MATATAG Curriculum and Strengthened SHS in SY 2026-2027

In School Year (SY) 2026-2027, Department of Education (DepEd) schools teach two curricula. Kindergarten to Grade 10 follow the MATATAG Curriculum of DepEd Order No. 010, s. 2024, as amended by DepEd Order No. 012, s. 2024. Later orders also call it the Revised K to 10 Curriculum. This is the first school year in which every grade from Kindergarten to Grade 10 uses it. Grade 11 in every school follows the Strengthened Senior High School (SSHS) Curriculum of DepEd Order No. 017, s. 2026. Grade 12 follows it only in the pilot schools; everywhere else, Grade 12 finishes the 2016 K to 12 senior high school curriculum.

From SY 2027-2028, both grades of senior high school use the SSHS. The sections below set out what each curriculum contains, how far each has rolled out, and what a school head manages: the class program, intervention time, the language of instruction, elective offerings, teacher assignment, career guidance and monitoring.

Key findings

• All of Kindergarten to Grade 10 is on MATATAG in SY 2026-2027. It began with Kindergarten and Grades 1, 4 and 7 in SY 2024-2025, added Grades 2, 3, 5 and 8 in SY 2025-2026, and adds Grades 6, 9 and 10 in SY 2026-2027 (DO 010, s. 2024, item 8).
• Schools may vary the class program within limits. For Grades 3 to 10, DO 012, s. 2024 allows 45-minute daily periods or uniform 50- to 60-minute periods. Any other combination needs the Schools Division Superintendent’s approval and must give at least five hours and 30 minutes of contact time a day (item 2).
• Catch-up Fridays are gone. DepEd Order No. 018, s. 2025 repealed them and replaced the reading and mathematics recovery programs with the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program. Under the three-term calendar, ARAL sessions run after classes “for a duration of 30-60 minutes on designated days, two (2) to four (4) times per week” (DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2026, item 13). ARAL-Reading and ARAL-Mathematics may also pull learners out of regular classes during class hours (DM 064, s. 2025; DM 060, s. 2026).
• The SSHS has two tracks and five core subjects. The Academic and Technical-Professional (Tech-Pro) tracks replace the old tracks and strands. The five core subjects are taken only in Grade 11, 160 hours each. Electives are chosen from five Academic and ten Tech-Pro clusters (DO 017, s. 2026, Encl. items 12 to 14).
• Tech-Pro electives run 320 hours and follow TESDA training regulations. Teachers of those electives must hold a valid National Certificate (NC) for the qualification. Work Immersion runs 320 to 640 hours and is required for the Tech-Pro Track only (DO 017, s. 2026, Encl. items 14 and 16).
• The pilot opened in 891 schools before going national. Grade 11 piloted the SSHS from June 16, 2025, in 891 schools (DepEd Memorandum No. 012, s. 2026, item 3), and 887 continue it in Grade 12 (DepEd Memorandum No. 036, s. 2026, Encl. item 4 and Annex D). DM 012 extended the SSHS to every incoming Grade 11 from SY 2026-2027.
• The new grading order covers both curricula. DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026 repealed DO 8, s. 2015 and applies from SY 2026-2027 to the Revised K to 10 Curriculum and the SSHS (Encl. item 5).

What the MATATAG Curriculum is

DO 010, s. 2024 states the problem it answers: “A comprehensive review of the K to 12 Basic Education Program has revealed several issues, such as overcrowded curriculum, misaligned learning competencies, and imbalanced cognitive demands” (Sec. I, item 2). Its answer, in the order’s words, is a curriculum that “streamlines competencies to ensure logical progression, prioritize 21st century skills, improve foundational literacy and numeracy skills, and cultivate future-ready skills needed in the job market” (item 2).

The name comes from DepEd’s MATATAG agenda. Its first component was to “MAke the curriculum relevant to produce competent and job-ready, active, and responsible citizens” (DepEd Order No. 013, s. 2023, item 6). The pilot memorandum, DepEd Memorandum No. 054, s. 2023, lists seven features:

• “decongested curriculum”;
• “focus on foundational skills”;
• “balanced cognitive demands”;
• “clearer articulation of 21st-century skills”;
• “reduced learning areas”;
• “intensified Values Education and Peace Education”;
• “on a par with international standards” (item 3).

The curriculum applies “as prescribed minimum standards to all public and private schools, state universities and colleges (SUCs), local universities and colleges (LUCs), and Philippine Schools Overseas (PSOs) offering basic education” (DO 010, s. 2024, item 2). It is built on four key stages: Kindergarten to Grade 3, Grades 4 to 6, Grades 7 to 10, and Grades 11 and 12 (item 9.i).

Learning areas by key stage

Source: DO 010, s. 2024, Annex 1, Sec. I.1 and Annex 2, Sec. I.1.

Mother Tongue is no longer a subject: “it shall no longer be offered as a subject” (DO 012, s. 2024, item 8). How classes are staffed also changes by grade. “In Kindergarten, Grades 1, and 2, each class shall be self-contained,” with one teacher for all learning areas. “For Grades 3 to 6, classes shall be departmentalized, taking into account the teachers’ area of specialization” (DO 010, s. 2024, Annex 1, item 5).

The curriculum also names teaching approaches. Learning areas “may utilize differentiated instruction, explicit teaching (direct instruction), experiential learning, culture-based instruction, and technology-enhanced instruction” (DO 010, s. 2024, item 22). The lesson planning principles of DepEd Order No. 016, s. 2026 are aligned with its Instructional Design Framework (item 17). The guide to contextualization, localization and indigenization explains how schools adapt the curriculum to their learners.

Which grades use MATATAG, school year by school year

Source: DO 010, s. 2024, item 8 and Table 1.

Before that, the curriculum was piloted in SY 2023-2024 in selected schools in Regions I, II, VII, XII, the Cordillera Administrative Region, Caraga and the National Capital Region (DM 054, s. 2023, item 6). Grades still on the 2016 curriculum used the Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELCs), with recalibrated time allotments (DO 010, s. 2024, item 35). From SY 2026-2027 no grade from Kindergarten to Grade 10 is in that position. DO 010 also calls for a comprehensive policy review “in the fifth year of its implementation” (item 53).

Time allotment and the class program

DO 010, s. 2024 sets the base time allotments:

• Kindergarten follows “Blocks of Time”, three hours a day in the sample (Annex 1, item 2.1 and Table 4).
• Grades 1 and 2 give each learning area 40 minutes a day, five days a week.
• Grade 3 gives each 45 minutes a day.
• Grades 4 to 10 give each learning area 45 minutes a day, five days a week. The Homeroom Guidance Program (HGP) gets 45 minutes once a week (Annex 1, Tables 5 and 6; Annex 2, Table 3).

DO 012, s. 2024 gave Grades 3 to 10 more room, “in consideration of their specific contexts, such as, but not limited to, typology (the type and size of the school), curricular program offerings, and the availability of teachers and classrooms” (item 2.a). A school may choose one of these:

Source: DO 012, s. 2024, item 2.

The SDO gives technical assistance on class programs (item 4). Schools must “ensure fair and equitable distribution of teaching loads while protecting the overall welfare of teachers” (item 6).

DO 009, s. 2026 adds sample schedules for the three-term calendar. In them, each learning area meets four times a week in 60-minute periods. The Key Stage 2 and 3 samples meet the minimums of option b. The Key Stage 1 sample, with Grade 3’s learning areas, gives five hours of classes a day, short of option b’s five hours and 30 minutes. DO 009 calls all of them samples, so a school that follows one should confirm with its SDO which DO 012 option it is using.

Intervention time: from Catch-up Fridays to ARAL

DO 010’s time tables include 30-minute slots, four times a week, for the National Reading Program and National Mathematics Program (Annex 1, Table 5). DepEd Memorandum No. 001, s. 2024 made every Friday a Catch-up Friday from January 12, 2024.

Both are now repealed. DO 018, s. 2025, the ARAL Program guidelines, repeals DO 13, s. 2023, the learning recovery program, and DepEd Memorandum No. 001, s. 2024 on Catch-up Fridays (item 4). Its programs “shall replace the subprograms of the National Learning Recovery Program (NLRP), namely the National Reading Program (NRP), National Mathematics Program (NMP), and the National Science and Technology Program (NSciTP)” (Rationale, item 4). ARAL covers “reading and mathematics for Grades 1 to 10 and science for Grades 3 to 10” (item 10).

Under DO 009, s. 2026, ARAL remediation is scheduled “for all grade levels” after classes, 30 to 60 minutes, two to four times a week (item 13). It also runs during the End-of-Term Block (item 33). Tutorial sessions count as teaching load for the teachers who serve as tutors (DO 018, s. 2025, item 81).

Two memoranda set the details by subject: DepEd Memorandum No. 064, s. 2025 for ARAL-Reading in Key Stages 1 to 3, and DepEd Memorandum No. 060, s. 2026 for ARAL-Mathematics. Both allow a pull-out scheme, in which “learners are pulled out from their regular classes during class hours to attend the sessions” (DM 060, s. 2026, Encl. item 16.1), and DO 009’s own samples place some ARAL sessions inside the school day. “ARAL-Mathematics sessions shall not exceed one (1) hour during weekdays” and run as small groups, “with a 1:10 or a maximum of 1:15 tutor-to-learner ratio” (Encl. items 17 and 19). In SY 2026-2027, ARAL-Mathematics “shall commence in Term 2 or once schools are fully prepared and ready” (item 2). The guide to ALS, inclusive education and special programs covers ARAL and summer remediation in more detail.

Language of instruction in Kindergarten to Grade 3

DO 010 originally made the learner’s first language the medium of teaching in Key Stage 1. That changed with Republic Act No. 12027, which lapsed into law on October 10, 2024. DepEd Order No. 020, s. 2025 rescinds “the language provisions for Key Stage 1” of DO 010 (item 4).

From SY 2025-2026, “the primary media of instruction for Kindergarten to Grade 3 shall be Filipino and English, with Filipino Sign Language (FSL) for deaf learners”. A mother tongue as primary medium is “optional and allowed in monolingual classes, where learners share the same first language and where specific readiness criteria are met” (item 11). DO 020 sets four scenarios, from Filipino and English alone to a learner’s first language or an Indigenous language with a gradual move to Filipino and English (item 19). Each school puts its choice and literacy targets in the School Improvement Plan (item 39).

The language mapping that decides each class’s scenario has its first cycle in SY 2026-2027, under DepEd Order No. 035, s. 2025. From Grade 4, Filipino and English are the media of teaching, as DO 010 set (Annex 1, Table 7). The guide to RA 12027 explains the readiness tests and the scenarios.

The Strengthened Senior High School Curriculum

DO 017, s. 2026 explains why senior high school was revised. When it was fully implemented in 2016, DepEd “received feedback, supported by studies, that prove that the curriculum is fragmented, congested, and offers limited flexibility” (cover item 1). The new curriculum lists five “key enhancements”:

• “Streamlined tracks and subjects to improve clarity and efficiency”;
• “Expanded learner choice to support individual aspirations”;
• “Reinforced foundational competencies for success in life”;
• “Enhanced employability through stronger alignment with industry needs”;
• “Established stackable and seamless learning pathways” (cover item 3).

It aims at four exits: higher education, employment, entrepreneurship, and middle-level skills development (Encl. item 9.f).

Two tracks instead of four, and clusters instead of strands

“The SSHS Curriculum shifts from a track and strand-based structure to a more flexible, exit-oriented model. Learners can choose Electives from any cluster” (DO 017, s. 2026, Encl. item 12). The two tracks:

• The Academic Track is meant mainly for learners going on to higher education, with electives from five clusters.
• The Technical-Professional (Tech-Pro) Track, “formerly known as the Technical-Vocational-Livelihood (TVL) Track”, is for learners “primarily seeking employment, entrepreneurship, or middle-level skills development”, with electives from ten clusters (Encl. item 9.a and 9.k).

Clusters “are distinct from strands, as schools are not required to offer all Electives within a cluster, and learners may select Electives across multiple clusters” (Encl. item 14).

Source: DO 017, s. 2026, Encl. item 14 and Table 2.

The old tracks and strands map onto the new clusters. The map also sets which clusters a school’s existing permit covers: “A school may offer a given cluster or elective only if it holds a permit or government recognition for the corresponding track or strand under the SHS curriculum” (DM 036, s. 2026, Encl. item 13).

Source: DO 017, s. 2026, Annex B1, Table 12; DM 036, s. 2026, Encl. Table 2.

The five core subjects

“All Core Subjects shall be offered in Grade 11 only, with 160 instructional hours per Core Subject in 1 school year (e.g., 3 terms). Core subjects shall no longer be offered in Grade 12” (DO 017, s. 2026, Encl. item 13). They replace the 15 core subjects of the 2016 curriculum (DepEd Memorandum No. 020, s. 2026, item 1). Each is aligned with a general education course in college:

Source: DO 017, s. 2026, Encl. Table 1.

Electives, Work Immersion and Field Experience

Academic electives run 80 or 160 hours in one term. Tech-Pro electives are “standardized to a total of 320 hours”: across the whole year in Grade 11, and within one term in Grade 12 (Encl. item 14 and Table 3). All Tech-Pro electives are aligned with the training regulations of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and teachers must “possess valid and appropriate National Certificates (NCs) corresponding to the qualifications being taught” (Encl. item 14). Which electives a school may offer depends on its permit: “Schools must only offer Electives for which they have an approved permit for” (Annex B1). A school applies through the SDO under Annex B1 to add a cluster, and an elective outside the national list needs “prior approval from the BCD” (Encl. item 14.c). A TVL subject that has no SSHS curriculum guide may continue “only for SY 2026-2027” (Annex B1, item 1). For the Grade 12 pilot, DM 036 adds that schools “shall not offer any elective subject without an officially released CG” (Encl. item 10).

Work Immersion “shall range from 320 to 640 hours”. It “is mandatory for all Tech-Pro learners”, and for Academic Track learners it “remains optional” (DO 017, s. 2026, Encl. item 16). Academic Track learners may instead take Field Experience electives, which include:

• Arts Apprenticeship (160 hours);
• Design and Innovation;
• Research 1 and 2;
• In-Campus Field Exposure for Sports;
• Field Exposure off campus;
• Work Immersion for the Academic Track, 320 hours (Encl. item 17).

Separate guidelines on Work Immersion, Field Exposure and Arts Apprenticeship are still to be issued (Encl. items 16 and 17).

Two choices add flexibility:

• The cross-track option. It was formerly called the doorway option. It lets Academic Track learners take one Tech-Pro elective, and Tech-Pro learners take four Academic electives, in Grade 12 (Encl. item 12). Table 10 of DO 017 places those four Academic electives in “Grade 11 or 12”.
• Track shifting. It is allowed in Grade 12 “subject to approval by the school head and proper documentation in the Learner Information System (LIS)” (Encl. item 26.c). A move to the Tech-Pro Track needs at least one completed Tech-Pro elective and enrollment in its Work Immersion; a move to the Academic Track waives or discontinues the Tech-Pro Work Immersion.

Hours, class size and graduation

Source: DO 017, s. 2026, Encl. item 26, Tables 7, 9 and 10.

A learner’s weekly load “shall not exceed 40 hours” (Encl. item 26). For the pilot batch, DM 036 sets 2,080 hours for both tracks (Encl. Tables 3 and 4). Extra electives carry a risk: “failing any extra Elective taken will disqualify them from graduation” (Encl. item 26.b). Schools that cannot meet the class sizes may run larger classes with suitable strategies, and the school head may create additional sections “subject to classroom capacity, instructional requirements, and teacher availability” (Encl. item 23).

From the pilot to the whole country

Source: DepEd Memorandum No. 048, s. 2025, item 3; DM 012, s. 2026, items 4 and 5; DO 017, s. 2026, Encl. item 7 and Table 4.

The regional offices nominated pilot schools on three criteria: the diversity of electives offered, the sufficiency of teachers, and the availability of facilities and learning resources (DM 048, s. 2025, Encl. item 6). DepEd’s SY 2025-2026 enrollment file counted 268,830 learners in the two new tracks, 7.0% of senior high school; the SY 2025-2026 enrollment report gives the figures. For SY 2026-2027, the Grade 12 pilot is “strictly limited to schools that implemented the Grade 11 program in SY 2025-2026; no additional schools shall be included” (DM 036, s. 2026, item 4).

The Grade 12 pilot memorandum differs from the June 2026 orders on three points:

• Academic Excellence Award. DM 036, s. 2026 sets a general average of 95 with no final grade below 85 for the Grade 12 pilot batch (Encl. item 36). DO 015, s. 2026, issued a week later, sets 90 with no final grade below 80 for all public schools (Encl. item 75).
• Work Immersion timing. DM 036 offers Academic Track Work Immersion “exclusively in the third term” (Encl. item 16). DO 017 allows any term in Grade 12 (Encl. item 16).
• Failed extra electives. DM 036 requires remediation for a failed extra elective (Encl. item 35.a). DO 017 says it disqualifies the learner from graduation.

DO 015 and DO 017 came after DM 036, and each repeals or modifies inconsistent issuances, memoranda included (DO 015, s. 2026, cover item 6; DO 017, s. 2026, Encl. item 36). On that reading, their rules govern public pilot schools on the award threshold and on Work Immersion timing. On failed extra electives, DO 015’s remediation rules (Encl. item 67) do not speak of graduation, so a pilot school should ask its SDO how DO 017’s rule applies to its batch.

Learners who started under the old curriculum

• Grade 12 outside the pilot schools. In SY 2026-2027 these schools continue “the 2016 K to 12 SHS Curriculum for Grade 12, focusing on the Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELCs)”, and TVL follows the 2016 specializations (DO 017, s. 2026, Encl. item 19). They also move to three terms (Encl. item 20). Their grading keeps the weights of DO 8, s. 2015 with the adjusted transmutation table (DO 015, s. 2026, Encl. item 49). Their Work Immersion follows DO 30, s. 2017, as amended (DO 009, s. 2026, item 30).
• Transferees between the two curricula.
  • A learner who completed Grade 11 under the 2016 curriculum must have passed all its subjects. Once admitted, the learner completes 960 hours of electives for Grade 12.
  • In SY 2026-2027, such transfers are allowed only “when supported by a valid justification (e.g., displacement, migration/change of residence, or other circumstances)”.
  • The School Enrollment Committee evaluates each case with the Subject Evaluation Checklist (Annex F.1) and the equivalency matrix (Annex F.2) (DO 017, s. 2026, Encl. item 26.d and Annex F).
• Balik-Aral learners. They get “a maximum of two (2) school years as a transition period”. Those who do not resume schooling by SY 2028-2029 “shall be required to re-enroll in Grade 11 under the SSHS Curriculum” (Annex F).

Grading, lesson planning and the three-term calendar

Three 2026 orders apply to both curricula:

• Grading. DO 015, s. 2026 replaces DO 8, s. 2015 from SY 2026-2027.

  • Kindergarten to Grade 3 move to a descriptive grading system, fully by SY 2028-2029 (Encl. items 40 and 58).
  • Senior high school has its own component weights (Encl. Table 10).
  • The SSHS computes the general average with units: 2 units per term for a core subject, 3 for an 80-hour Academic elective and 12 for a Grade 12 Tech-Pro elective (DO 017, s. 2026, Annex E).

  The guide to DO 015, s. 2026 covers the details.

• Lesson planning. DO 016, s. 2026 introduces the ILAW framework. The older daily lesson log and detailed lesson plan formats were allowed “until the end of the first term of School Year (SY) 2026-2027” (item 43), which ended on September 15, 2026 (DO 009, s. 2026, Annex B). From Term 2, lesson plans follow the ILAW framework. See the guide to DO 016, s. 2026.

• The calendar. DO 009, s. 2026 replaces four quarters with three terms from SY 2026-2027. It opens on June 8, 2026 and has 201 class days (item 4). DO 010 and DO 017 still speak of quarters. Both have school heads monitor implementation “at least once every quarter” (DO 010, s. 2024, item 52; DO 017, s. 2026, Encl. item 32), and no issuance says how this reads under three terms. Monitoring four times a year meets the text under either calendar.

Career guidance in the SSHS and the Landas Toolkit

Choosing electives makes career guidance part of the curriculum. DO 017, s. 2026 has the school head “ensure the continuous provision of career guidance services for learners throughout the academic year”. It names these tools: National Career Assessment Examination results, interest inventories and aptitude tests, career clinics, and the “Landas Toolkit and other supplementary materials” (Encl. item 27.b). It adds a limit: “It is not intended to prescribe or impose any specific career path. The learner’s informed choice shall be respected and prioritized.”

The Landas Toolkit is “a career guidance toolkit designed to help Grades 9-12 learners make informed career decisions”. It is built on five futures thinking skills (DM-OULS-2026-006, January 5, 2026, item 2):

• Tanaw, imagining multiple futures;
• Sulyap, exploring opportunities and trends;
• Taya, making decisions in uncertainty;
• Plano, planning with purpose;
• Yakap, embracing change.

Each toolkit costs about ₱3,500. DepEd funded ₱12,000,000 to print and deliver toolkits to the public pilot schools (items 4 and 6.2). It belongs in the school’s guidance or learner support center. The school head, with the school counselor or designated focal person, aligns its use with the career guidance program, in homeroom guidance, counseling sessions and learner organizations (items 7.1 and 7.2).

What this means for school heads

1. Set the class program early. For Grades 3 to 10, choose a DO 012 option that fits the school’s teachers and rooms. Option b goes to the SDO for approval. Keep the Homeroom Guidance Program and an ARAL schedule for learners who need it.
2. Settle the language arrangement for Kindergarten to Grade 3. Take part in the SY 2026-2027 language mapping, choose the scenario it supports, and write it, with literacy targets, into the School Improvement Plan (DO 020, s. 2025, item 39).
3. Plan senior high offerings from evidence. Initial offerings “shall be informed by consolidated learner profiles”. The profiles cover interests, aptitudes and career inclinations, together with the school’s teachers, facilities and SDO consultation (DO 017, s. 2026, Encl. item 27.a). Offer only electives your permit covers, apply through the SDO under Annex B1 to add a cluster, and secure BCD approval for any elective outside the national list (Encl. item 14.c).
4. Assign teachers to fit. Core subjects go by subject competence and training (Encl. Table 5). Tech-Pro electives need teachers with the matching National Certificate. DO 017 encourages school heads to “safeguard the 6 hours of teaching load for teachers” (Encl. item 22.c). The teaching load planning guide shows how.
5. Run career guidance all year. Use the tools DO 017 lists, respect each learner’s choice, and record track shifts in the LIS.
6. Evaluate transferees and returning learners carefully. Use the Enrollment Committee, Annex F.1 and the equivalency matrix, and keep the records at the school (DO 017, s. 2026, Annex F.1).
7. Monitor and report. DO 010 and DO 017 have the school head monitor implementation and send results to the SDO (DO 010, s. 2024, item 52; DO 017, s. 2026, Encl. item 32). Pilot schools also complete the SSHS Monitoring Tool, for which “School Heads are designated as the primary respondents” (DepEd Memorandum No. 003, s. 2026, Annex B).

This work serves the PPSSH strands on learning standards (3.1) and career awareness (3.7) in Domain 3, and on staff and facilities in Domain 2.

How the NASH may test this

The items below are original practice items, scored 3 (Relational), 2 (Multistructural), 1 (Unistructural) or 0 (Prestructural). An option that breaks a rule scores 0.

Question 1

Indicator 3.1.2, School-based review, contextualization and implementation of learning standards. Career Stage 2, Situational, Moderate.

You are the principal of a public secondary school that piloted the Strengthened SHS curriculum and is now planning Grade 12 electives for the pilot batch. The school’s permits cover the STEM and ABM strands. The science teachers propose a fixed package of science electives that every learner in two sections must take. One of those electives has no officially released curriculum guide yet. A survey of the learners shows strong interest in both science and business electives. What is the most appropriate action?

• A. Approve the science package as proposed, including the elective still without a guide, and add business electives next school year once more learners ask.
• B. Plan offerings from the learners’ survey and the school’s resources, let learners choose across clusters, and drop the elective lacking a released guide.
• C. Drop the elective without a released guide, offer the rest of the science package, and let learners in the two sections choose among the science electives that remain.
• D. Ask the division office which electives to offer, and keep the two science sections as proposed until it replies so the teachers can prepare their materials.

Answer and explanation

Best answer: B. Points: A = 0, B = 3, C = 2, D = 1.

• A (0 points, Prestructural). It offers an elective that has no released curriculum guide, which the rules forbid, and it ties learners to a fixed package.
• B (3 points, Relational). It bases offerings on learner profiles and school resources, keeps learner choice across clusters, and follows the rule on released curriculum guides.
• C (2 points, Multistructural). It follows the curriculum guide rule and gives some choice, but it keeps learners inside one cluster when they also asked for business electives.
• D (1 point, Unistructural). Consulting the division is part of planning offerings, but it leaves the decision open and keeps the fixed package in the meantime.

Why. This aligns with Career Stage 2 expectations because indicator 3.1.2 asks the school head to assist teachers in implementing learning standards so that the curriculum is relevant to learners. DM 036, s. 2026, which governs the Grade 12 pilot, lets learners “enroll in any elective across any of the clusters made available by the school” (Encl. item 9) and states that schools “shall not offer any elective subject without an officially released CG” (Encl. item 10). DO 017, s. 2026 bases offerings on “consolidated learner profiles” and school resources (Encl. item 27.a). The 2-point option follows the curriculum guide rule but limits choice to one cluster.

Indicator 3.1.2: Assist teachers in the review, contextualization and implementation of learning standards to make the curriculum relevant for learners.

Sources: DepEd Memorandum No. 036, s. 2026, Encl. items 9, 10 and 13; DepEd Order No. 017, s. 2026, Encl. item 27.a.

Question 2

Indicator 3.7.1, Career awareness and opportunities. Career Stage 1, Conceptual, Moderate.

Under the Strengthened Senior High School Curriculum, learners choose their own electives. Which statement best describes the role of the school’s career guidance in those choices?

• A. It assigns each learner to the track and electives that best match the learner’s career assessment results, so that choices follow measured aptitude.
• B. It supports informed choices with assessments, career talks and guidance tools all year, while the learner’s informed choice is respected.
• C. It explains the available electives to parents at enrollment, so that each family can settle the learner’s track before classes begin.
• D. It gives learners career assessments and interest inventories at the start of Grade 11, so that each learner makes one informed choice, at enrollment.

Answer and explanation

Best answer: B. Points: A = 0, B = 3, C = 1, D = 2.

• A (0 points, Prestructural). It turns guidance into placement, which the order rules out: guidance may not prescribe or impose a career path, and the learner’s informed choice comes first.
• B (3 points, Relational). It links the tools to the purpose of guidance, informed choice, and keeps it running all year as the order requires.
• C (1 point, Unistructural). Informing families helps, but it is a single event at enrollment, and it moves the choice away from the learner.
• D (2 points, Multistructural). It uses the right tools and leaves the choice to the learner, but it treats guidance as a one-time step instead of a service that continues as learners adjust their choices.

Why. This aligns with Career Stage 1 expectations because indicator 3.7.1 asks for knowledge of how career awareness is built into learning experiences. DO 017, s. 2026 has school heads ensure “the continuous provision of career guidance services for learners throughout the academic year”, lists tools such as the NCAE and the Landas Toolkit, and states that guidance “is not intended to prescribe or impose any specific career path” (Encl. item 27.b). The 2-point option uses the listed tools but only once.

Indicator 3.7.1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the integration of career awareness and opportunities in the provision of learning experiences aligned with the curriculum.

Sources: DepEd Order No. 017, s. 2026, Encl. item 27.b; DM-OULS-2026-006, items 2 and 7.

Nothing in this guide reproduces or predicts examination content.

Frequently asked questions

What is the MATATAG Curriculum?

It is DepEd’s revised curriculum for Kindergarten to Grade 10, set by DepEd Order No. 010, s. 2024 and amended by DO 012, s. 2024. It reduces learning areas in the early grades, focuses on foundational literacy and numeracy, and aligns competencies with learners’ development. Later orders also call it the Revised K to 10 Curriculum.

Is the MATATAG Curriculum used in all grades in SY 2026-2027?

Yes, for Kindergarten to Grade 10. DO 010, s. 2024 adds Grades 6, 9 and 10 in SY 2026-2027, the last of three phases. Senior high school follows the Strengthened SHS Curriculum instead (DO 017, s. 2026).

What are the core subjects of the Strengthened Senior High School Curriculum?

There are five, all taken in Grade 11 at 160 hours each:

• Effective Communication and Mabisang Komunikasyon;
• General Mathematics;
• General Science;
• Life and Career Skills;
• Pag-aaral ng Kasaysayan at Lipunang Pilipino.

They replace the 15 core subjects of the 2016 curriculum (DO 017, s. 2026, Encl. item 13; DM 020, s. 2026, item 1).

Are the SHS strands such as STEM, ABM and HUMSS removed?

Yes. The SSHS replaces tracks and strands with two tracks, Academic and Tech-Pro, and with clusters of electives that learners may mix. STEM becomes the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics cluster, ABM becomes Business and Entrepreneurship, and HUMSS becomes Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities (DO 017, s. 2026, Annex B1).

What happens to Grade 12 learners in SY 2026-2027?

Outside the pilot schools, Grade 12 finishes the 2016 K to 12 SHS curriculum in three terms, with the grading weights of DO 8, s. 2015 and the adjusted transmutation table. Pilot schools continue the SSHS for their Grade 12 learners. From SY 2027-2028, all of senior high school uses the SSHS (DO 017, s. 2026, Encl. items 7 and 19; DO 015, s. 2026, Encl. item 49).

Sources

DepEd issuances:

• DepEd Order No. 010, s. 2024, Policy Guidelines on the Implementation of the MATATAG Curriculum, July 23, 2024. Items 2, 8, 9, 22, 35, 52 and 53; Annexes 1 and 2.
• DepEd Order No. 012, s. 2024, Amendment to DepEd Order No. 010, s. 2024, September 18, 2024. Items 2, 4, 6 and 8.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 054, s. 2023, Pilot Implementation of the MATATAG Curriculum, September 8, 2023. Items 3 and 6.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 001, s. 2024, Implementation of Catch-up Fridays, January 10, 2024 (repealed by DO 018, s. 2025).
• DepEd Order No. 018, s. 2025, Implementing Guidelines of the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning Program, June 13, 2025. Items 4, 10 and 81.
• DepEd Order No. 020, s. 2025, Policy on the Medium of Instruction for Kindergarten to Grade 3 Effective School Year 2025-2026, July 3, 2025. Items 4, 11, 19 and 39.
• DepEd Order No. 017, s. 2026, Strengthened Senior High School Curriculum, June 4, 2026. Cover items 1 and 3; Encl. items 7, 9, 12 to 14, 14.c, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 26, 27, 32 and 36; Tables 1, 2, 7, 9 and 10; Annexes B1, E and F.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 048, s. 2025, Pilot Implementation of the Strengthened Senior High School Curriculum for Grade 11 in School Year 2025-2026, June 14, 2025. Item 3; Encl. item 6.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 012, s. 2026, Full Implementation of the Strengthened Senior High School Curriculum in School Year 2026-2027, February 27, 2026. Items 4 and 5.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 036, s. 2026, Pilot Implementation of the Strengthened Senior High School Curriculum for Grade 12 in School Year 2026-2027, May 28, 2026. Item 4; Encl. items 4, 9, 10, 13, 16, 35 and 36; Encl. Tables 2 to 4; Annex D.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 003, s. 2026, Guidelines on the Monitoring and Evaluation of the Pilot Implementation of the Strengthened Senior High School Curriculum, January 14, 2026. Annex B.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 020, s. 2026, Modified Electronic Class Record and School Form 10 for Strengthened Senior High School Pilot Implementers in School Year 2025-2026, March 13, 2026. Item 1.
• DM-OULS-2026-006, Guidelines on the Production and Use of Landas Toolkit for Public Strengthened Senior High School (SSHS) Pilot Schools During SY 2025-2026, January 5, 2026. Items 2, 4, 6 and 7.
• DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026, Revised Guidelines on Classroom Assessment, Grading System, and Awards and Recognition for the K to 12 Basic Education Program, June 4, 2026. Cover item 6; Encl. items 5, 40, 49, 58, 67 and 75; Table 10.
• DepEd Order No. 016, s. 2026, Guidelines on Lesson Planning and Learning Design, June 4, 2026. Items 17 and 43.
• DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2026, Guidelines on the Implementation of the Three-Term School Calendar in Basic Education, April 16, 2026. Items 4, 13, 30 and 33; Annexes A and B.
• DepEd Order No. 013, s. 2023, Adoption of the National Learning Recovery Program in the Department of Education, July 3, 2023. Item 6 (repealed by DO 018, s. 2025).
• DepEd Memorandum No. 064, s. 2025, Implementing Guidelines for the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning Program in Reading for Key Stages 1 to 3, August 1, 2025.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 060, s. 2026, Guidelines on the Implementation of the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning Program in Mathematics, September 28, 2026. Item 2; Encl. items 16.1, 17 and 19.
• DepEd Order No. 035, s. 2025, Guidelines on the Language Mapping Process for Key Stage 1, October 31, 2025.

Laws:

• Republic Act No. 12027, An Act Discontinuing the Use of Mother Tongue as Medium of Instruction from Kindergarten to Grade 3, Providing for Its Optional Implementation in Monolingual Classes, and Amending for the Purpose Sections 4 and 5 of Republic Act No. 10533. Lapsed into law on October 10, 2024.

Written by Mark Anthony Llego for NASH Reviewer. Sources: DepEd Orders No. 010 and No. 012, s. 2024, No. 018, No. 020 and No. 035, s. 2025, and No. 009, No. 015, No. 016 and No. 017, s. 2026; DepEd Memoranda No. 054, s. 2023, No. 001, s. 2024, No. 048 and No. 064, s. 2025, and No. 003, No. 012, No. 020, No. 036 and No. 060, s. 2026; DM-OULS-2026-006; Republic Act No. 12027.