The government has embraced the controversial K to12 program for basic education in the country’s education system to prepare the present and future generations for the stiff job competition in the global village. The program requires an additional two years that will guarantee the compliance of our graduates to the globally accepted 12-year basic education before entering college through various strands.
The upcoming school year will be the second year of implementation of the K to 12 program but it seems the Department of Education and the basic education institutions in the country have not yet hurdled the birth pains of the innovation in the system which will probably make life difficult for those enrolled in Grades 11 and 12 or the so-called senior high school program.
With the classes opening now, most of our schools not only in urban centers but also in rural areas are encountering difficulties in finding available classrooms for their senior high school students. The promised structures for the new education program are far from being completed because contractors implementing these are facing various problems in the implementation. The government infused billions of pesos over the past three years to make sure that most schools nationwide will be ready for students entering senior high school but it seems the concerned government agencies do not have the absorptive capacity to complete the projects right on time, It may also be that the projects were awarded to the wrong contractors. Thus, there is a huge backlog in terms of buildings for senior high school besetting the education department. Aside from the insufficient buildings and classrooms to accommodate the incoming senior high school students, there is also a lack of well-trained teachers to handle these senior high school when in fact a lot of training had also been dome on this score. While we have a huge number of passers of the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET), it is a concern why are there still an insufficient number of trained teachers to handle these senior high school students who are expected to enter classes this coming school year.
The implementation of the senior high school program to the tertiary education. There will be no more enrollees in the college courses for the next two to three years because prospective students are still in senior high school. Thus, private educational institutions are now offering senior high school in their respective institutions and students who are not accommodated in the public schools could take up their senior high school studies in the said reputable institutions. To attract more private education institutions to offer the senior high school program, the education department came up with the voucher program. Students from public schools who want to take up their senior high school studies in desired private education institutions can avail of a P20,000-assistance from the national government for every school year they are in the private institution. The financial assistance will be downloaded by the education department to the school where the students are enrolled and shall be credited against their outstanding obligations. Senior high school in private schools would cost around P40,0000 to P60,000.
We pity the children who are the guinea pigs in this K to 12 education program. They will surely be the ones to suffer the impact of poor quality education that will be provided them by their untrained teachers. They will be housed in structures that are not yet completed as envisioned. We are worried about the outcome of the products of the government’s senior high school program in the coming years.
We challenge the education department to make sure that teachers handling the senior high school students possess the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitude; that they adhere to the highest standards of education to make the pioneer graduates of the program one of the best in the global village. We will not discount the resilience of the senior high school students but we should provide them with appropriate quality teachers, state–of-the-art equipment, updated education materials, culturally sensitive administration, and good classrooms and buildings so that they can concentrate on their studies and excel in the fields where they want to be known. Let us try to make life easier for the senior high school students rather than burdening them of the things which should not be their problem at all.
