12 basic education curriculum (BEC) reform program, particularly its feature adding two years of senior high school in offering a “mandatory” Grade 11 to all supposedly college-bound freshmen students of the school this June, ahead of the program’s nationwide implementation in 2016.

UMak president Tomas Lopez Jr. said the faculty had already formulated the curriculum of Grade 11 that will be adopted in academic year 2012-2013 starting in June.

“We’re all set. We’re ready to go with this by school opening this June,” Lopez said.

It was learned that UMak will not open enrollment for a first year college level to all graduates of Makati City schools, or Makati City residents wanting to start college education in the university, offering instead Grade 11.

Lopez said the initiative was started after he took up an invitation of Education Secretary Armin Luistro as one of a small number of schools to pilot-test the K-11, or Grade 11, of the K-12 BEC reform program of DepEd.

Makati City Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr. has approved the decision of UMak to forge ahead with the pilot testing of the senior high school program of K-12.

“The Mayor has approved the decision. So, in effect, if you’re a resident of Makati City and you who want to go to UMak, sorry, you can enter, but you have to enter Grade 11, not as freshmen. We won’t have freshmen,” Lopez said.

Lopez shared that 85 percent of UMak’s first year college enrollment comes from Makati City public high schools.

“Students here pay only P1,000 per semester as long as you’re a Makati City resident. And we don’t turn anybody away though there are entrance exams,” he said.

“The entrance exams are not the hurdles for entry. They only serve to give us an idea of what courses should be taken up by the student. We don’t turn anybody away,” Lopez explained.

While they recognize the enormous challenge of being the first to implement Grade 11, Lopez said they were also excited to pioneer the program and show the effectiveness of the curriculum they have formulated to produce employable graduates after Grades 11 and 12.

He shared the Grade 11 curriculum they formulated features technical-vocational education, and humanities education, aside from Math, English, Filipino, Social Sciences, and Physical Education.

“There will be a smorgasbord of electives where the student can get a taste of technical-vocational tracks,” Lopez said.

“We know that we’re taking on a huge challenge. But we’re also excited,” he said.

He admitted the initial challenge was in getting students to enroll and turn up in June to start their studies as Grade 11 students.

Lopez shared that he has a running bet with Mayor Binay on the number of students they will get for the Grade 11.

He said he was projecting an enrollment of about 2,000 to 2,500. Their average freshman enrollment was about 3,000 a year.

“Mayor said we might only get 1,000 students,” Lopez remarked.

To ensure they get as many students as possible, Lopez said they would sell the idea to the students and their parents this graduation season.

“We’ll embark on a massive ‘marketing’ program this graduation season in Makati City public high schools to encourage graduates to enroll for Grade 11,” he said.

It was fortunate that the city government has vowed full financial and logistical support to UMak as they pilot test Grade 11, he said.

“There will be free school supplies, shoes. The mayor is even studying a proposal that we give free tablets (tablet computers) to students and teachers,” Lopez said.