BAGUIO CITY – Future graduates of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) are expected to complete the 4-year baccalaureate course in military scenic in three to three and a half years once the Academy will adopt the curriculum under the government’s K to 12 basic education program.
Col. Joseph Villanueva, PMA Dean of Academics, explained under the K to 12 curriculum, the 36 general education units that are covered by the first two years in the academy will be included in the curriculum of grade 11 and grade 12 of the K to 12 basic education program that is why the Academy is studying the possible replacements of the subjects to be advanced by the students in order to sustain the degree course.
“Prior to these changes, PMA is open to two possibilities: PMA students can finish the college curriculum in three years or the four-year college education will be maintained but additional subjects that will develop the competence of the cadets will be included,” Villanueva stressed.
The PMA official pointed out the implementation of the K to 12 curriculum to PMA will help the students to be more prepared and mature when they enter the academy as cadets wanting to become future military officers of the country’s armed forced.
Villanueva emphasized the PMA does not only develop academic excellence among its students but it also helps the students excel in character development, military skill, and physical development in order to nurture them as responsible and dedicated officers who will be the next generation of leaders of the nation.
However, Villanueva admitted that PMA is not yet ready for the K to 12 curriculum although efforts are now being done by the academics group to make sure that the premier military institution in Asia will be able to comply in time for the full implementation of the program so that its graduates will not be left out in the implementation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) integration.
As part of the ground works for the Academy’s compliance to the K to 12 program, Villanueva disclosed the academy is conducting a periodical curriculum review which will make room for developments and preparations for the possible effects of K to 12 in the number of cadets that will be admitted to the institution annually.
Villanueva claimed the on-going review of the Academy’s existing curriculum compared to the K to 12 program will be in time for the first graduates of the national government’s intervention which will be by 2018.
He also bared that PMA plans to put up a high school department in the academy to further strengthen the academic foundation of future cadets and that PMA is considering this plan because other military schools around Asia have high school departments which serve as part of the sources of the cadets who will pursue their degree in military science.
According to him, the inclusion of high school in the Academy will greatly contribute in screening the possible applicants for cadetship in the Academy so that those who are qualified to enter PMA will be the ones to be accepted and are supposed to complete their course within the prescribed 3-year period.
By Dexter A. See