No recent overhaul in Philippine education system
- Published on May 18, 2025 at 04:57
- 3 min read
- By Ara Eugenio, AFP Philippines
Copyright © AFP 2017-2025. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
"Starting June 2025 DEPED stop (sic) accepting K-12," says a May 11, 2025 Facebook graphic that bears the logos of several Philippine government agencies including the Department of Education (DepEd).
"All 5 years old can accept in (sic) Grade 1 (even without going through Kindergarten)," it further says in a mix of English and Tagalog. "Grade 10 graduates can go straight to college."
The image has been shared over 5,300 times after being posted on a page called "Dole Phil", the acronym for the nation's labour and employment ministry.
"K-12" is shorthand for the Philippine national education programme, established through a 2013 law that added universal kindergarten coverage and two years of senior high school.
The legislation replaced an earlier 10-year basic education cycle with the intent of aligning the country's education system with the rest of the world.
The K-12 system has become a frequent target of misinformation, as critics questioned its implementation and long-term viability.
Similar posts spread across social media, drawing comments from users who believed it showed a legitimate policy announcement.
"My gosh, it seems so difficult -- a 5-year-old going straight to Grade 1!" one user said. Another commented: "Thank God. Senior high is too expensive."
President Ferdinand Marcos had said he was looking at making some changes to improve the K-12 programme but no recent overhaul has yet been implemented (archived link).
"The circulating post on social media about the removal of the K to 12 program in the upcoming SY 2025-2026 is fake news," DepEd said in a May 14 post, urging the public "to stay vigilant and discerning against misinformation" (archived link).
A review of the websites of the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives found no new legislation has been passed as of May 18 scrapping the K-12 programme (archived link).
A June 30, 2022 resolution urging Congress to review the programme remains "pending with the Committee on Basic Education and Culture since 2022-08-24" (archived link).
Meanwhile, a proposed "Education Pathways Act" for junior high school finishers passed in the House but is waiting for a counterpart measure in the Senate (archived here and here).
The false announcement was shared by a Facebook page with just over 1,000 followers impersonating the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) -- a government agency that has no mandate over education policy.
DOLE's official page has a verified badge confirming its authenticity and has over 1.4 million followers.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
