BAGUIO CITY – More than 30,000 teachers will be hired by the education department unit next year in order to enhance the agency’s preparedness for the full implementation of the senior high school as part of the national government’s commitment to the K to 12 system of education, Education Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro said here Saturday
Luistro said the hiring of the teachers is part of the agency’s commitment to improve the quality of education, provide employment for the teachers and prepare the children for the expected stiff competition with the implementation of the free trade of goods and services as agreed upon by the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
“We are just right on track in the upgrading of our education system through the K to 12. Our professionals will no longer be at a losing end in the trading of professionals. We are ready for the full implementation of the K to 12 program next year,” Luistro stressed
Secretary Luistro disclosed part of those who will be employed as teachers for the senior high school are the more than 8,000 teachers in the tertiary level working with private education institutions who stand to be displaced with the implementation of the Senior High School and those that will be absorbed will be hired by local government units under the Special Education Fund.
According to him, the education department already started absorbing qualified teachers for plantilla positions in the agency from those that were hired on casual basis by local governments through the Special Education Fund in order to stabilize their employment and for them to contribute in the improvement of the country’s new education system through the K to 12 program
Luistro said the funds to be saved by local governments once the teaching personnel under their respective Special Education Funds will be absorbed by the agency should be utilized for the construction of more school buildings in order to help the government build more schools and bring education closer to the people in the countryside.
By next year, the Secretary disclosed the agency’s work force will be more than 750,000 personnel with around 700,000 occupying teaching positions while the remaining 50,000 personnel are those assigned for office work
He explained qualified college professors wanting to teach senior high school can be absorbed by the agency if they are willing to do so and would accept the equally competitive compensation offered by the government for those interested to occupy the Senior High School teaching positions that are available
In terms of facilities and classrooms, Secretary Luisro said there will be no serious concerns for the lack of classrooms for the Senior High School considering that the agency has embarked on massive construction of Senior High School buildings in the different parts of the country plus the fact that numerous private education institutions have already applied to offer Senior High School to avoid the vacuum in their institutions from 2016 to 2019.
The DepEd official said the agency will start releasing the permits of those private education institutions with approved permits to offer Senior High School by March to allow them to prepare for the full implementation of the K to 12 program by the start of the school year 2016-2017
“We are in constant consultations with the private education institutions and we were able to effectively and efficiency address their concerns with the upcoming implementation of Senior High School. We just have to deal with the matters arising from their concerns to pave the way for the implementation of the new education system,” Secretary Luistro said
Secretary Luistro said the Philippines is the only country in Southeast Asia that offers a 10-year basic education system before college which made the government envision the implementation of the K to 12 program that will make the country’s professionals qualified for employment opportunities in other countries without being left out in the screening process due to inadequate educational qualifications.
Secretary Luistro emphasized some 60 percent of the 1.1 million individuals going to Senior High School can be attended to by government considering that the 4 percent were already trained individuals under the National Competency Program of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) while in their junior high school where they were allowed to select their respective fields of expertise.
Earlier, hundreds of higher education institutions expressed fear over the displacement of more than 80,000 teachers in the college level next year right at the start of the implementation of Senior High School Because colleges and universities will no longer have freshmen enrolees.
However Secretary Luistro said all the concerns of the higher education institutions were given attention and that the ultimate remedy for them to cope with the situation is to offer Senior High School for their graduates among others
