(Eagle News) — Senator Koko Pimentel has filed a bill seeking to integrate the subject of computer science in the curriculum of the K to 12 program.
In filing Senate Bill No. 2143, which seeks to include the subject in as early as the kindergarten level, Pimentel noted what he said was the inadequacy of the current enhanced basic education program to meet the needs of the times.
“Our ranking in the 2017-2018 Global Competitiveness Index where our overall ranking is 56 out of 137 countries and only 61 in the ‘innovation and sophistication factors’ subindex, reflects this reality,” he said.
Under the bill, basic subjects such as computer literacy and information and communication technology will be offered to students at all levels beginning kindergarten.
The senator said the K-12 program could be revised to include a computer science and ICT strand under the academic track, and not under the Technology and Livelihood Education and Technical-Vocational-Livelihood tracks as in the present setup, to be offered to senior high school students.
Apart from the academic and TVL tracks, there is a sports and arts track students in senior high school can choose from under the existing K-12 program.
“This would ensure that foundational computer programming skills needed for higher level education are developed in children as soon as practicable,” Pimentel said.
The bill also proposes for the Department of Education and the Department of Information and Communications Technology to “work together in ensuring the computerization of all government-run schools offering the K-12 program, provide necessary training for teachers, formulate the design and details of the computer science subjects and ensure the incorporation in the instruction of all subjects at all levels the needed computer and modern technology skills.”
Under the bill, there will be an allocation of funds for the implementation of this, including the provision of the necessary computer hardware and software to schools nationwide by the DICT, in the annual General Appropriations Act.
