Expect leaner pandemic curriculum compared to previous years: DepEd

The academic curriculum for school year 2020-2021 will be leaner compared to previous years, the Department of Education said Friday, as the educational system adjusts to the coronavirus pandemic.

This curriculum will only have 5,000 competencies or 40 percent of about 14,000 competencies in the curriculum in previous years, which was “crowded” and “congested,” said DepEd Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instructions Diosdado San Antonio.

“We have streamlined the curriculum, we have reduced it. We only are paying attention to the most essential, foundational, most consequential competencies,” he told ANC.

“We are still retaining the standards. What we have done is to really make sure that the most important skills and competencies are fully developed,” he added.

Classes are set to open on Aug. 24, with the DepEd offering several options for distance learning, including the use of printed and digital modules, online classes, television, and radio.

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The first week of the school year will be spent for orientation to address various issues, including parents who may not be “confident and competent to provide academic guidance to their children,” said San Antonio.

“We are encouraging learning support aides, volunteers who may be able to extend the assistance that would be required so that the child, especially [for] the early grade learners and the struggling learners in the higher grades,” he said.

ANC, Aug. 14, 2020