The Enhanced Basic Education Program or K to 12 Basic Education Program is a response to local and global community needs and demands through its mission to strengthen the values of the Filipino people; develop a strong sense of nationalism; develop productive citizens who contribute to the building of a progressive, just, and humane society; ensure environmental sustainability; and cultivate global partnerships for development. 

The implementation of the K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum is considered one of the most significant educational reforms in the country, introducing several programs and projects that all aim to expand and improve the delivery of the Philippine basic education. Its primary goal is to equip Filipino learners with the necessary skills and competence to prepare them to take on the challenges of the 21st century. It also endeavors to make the basic education system in the Philippines on a par with international standards by ensuring that it is appropriate, responsive, and relevant to the learners and to national and global realities (DepEd, 2019).

 As with any curricular reform, however, the K to 12 Program is not without challenges. Results of both national and international standardized assessments reveal no improvement in the academic performance of Filipino learners (Schleicher, 2018; Mullis, Martin, Foy, Kelly, & Fishbein, 2020; UNICEF & SEAMEO, 2020). 

Moreover, the emergence of copious compelling research on the nature of learners and the process of learning emphasizes the need for basic education institutions to keep abreast of global future trends while addressing the changing needs and learning challenges of children (Jorgenson, 2006). These, in turn, prompted a reexamination and enhancement of the K to 12 curricula in order to identify points for improvement to ultimately lift the quality of basic education. The Department of Education, with the Assessment Curriculum and Technology Research Centre (ACTRC), has undertaken the process of reviewing the intended curriculum in order to verify claims about and solve existing gaps in the document. As a result, the Shape of the MATATAG Curriculum is therefore crafted to communicate the process behind the curriculum review and revision, and more importantly, set the future direction and provide a basis for developing the shaping papers for each learning area.