Marcos admin mulls revamp of K-12 program

MANILA — With the K-12 program failing to deliver on its promises to produce job-ready senior high school graduates, the Marcos administration is considering another major revamp in the implementation of basic education in the country.

“Right now, there is a direction to study the removal and make Grades 11 and 12 voluntary (or only for those who will pursue) higher education,” Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte said in Filipino during a recent engagement in Oriental Mindoro.

“The President said it should be studied. Former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo also drafted a (proposed) law regarding the direction of K-12 program since it was not able to address the problems regarding quality education,” Duterte said.

She was referring to the proposed “K+10+2” bill filed by Arroyo, now a congresswoman representing Pampanga’s 2nd District and a senior deputy speaker of the House of Representatives.

If approved, Arroyo’s proposal would make Grades 11 and 12 – currently known as senior high school – mandatory only for those who wish to pursue college degrees, to be known as “post-secondary, pre-university education.”

It would return the basic education system to its previous setup, when students would be considered high school graduates after completing kindergarten, six years of elementary and four years of high school.

“The failure of the K-12 program to provide its graduates with promised advantages exacerbates the additional burden on parents and students imposed by two additional years of basic education. In a country like the Philippines where the poverty incidence is 18 percent, there should be an option for the young to graduate from basic education soonest, after four years of high school, so that they can help their parents in their farms or micro-businesses,” read the explanatory note of Arroyo’s still unnumbered bill.

“If they want to go on to a professional education, that is when they can prepare themselves by having two years of post-secondary or pre-university education after high school to enhance their chances of succeeding in college or university and onward to professional licensure,” it added.

Arroyo raised her proposal during last Wednesday’s hearing of the House committees on basic education and culture and higher and technical education regarding a proposed measure strengthening technical-vocational-livelihood education (TVL) in senior high school.

The former president moved to defer discussions on the bill since her proposal would have an impact on the entire K-12 system, including TVL, which is one of the tracks in senior high school.

The proposal amends several provisions of Republic Act 10533, the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, that established the K-12 system.

Sought for comment, Department of Education (DepEd) spokesman Michael Poa said they “commit to participate in the discussions in Congress.”

‘K-12 not for all’

Duterte’s remarks regarding possible changes in the K-12 program were caught on video currently circulating online.

In the video taken during her recent trip to Oriental Mindoro, she stressed that DepEd’s mandate only covers basic and functional literacy.

“That means reading, writing and comprehension. That is the requirement of basic education. For higher education, it’s specialization,” she said in Filipino.

She added that the K-12 program was created to make the country at par with international standards, but many Filipinos do not need it as they do not intend to go abroad.

“Many of our learners work here and do not need K-12,” Duterte said. “So one of the directions of President Marcos is for us to study how to implement this because he wants this implemented immediately.”

Recent studies showed that K-12 graduates are not “job-ready” and that many of those who pursue college education still have to retake or undergo bridging classes for the general education subjects that they should have completed in senior high school.

It remains to be seen what would be retained from senior high school in Arroyo’s proposed “post-secondary, pre-university education.”

Her bill includes a transitory provision mandating the DepEd, Commission on Higher Education and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to jointly formulate strategies to implement the “K+10+2” cycle.

“The strategies may cover changes in physical infrastructure, manpower, organizational and structural concerns to include the students’ pursuit of post-secondary technical or vocational certificates, and transitions for those availing of the ladderized education program,” it read.

ACT: Scrap K-12

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) wants the program to be scrapped, saying it is not designed to boost genuine national development, and only produces cheap and docile labor for foreign employers.

The group said that government’s consideration to make Grade 11 and 12 voluntary is essentially an admission of failure of the K-12 program.

“Since its inception, ACT has called for the junking of the K-12 program as it is not designed to bolster a genuine national development,” said ACT chairperson Vladimer Quetua.