Special Science Curriculum in the Philippines: What Parents Should Know Before Enrolling
The sticky condensation from my halo-halo was dripping onto my notebook last Saturday, as I waited for my parent-teacher conference outside our public elementary school’s principal office in Quezon City. Liza, a neighbor I’d met at the school’s feeding program, was leaning against the cinder block wall next to me, twisting her son’s entrance exam results in her hand. He’d scored high enough to get into the school’s special science curriculum section, and she wasn’t celebrating. “I work 12 hours a day at the call center,” she said. “My husband drives a jeepney. How are we supposed to build a working solar-powered car for his first homework?”
I told her I’d been in her shoes. My oldest son went through the special science curriculum (SSC) from grades 7 to 10, and I still have the crumpled project boxes stored in our attic to prove it. I remembered when he was in 9th grade, his class was required to submit a full investigatory project for the regional science fair. The school didn’t have the equipment to test water samples, so we took two jeepneys and a tricycle to a testing lab at UP Diliman. The testing fee ate half our grocery budget that week, and I had to take a half-day off work that I couldn’t afford to lose. When we got there, I saw a dozen parents who were engineers or lab workers setting up their kids’ projects, while the kids ran around playing on their phones. My son got second place, but he still couldn’t sleep for three nights worrying he’d messed up the data analysis.
A lot of parents here see an SSC slot as a golden ticket: it’s supposed to lead to a STEM scholarship, a good college, and a stable job. No one talks much about what the program actually looks like for regular kids from regular families. I went to a DepEd stakeholder meeting for SSC last year, and one public school teacher told me she has 52 kids in her SSC section – the same size as a regular curriculum section. She doesn’t have time to grade every project thoroughly, or pull a kid aside to re-explain a lesson they didn’t get. Most schools don’t have working microscopes, lab chemicals, or even enough textbooks for every SSC student. All the hands-on learning that the curriculum promises ends up as homework that parents have to figure out and pay for at home.
From what I’ve seen and lived, there are a few concrete things any parent can do before they decide to take that SSC slot, or if your kid is already in the program. First, before you accept the spot, go to the school and ask three specific questions: how many students are in the SSC section, does the school have a dedicated science lab with working equipment that students actually use, and how much time do science teachers get for one-on-one help. A lot of parents just accept the slot because it’s an honor to get in, and they don’t want to waste the opportunity. But if the section has more than 45 kids and no working lab, it’s completely okay to turn it down and stay in a regular section. Your kid will still get a good education without the extra stress.
Second, if you do keep your kid in SSC, you don’t have to match the fancy projects other parents turn in. When my son had to make a 3D model of the solar system, I saw parents buying 3D printed planet sets on Shopee for 1,500 pesos. We used old crumpled newspaper, cut-up cardboard from our grocery deliveries, and poster paint we bought for 20 pesos at the palengke. It was lopsided, and Jupiter was a little too small, but my son could answer every question the teacher asked about orbit size and distance from the sun. He got full credit. You can swap expensive supplies for recycled stuff you already have at home, and most teachers don’t mark you down for that – they care more about whether your kid understands the material anyway.
Third, if your kid is in SSC, ask them one specific question every Friday night: “What’s one assignment that felt too hard this week?” Most kids won’t volunteer that they’re struggling. They’ve been told they’re the “smart kids” who made it into the special section, and they don’t want to let you or their teachers down. A vague question like “how’s school?” will get you a vague “fine” back. Asking for one specific hard assignment opens the door for them to talk, before the stress builds up enough that they burn out.
Liza went to talk to the SSC adviser a few days after our conversation by the principal’s office. They worked out a plan where her son can turn in most projects on the Monday after her only day off each week, so she can help him when she’s not working. The local barangay also has a free STEM outreach program that lends out equipment like microscopes and solar panels for student projects, so they don’t have to buy their own. She’s keeping him in for now, but says she’ll pull him out if he stops enjoying going to class or his stress starts affecting his health.
My oldest graduated from SSC, and he’s now studying elementary education at a local state university. He didn’t go into STEM, like everyone expected when he got that SSC slot in seventh grade. He says the program taught him how to manage a heavy workload, but he still thinks it would have been more fun if he didn’t have to constantly compete with kids whose parents had more time and money to help. I have a younger son who’ll be eligible for the SSC entrance exam next year. I still don’t know if I’ll put him in. It works for some kids, especially if you have the resources to support the extra work. But it’s not the only path to a good education, or a good job. Right now, that’s the only thing I know for sure.
Please indicate: Thinking In Educating » Special Science Curriculum in the Philippines: What Parents Should Know Before Enrolling