SENATE President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada has filed a proposed measure that seeks to remove the senior high school program, saying it has not fully achieved its goal since it was implemented 12 years ago.
In filing Senate Bill No. 3001 last Monday, Estrada said RA 10533 or the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 was passed to create a functional basic educational system that will develop learners’ competencies and skills by adding two new levels in the secondary education — Grade 11 and 12, collectively known as senior high school.
“Since this reform was implemented, it has been the subject of criticism and objection from different sectors of the community. Twelve years after the enactment of the law, it still has not fully achieved its goal. In the public hearing conducted by the Committee on Basic Education in the 19th Congress on May 8, 2025, no less than the Department of Education reported that ‘the SHS program has not yet reached its vision for the K to 12 graduates,’” Estrada said in the bill’s explanatory note.
He said among the problems cited by DepEd were a congested curriculum and cognitive mismatch, an excessive number of competencies that limit instructional depth, students and teachers are overworked since instructional and homework time exceed global standards, and only around 10 percent of SHS graduates enter the workforce.
He said the SHS program also earned a 32 percent satisfaction rating in a survey conducted by Pulse Asia Research from March 23 to 29, 2025; 42 percent were dissatisfied, while 25 percent were undecided.
“We cannot allow our learners and their parents to bear the burden of the time and the cost of taking SHS. This Representation received numerous feedback from learners and parents alike that they have not experienced the promised benefits of the implementation of SHS,” he added.
Under the proposal, Estrada said the rationalized basic education will be one-year kindergarten education followed by six years of elementary education, and four years of secondary education.
“This bill is a practical step to fix our basic education system– make it more efficient, use resources better, and give students a more meaningful learning experience. We cannot keep letting students and their parents shoulder the extra time and cost of senior high school,” he said.
Once the SHS program is removed, Estrada said he is optimistic that the government, together with stakeholders in the education sector “will be able to formulate programs that are effective, efficient, responsive, and just for the benefit of the Filipino children and youth.”
