IMPROVED CURRICULUM. Head Teacher III, Gemma Marie Baltazar-Fetizanan, discloses the newly revised curriculum under DepEd Order no. 16 s. 2026, in the BEFF Bldg. Room 202, on September 09, 2026. Zuko
by Toph Beifong
Department of Education (DepEd) revised curriculum planned to enhance student welfare and performance through Order No. 16 s. 2026 and new key changes announced in press briefing, September 5, 2026.
Gemma Marie Baltazar-Fertizanan, Head Teacher III of the English department of Urdaneta City National High School spoke on the new changes DepEd has launched since the implementation of the new curriculum across key stages 1-4 in school year 2026-2027.
According to Fertizanan, this new order was made to amend the former DepEd order no.15 s. 2015 and to bring improvement through various key changes in the system.
One of the highlights in her briefing is the ARAL Program arranged to help academically challenged students in the high school and to help them acquire skills and competencies to move to higher grade levels, like literacy and numeracy.
She reported that around 320 ARAL students are in junior high school and through introducing ARAL in senior high school, the program has gained 134 students from senior high school.
On a more specific note, under the ARAL program is the Literacy Intervention Foundational Skills and Training (LIFT) program—an intensive program that aims to put focus on students that manifest special needs traits however, is not clinically diagnosed with a particular disorder.
LIFT program is currently helping a total of 19 students across junior high school and Fertizanan reported that fortunately no senior high school students are qualified for the LIFT program.
Some key changes the curriculum has put is the grading transition and she notes that this is the particular highlight of this new DepEd policy.
Fertizanan explained how the transmutation changed from the former transmutation table from 2015, this new transmutation table will pave the way for transmutation toward a zero-based framework.
Also under the new curriculum, she explained that DepEd plans to decongest requirements to avoid burnout.
From 4 quarterly assessments and 3 summative tests, the new curriculum this year requires only 3 term assessments and 6 summative tests in total.
AI integration into education was also a topic in the briefing, as technology changes, she explains how the education system will have to evolve with the use of AI under ethical considerations.
“Ano man ang result, we are living up to the word ‘resilient’,” Fertizanan commented on these changes to the curriculum.
Shifts in the system, she believed were signs of advancement and improvement in the field of education in the Philippines and she hopes to see how focus can move to more important priorities in the following updates DepEd will apply in the future.
