A total of 170 schools in Western Visayas and Negros Occidental will implement the pilot Strengthened Senior High School (SHS) curriculum starting this school year.

Hernani Escullar Jr., information officer of the Department of Education in Western Visayas (DepEd-6), said 55 schools from Region 6 proper, covering Panay and Guimaras, and 115 in various divisions in Negros Occidental were chosen to implement the pilot curriculum.

The Strengthened SHS curriculum now offers only two tracks, Academic and Technical-Professional (Tech-Pro), a reduction from the previous four, Escullar said.

Under the old SHS program, students could choose from Academic, Technical-Vocational-Livelihood, Arts and Design, and Sports tracks.

“With this, the 31 SHS subjects will drop [between] eight to 11 subjects with five core subject areas,” he explained.

He added that for electives, the academic track will have seven with an embedded capstone, and Tech-Pro will have three with one work immersion.

The number of electives will depend on the program.

“The purpose is for them to focus on their preferred strand or track, somehow leading them to their exits. No. 1 to a higher education and No. 2 as business, or they will find another means to expand to other learning,” he added.

Escullar added that only Grade 11 of the participating schools will implement the pilot edition, and their Grade 12 will utilize the old or existing curriculum.

Over 270 schools in Western Visayas and Negros Occidental signified to join the pilot implementation of the Strengthened SHS, but only 170 got qualified.

Among the criteria are the diversity of electives offering, sufficiency of teachers, and availability of facilities and learning resources. (PNA)