THE Department of Education yesterday said schools may adopt flexible class schedules in implementing the K to 10 or Matatag curriculum based on their specific needs and capacities starting the second quarter of the year.

DepEd Order No. 12 issued by Education Secretary Sonny Angara which amended DepEd Order No. 10 issued by his predecessor, Vice President Sara Duterte, grants schools the flexibility to implement the Matatag curriculum “in consideration of their specific contexts, such as, but not limited to, typology (the type and size of the school), curricular program offerings, and the availability of teachers and schools.”

“Schools may implement their revised class programs starting the second quarter of the school year or upon approval of the school’s division offices,” the new DepEd order said.

“Schools shall ensure fair and equitable distribution of teaching loads while protecting the overall welfare of students,” it added.

The new order offers schools three options on how to adjust instruction time, especially for students in Grades 3 to 10.

The first is the allotment of 45 minutes a day each for five days in all learning areas, and the Homeroom Guidance Program for 45 minutes every week, as previously provided in Duterte’s order.

The second option allows schools to give uniform time allotments of 50, 55, or 60 minutes per learning area based on the following: Five times a week for English, Mathematics Science, Good Manners and Right Conduct and Values Education, four times a week for Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan, Technology and Livelihood Education, Music, Arts, Physical Education and Health, Araling Panlipunan and Filipino, and once a week for Homeroom Guidance Program.

The third option may be utilized in circumstances where any of the given options is not applicable.

The new order authorized schools to propose other combinations provided that the learning contact time between students and teachers is “at least five hours and 30 minutes per day.”

The third option provides no less than 225 minutes time allotment per week for English, Mathematics, Science and GMRC and or Values Education, and 200 minutes per week for Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan, Technology and Livelihood Education, Music, Arts, Physical Education and Health and Filipino and not less than 45 minutes for the Homeroom Guidance Program.

In the same order, Angara affirmed the previous decision by Duterte that the Mother Tongue would be used as the medium of teaching and learning but would no longer be offered as a subject.

Angara earlier said there would be “curriculum stability” under his watch while “dramatic actions” should be taken to address the perennial classroom shortage in the country.

The Matatag or the revised K to 10 curriculum was Duterte’s main program in her two-year stint as DepEd chief.

It targets the “decongestion” of the current curriculum to improve the quality of basic education in the country.

Among the revisions in the K to 10 program include reducing the number of competencies and greater emphasis on the development of foundational skills such as literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional skills for Kinder to Grade 3 learners.

The DepEd has yet to release the result of its review of the K12 or Senior High School curriculum.

 The San Juan government yesterday distributed P4,700 in cash incentives to 259 parents who helped facilitate the learning process by being reading instructors via the “Tara, Basa learning program.

Mayor Francis Zamora led the release of the cash incentives and also thanked the parents at City Hall. – With Christian Oineza