Manila: Education Secretary Sonny Angara emphasized on Tuesday the necessity of increasing work immersion opportunities for Senior High School (SHS) graduates to enhance their employability. This initiative aligns with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to tackle the skills and job mismatches experienced by SHS graduates in relation to industry demands.

According to Philippines News Agency, Angara highlighted the industry’s call for SHS graduates to gain more work experience and acquire relevant industry knowledge. He noted that the current SHS curriculum burdens students with an excessive number of subjects, which could be streamlined to focus on five or six core areas. This observation echoes concerns raised by Asian Development Bank (ADB) experts regarding the ‘overcrowded curriculum’ in places like England and Australia.

Angara pointed out that students currently undertake around 30 subjects, leading to concerns from both colleges and employers about the lack of mastery among graduates. To ad
dress this, Angara proposed reducing the number of subjects and offering students the flexibility to choose subjects aligning with their interests, similar to educational systems in other countries.

The Department of Education (DepEd) indicated that the curriculum review process is still underway and will incorporate teacher training before finalization. Angara aims to implement the revised SHS curriculum by the School Year 2025-2026.