The Philippine School Doha (PSD) capped the first week of its new school year with the full implementation of the “K to 12 Programme,” which adds Grade 11 and 12 to the PSD curriculum, an official told Community.
PSD principal Dr Alexander Acosta described the new curriculum as “historic” and a “milestone” because the two additional grade levels “now guarantees the employability” of PSD graduates in Qatar and in other countries. 
Senior students under Academic Year 2017 – 2018 will be the first batch of PSD graduates under the “K to 12 Programme,” Acosta said.
Acosta said the PSD received the approval to implement the “K to 12 Programme” from Qatar’s Ministry of Education and Higher Education and the Department of Education (DepEd) in the Philippines “towards the end of March.”
Prior to its implementation, Acosta said PSD graduates had difficulty enrolling in universities in Qatar since the old curriculum lacks two extra years. 
Previous PSD graduates, the principal said, are denied college admission in Qatar and some are forced to look for schools here that offer grades 11 and 12. To save on expensive tuition fees here, Acosta said other parents send their children back to the Philippines.
“There’s no need for the parents to send their children back to the Philippines to take grades 11 and 12 because we now have the facilities to offer these levels in Qatar. At the same time, being accredited by the Qatar National School Accreditation (QNSA), our students will not encounter any problems if they decide to go to college here after finishing Grade 12,” Acosta explained.
The DepEd said the “K to 12 Programme,” under the “Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013,” covers Kindergarten and 12 years of basic education: six years of primary education, four years of Junior High School, and two years of Senior High School.
According to the DepEd, “The Philippines is the last country in Asia and one of only three countries worldwide (the other two being Angola and Djibouti) with a 10-year pre-university cycle. Other countries like Singapore have 11 years of compulsory education, but have 12 to 14 years of pre-university education, depending on the track.”
Acosta also expressed PSD’s “readiness” in terms of preparations to transfer to its new campus in Abu Hamour in January 2017. Currently, PSD has 3,411 students enrolled this school year.
“The school is still in the process of obtaining the legal documents for the change of the school’s name from PSD to Philippine Science School Doha (PSSD). We are hoping to accomplish this task towards the end of this year so that when we open the Academic Year 2017 – 2018 at the Abu Hamour campus, the school will bear its new name,” Acosta stressed.