55 Western Visayas Schools to Pilot New SHS Curriculum

By Mariela Angella Oladive

Incoming Grade 11 students in 55 schools across Western Visayas will pilot the Department of Education’s (DepEd) strengthened Senior High School (SHS) curriculum in School Year 2025–2026.

According to DepEd Region 6 information officer Hernani Escullar Jr., the initiative is part of a nationwide rollout of the revised SHS program.

The pilot schools are located in Aklan (8), Antique (9), Capiz (3), Guimaras (6), Iloilo province (13), Iloilo City (1), and Roxas City (15).

One of the major changes in the updated curriculum is the consolidation of SHS tracks.

The previous four academic strands—General Academic Strand (GAS), Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS), Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM), and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)—will now be under a single Academic track.

Meanwhile, the Technical-Professional (TechPro) track will integrate the former Technical-Vocational strands.

The number of core subjects has also been streamlined.

Instead of 15 core subjects per semester, Grade 11 students will now take five core subjects over the entire academic year:

• Effective Communication (Mabisang Komunikasyon)
• Life Skills
• General Mathematics
• General Science
• Pag-aaral ng Kasaysayan at Lipunang Pilipino

Electives will replace the previously designated “applied” and “specialized” subjects.

Students under the Academic track will take seven electives and complete a capstone project.

Those in the TechPro track will take three electives along with work immersion.

Escullar said the changes aim to help students focus on their intended career or academic paths—whether for higher education, employment, entrepreneurship, or technical skills training.

“This is only applicable to Grade 11 for now since it’s a pilot implementation,” he said.

He added that the number of participating students per school will depend on actual enrollment.

The enhanced SHS curriculum is part of the broader K to 12 Basic Education Program under Republic Act 10533.

Meanwhile, the second phase of the revised K–10 curriculum continues this school year for Grades 2, 5, and 8.

School Year 2025–2026 will begin on June 16 and end on March 31, 2026.