*Dr. Rodolfo John Ortiz Teope, PhD, EdD, DM
Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Those words burn in my heart every time I face a classroom. For us educators, education is not just a profession—it is our life’s calling, our offering to the next generation. And yet, with the K-12 curriculum, I feel that our weapon has been blunted, our promise betrayed.
I speak not as a distant observer but as someone who has seen the pain up close: the tears of students, the sacrifices of parents, the disillusionment of teachers. K-12 was meant to make Filipino students globally competitive. It was meant to empower them to find jobs after Grade 12 or to be better prepared for college. But after all these years, I ask: has it really delivered? The honest answer is no.
I cannot count the number of times I’ve seen parents in despair, their shoulders bent by the weight of two additional years of schooling. Imagine a vendor in the palengke or a tricycle driver struggling just to keep their child enrolled. Those extra years are not just about books and uniforms; they are about lost meals, unpaid debts, and broken dreams. Even President Marcos admitted in 2024 that K-12 “has not effectively improved the employability of Filipino students,” leaving poor families with more cost but little return (Philippine News Agency, 2024).
Then I look at the students. Do they come out of Grade 12 more prepared? The results say otherwise. The 2024 National Achievement Test revealed that Grade 12 students remain at Low Proficiency levels in every track and region (Explained.ph, 2024). Ten years of investment, yet our young people still struggle with basics. Their faces tell the story better than statistics—the blank stares during exams, the shaky confidence, the hopeless whispers of “Kaya ko ba talaga?”
K-12 promised that our graduates would be “job-ready.” But when I sit down with my former students, many confess that they feel unprepared, even ashamed, to apply for jobs. Yes, the 2024 PBEd Jobs Outlook reported that 87% of employers are now open to hiring SHS graduates (Makati Business Club, 2024). Yet the reality is more brutal: without confidence, without real-world skills, many end up neither in college nor in stable employment. They are caught in what I call “the gap of false hope.”
Here’s the cruel irony: many of the subjects in Grades 11 and 12 are repeated once students enter college. I’ve seen syllabi; I’ve compared lessons. What we force them to endure in Senior High is simply recycled as General Education subjects in the university. Even students themselves complain—it’s like watching the same movie twice, only this time, they pay even more for the ticket (Inquirer.net, 2024).
Is it any wonder that in 2025, more than half of UP Diliman’s graduating class received Latin honors? The university itself revealed that 61% of its graduates were Latin honor awardees—a number so high it forced a review of their grading system (Filipino Times, 2025). When content is duplicated and mastery is inflated, honors lose their meaning.
And now, with Artificial Intelligence shaping the world, how can we justify this kind of rote education? A lesson that can be generated in seconds by AI is not a lesson that prepares a child for life. What we need are thinkers, creators, and patriots—students who can build, question, solve, and serve. With AI around us, repeating the same theories in Grades 11 and 12 is like teaching children to use a typewriter in the age of quantum computers.
If we abolish K-12 in its current form, it is not regression. It is courage. We must focus instead on hands-on application, skill development, and Filipino patriotism. Students should be out in communities, solving real problems, building real projects. Whether through TESDA certifications, local industries, or entrepreneurship programs, our students must learn to do, not just to memorize. Most of all, our youth must learn to love this nation—not just in song, but in service. An education that produces brilliant minds without Filipino hearts is a betrayal.
As an academician for for than three decade that consumes many chalk in hand, I know the truth: this curriculum does not honor them. It wastes their time, burdens their families, and blinds their future. The K-12 program was a noble dream, but dreams must bow to reality. Let us abolish it—not to take away, but to give back. Not to shorten learning, but to deepen it. Not to abandon our youth, but to finally equip them. If we succeed, then education will once more become what it was always meant to be: the weapon to change the world.
References
Explained.ph. (2024). 2024 Grade 12 NAT results show students at low proficiency levels. https://www.explained.ph/.../nat-2024-results-show-low...
Filipino Times. (2025). 61% of UP Diliman’s 2024–2025 graduates received Latin honors.
Inquirer.net. (2024). Calls mount to review Senior High School program amid overlaps with college subjects.
Makati Business Club. (2024). Employers willing to hire SHS graduates increased significantly. https://mbc.com.ph/.../statement-of-support-for-the...
Philippine News Agency. (2024). President Marcos said K-12 has not effectively improved the employability of Filipino students. https://www.pna.gov.ph/.../905-challenges-to-improving...
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Dr. Rodolfo “John” Ortiz Teope is a distinguished Filipino academic, public intellectual, and advocate for civic education and public safety, whose work spans local academies and international security circles. With a career rooted in teaching, research, policy, and public engagement, he bridges theory and practice by making meaningful contributions to academic discourse, civic education, and public policy. Dr. Teope is widely respected for his critical scholarship in education, management, economics, doctrine development, and public safety; his grassroots involvement in government and non-government organizations; his influential media presence promoting democratic values and civic consciousness; and his ethical leadership grounded in Filipino nationalism and public service. As a true public intellectual, he exemplifies how research, advocacy, governance, and education can work together in pursuit of the nation’s moral and civic mission.
