President Benigno S. Aquino III poses with the people who gave their testimony under the K TO 12 program (left to right) Mr. Rowen Dizon Parent of a Senior High School Graduate, Ms. Gina Obierna, Grade 2 Adviser at the Don Alejandro Roces Sr. Science Technology High School, Arien Lein Ibardo of Doña Rosario High School Novaliches Q.C. and Ms. Love Basillote during the celebration ceremony of the Department of Education’s (DepEd) dubbed, “Sa K to 12, Kayang-kaya, Sama-sama! A celebration of K to 12 Milestones.” Also in photo are Education Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Dinky Soliman. (MNS photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) – A youth group leader on Wednesday said they would like to meet with incoming President Rodrigo Duterte and tell him the other side of the Aquino administration’s K to 12 program.
“We are more than willing to fly to Davao and explain to incoming President Duterte why we are opposing the K-12 program. We call on the next president to hear the other side of the story,” said Sarah Elago, who is set to represent the Kabataan party-list in the House of Representatives in the 17th Congress.
She said youth groups under the party-list are seeking an audience with Duterte in Davao City to personally explain their opposition to the K to 12 program.
Duterte on Monday night said that he had a change of heart on the K to 12 program after the “bright” guys from the Department of Education (DepEd) explained to him personally in Davao City why the government needs to add to two more academic years of basic education.
Instead of 10 years—six years for primary education and four years for highschool—the K to 12 program two more academic years for senior high school.
Elago said that the DepEd guys might have “left out” some issues about the K to 12 program.
“As it is, the quality of instruction under K-12 is far from being assured. With the severe lack of facilities and teachers, the practice of shorter hours of instruction is set to continue in the decades to come,” Elago said.
She added that apart from unfinished classrooms and lack of facilities for senior high school, the K to 12 program’s implementation will force high school students to enroll in private schools because only a few public high schools will offer senior high school.
She said that according to data gathered by the party-list group, public schools can only accomodate 800,000 to 1.1 million incoming senior high school students.
She said that based on DepEd’s own estimates, up to 2 million students will enter senior high school this year.
“The K-12 program poses added burdens, both on the part of the government and the families of students. Two more years of education is tantamount to two more years of torture. This is what DepEd is not explaining to you, President Duterte,” she said.
She also alleged that the administration designed the K to 12 program to benefit private companies, citing the Senior High School (SHS) voucher that was allegedly designed to ensure profits.
“Essentially, DepEd designed the implementation of the SHS program to ensure more enrollees for private schools,” Elago said, noting that DepEd has a P12.2 billion for the SHS voucher program.
“DepEd has designed the implementation of SHS in a manner that will guarantee higher enrollment in private institutions and, consequently, greater and guaranteed profit for school owners in the form of vouchers,” Elago said. (MNS)