Watch more News on iWantTFC

President-elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. wants a review of the implementation of the K to 12 program, according to Vice President-elect and incoming Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Monday.

"That is something na kailangan pag-usapan. It cannot be decided overnight. But initially, it is something na napag-usapan din namin ni President Marcos. And he already gave instructions with regard to the review of implementation of the K to 12 program of the Department of Education," Duterte told reporters in Davao City.

(That is something that needs to be discussed... Initially, it is something that President Marcos and I talked about.)

The K to 12 curriculum, which was implemented during the administration of the late President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, has been under review for the past two years. It was first introduced in 2011.

• Duterte OKs review of K to 12 program

Aimed at strengthening the basic education curriculum, the K to 12 program scrapped the country’s previous 10-year basic education system (six years in grade school and four years in high school) after Kindergarten, as it mandates Filipinos to complete six years in grade school, four years in junior high school, and two years in senior high school.

According to the Aquino administration, the Philippines was the last country in Asia that practiced a 10-year pre-university cycle.

In a separate press conference Monday afternoon in Manila, Marcos said his discussion with Duterte about the K to 12 program included its necessity and "the question of when we start to teach in English, when we move from the lingua franca to English."

Ensuring the welfare and competency of teachers is also among his reminders to Duterte when she takes the helm of the Department of Education, he said.

"We have to do a lot to recover our very good grading before. Pagka-tayo tinitingnan ng Asia, yung literacy rate, yung pagsalita ng Ingles, pati sa Science, sa Math, mataas tayo noon eh. Kailangan natin balikan 'yan," Marcos said.

(When Asia would be assessed in terms of literacy rate, fluency in the English language, in Science and in Math, we ranked high before. We need to regain that status.)

"Mahirap mag-compete kung hindi natin ayusin yung training ng mga kabataan natin," he added.

(It's hard to compete if we don't fix the training of our youth.)

Sen. Sonny Angara agreed with the need to review the K to 12 program, not with the objective of abandoning it, but only because, for him, it is not being implemented properly.

"Yung pangako na may maayos na Science track or Arts and Sports track for Grades 11-12, 'di nakikita yan sa lahat ng parte ng bansa. Isa lang 'yan sa maraming pag-uusapan dapat sa implementasyon ng K-12," he said in a statement.

(The promise of a good Science track, or Arts and Sports track for Grades 11-12 is not achieved in all parts of the country. This is only one of the many issues that must be discussed regarding the implementation of the K to 12 program.)

"Funding is one of the issues that needs addressing," he added.

Duterte said she has corresponded with outgoing DepEd Sec. Leonor Briones several times, and a physical meeting between them is set on June 25 for the agency's transition.

- with reports from Katrina Domingo and Sherrie Ann Torres, ABS-CBN News