ILOILO CITY — A total of 170 schools across Western Visayas and Negros Occidental will pilot the Department of Education’s (DepEd) revised Senior High School (SHS) curriculum starting this school year.
DepEd Region 6 Information Officer Hernani Escullar Jr. said 55 of the participating schools are located in Panay and Guimaras, while 115 are spread across various divisions in Negros Occidental.
Over 270 schools initially expressed interest in joining the pilot implementation. Still, only those that met specific criteria — such as adequate facilities, sufficient teaching personnel, and a diverse range of elective offerings — were selected.
The revised curriculum streamlines the previous SHS tracks into just two: Academic and Technical-Professional (Tech-Pro).
Under the new structure, the four existing academic strands — General Academic Strand (GAS), Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS), Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM), and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) — are consolidated under a single Academic track.
Meanwhile, the Tech-Pro track now encompasses the former Technical-Vocational-Livelihood (TVL), Arts and Design and Sports tracks.
According to Escullar, the curriculum is designed to narrow the focus of SHS education by reducing the number of SHS subjects from 31 to between 20 and 23. It retains five core subject areas while updating the elective offerings for each track.
Students under the Academic track will have access to seven elective subjects, including a capstone project, while those in the Tech-Pro track will take three electives, which include a work immersion component. The number and type of electives may vary depending on the specific program.
“The purpose of the curriculum is to allow learners to focus more deeply on their chosen strand or track, ideally preparing them for higher education, employment, entrepreneurship, or other productive endeavors after graduation,” Escullar said.
The pilot implementation will cover only Grade 11 students; Grade 12 students in the same schools will remain under the existing SHS curriculum.
The new school year is set to begin on 16 June.