A group of teachers and education workers have formed KILOS SHS Network in light of potential risks to job security due to the proposed Strengthened Senior High School Curriculum of the Department of Education (DepEd).

ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. Antonio Tinio, who was present during the launch of the group, said that the abrupt changes to the education system merely added burden to teachers who have built their career off of existing curriculums.

Tinio expressed that the planned measure failed to properly address issues already faced by the education sector, noting how the framework had led to basic and higher education to become diluted with students no longer studying textbooks in favor of summaries for learning.

“Hindi puwedeng bigla-bigla na lang babaguhin ang kurikulum. Parang ganun-ganun na lang pinapalitan ng DepEd ang kurikulum, tapos buhay at karera ng mga guro ang apektado,” the solon explained.

“That is what teachers face with these repeated overhauls. It is unjust, and we must oppose it,” he added.

Further expounding on the necessity of actual books in education, particularly for children, the congressman said that reading was an important activity to develop literacy.

In a survey from the Philippine Statistics Authority from April 2025, it said that nine out of ten Filipinos had basic literacy, while only seven out of ten had functional literacy.

This meant that although a majority of Filipinos have the ability to read and write simple messages, a lower percentage were able to actually comprehend the messages in a matter in which two or more pieces of information could be utilized to deduce a particular conclusion.

“The essence of what’s happening is continued dilution…for the past two decades, the trend has been to water down the content of basic education and even higher education,” said the ACT Teachers representative.

Tinio mentioned that KILOS SHS Network was formed to halt the new Senior High School curriculum from being enacted, instead having the national government focus on initiatives that boost employment stability for education workers and learning development through reforms at the congress and national levels.

Based on DepEd, the updated curriculum is set to be implemented in the upcoming school year of 2026-2027 for incoming Grade 11 students.

Aside from the measure, the education agency will also apply its three-term school calendar, with the beginning of classes to start between June 8 to June 11 while the end of the school year is scheduled from March 24 to April 8 of 2027.