K-12 Program : Are we ready?

PNoy Launches K + 12 Program 

  Manila Bulletin – Tue, Apr 24, 2012

MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno S. Aquino III Tuesday led the launch of the K + 12 Basic Education Program of the Department of Education (DepEd), which would add two years to the country's basic education and increase capabilities among students who would opt to work after graduating from high school.

This, he said, is part of his administration's efforts to reform the system of education in the country.

Aquino said that instead of compressing students' learning in a 10-year basic education, the new program would enable students to further appreciate what they have learned with an additional two years of education.

Also Tuesday, public school teachers asked President Aquino to "put more funds" to the K + 12 Program of the Department of Education (DepEd) "to ensure that there is enough funds to properly implement the program."

The K +12 begins with kindergarten, six years of elementary education, four years of junior high school, and two years in senior high school. It will be implemented in all public elementary and high schools nationwide this coming school year.

According to Aquino, the Philippines used to be the only country in Asia and one of the three countries in the world left with 10 years of basic education. The other two are in Africa.

"We want a stronger foundation for the next generation," he said in Filipino.

The President, meanwhile, said he is mulling a tablet-based education as a solution against textbook scams.

"We want our reading materials to be tablet-based so that when errors are found, it would be easier to correct and there would be no need to recall the textbooks," Aquino said.

"We're just waiting for the prices to go down," he said.

"We are making ways to ensure that it is logged in the system so it would not be a source of corruption," he added.

This, he said, will be part of the DepEd's P238.8-billion budget for 2012.

DepEd Secretary Armin Luistro, for his part, said there are enough textbooks and school furniture for the coming school year. 

"We have zero back log in textbooks and school furniture for School Year (SY) 2012 to 2013," Luistro said.

It was recalled that in February, President Aquino signed Republic Act (RA) 10157 or the Kindergarten Education Law, which provides free and compulsory kindergarten education beginning school year 2012 to 2013. Under the this law, children aged five will be required to take up a year in Kindergarten in preparation for entry to Grade 1.

The Teachers' Dignity Coalition (TDC) made the appeal for more funds for public school teachers after the K + 12 Program's launching in Malacañang.

TDC national spokesman Benjo Basas said teachers continue to express apprehension on the K to 12 program of the Aquino government, saying the "system would need enough funds to properly implement the program."

"K to 12 is the flagship program of (the Aquino) administration," Basas said. "Therefore, the education sector should be given the funds it needs to successfully implement this program," he added. 

Basas said their group continues to be wary of the program, challenging the administration to first resolve the existing problems of the education sector particularly the shortages in much needed resources.

While the DepEd is doing everything to close the gaps - including solicitation from private donors, partnership with LGUs and indirect contributions from parents and students like in Brigada Eskwela - Basas said "these small measures would not be enough considering the ever-growing necessities of public education sector."

He said the national government, "specifically the President should make the first move and put the education budget in his priorities." 

Meanwhile, Education Secretary Armin Luistro said the DepEd is continuing to address the shortages in education resources like textbooks, teachers, classrooms, toilets, and desks.

He also reported that by June, DepEd will be able to achieve a 1:1 student to textbook ratio, thereby achieving a zero backlog in textbooks. "We have also procured over 1 million school seats so when classes open in June, we would have closed two out of the five input gaps haunting the public school system," he said. 

Luistro also called for stakeholders to work together to achieve the collective goal of providing "adequate and equal opportunities for every Filipino youth to have a decent and honorable way of living."

Sen. Edgardo J. Angara reiterated that the proposed K + 12 Program - and the wholesale changes aimed at strengthening our educational system - is not only timely, but long overdue.

"The call for educational reforms was sounded off three decades ago, back when I chaired the Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM) which recommended the trifocalization of the system into the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA)," Angara said in a statement.

He expressed elation now that through the resolve of the DepEd, "we will finally start delivering world-class education to a larger number of Filipinos at relatively no cost to them." (With reports from Ina Hernando Malipot and Rolly T. Carandang)

Stephen says:

After reading the news article above about the K-12 program in the Philippines, “PNoy Launches K+12 Program”, I have realized that it might have bad effects in our country and might ruin our society through the risk that it might fail to accomplish its objectives. Furthermore, with the slow integration of the new K-12 program today, the first batch of 1^st grader and 7^th grader students already started this school year, and it has already targeted its full implementation on 2016. However, many believe that this change of educational system may bring bad effects on our country, and I too believe in that. In addition to that, with the growing economic problems in our country, this could be a hindrance and not an answer with our country’s problems. These are the reasons why K-12 program should be abolished:

     1.       Classrooms. With the continuous growth of our population, the lack of funds, and add up those corrupt official would simply equal to this. The classrooms are one of the major problems that our country faces in terms of education. The government faces lack of classrooms, classrooms getting flooded, and classrooms that are having poor facilities; chairs, tables, chalkboards, etc. These problems are truly manifested in our country today, and we, Filipinos, can see that. Furthermore, even it they have already started creating classrooms, is it going to be enough? Will it be able to cater all the students? Are they going to have good facilities that are conducive to the students? Therefore, there is a risk that we might still have a shortage of classrooms and school facilities in 2016. However, the government still chooses to pursue its plan, even though these problems are not given any solutions, and if the government already has solutions, these solutions are still unnoticeable. 


2.       Books. Many students and parents are complaining about the books, especially on the public schools that are having problems on the shortage of books, and ruined and obsolete books. However, PNoy suggested a solution for this problem, “Tablet-Based books”, which I think is very impractical and unattainable as of our current state because as of the moment we cannot buy books for our students, and then PNoy will suggest that we should have “Tablet-Based books”. Furthermore, if PNoy will wait for the Tablet PC’s price to go down, that Tablet PC is already obsolete or outdated. Plus, how can the poor download data and store it on their tablet if they do not have money for computer? If the money for the Tablet PC is being used to buy books, we might have good quality books and we could have more that what we needed. Thus, we should not allow this to happen, because we need our President to prioritize things before he take actions. We should wait for our country to be ready before we jump into these changes.

  3.       Teachers. Teachers are also a part of the reasons why K-12 program should be stopped. The reason is that, most teachers are still not trained for the new educational system and the government is already fully implementing it on 2016. Furthermore, without proper trainings and seminars, teachers will not be able to teach their students properly, and and students will not be able to learn properly. However, many schools are already training their teachers in preparation for the fully implementation of the K-12 program. But, the question is, are they going to be ready on 2016?

      4.       Parents. There are a lot of parents who are against this K-12 program, because it is an additional burden for them. Adding an additional two years of basic education, the Junior High and the Senior High, is an extra two year financial burden for most parents especially the poor and the marginal ones. Imagine those parents who are almost on their knees only to send their kids in school. Furthermore, our previous graduates are also globally competitive, in USA, China, Japan, and other countries, even though they did not have this K-12 program.

Indeed, Philippines is the only country in Asia that is left implementing the 10-year basic education program. However, it is not a good reason for us to change into the K-12 program. The government thinks that implementing this, K-12 program, would answer the growing poverty in our country because students are more matured, well-rounded, and globally-competitive, well they are wrong because we have matured, well-rounded, and globally-competitive workers abroad who are competing with others nationalities. Furthermore, there are clear reasons why it is still very impractical for us to implement this, K-12 program, and that is the problem concerning classrooms, books, teachers, and parents. Therefore, it is better for us to wait the time when we our country is ready for change in its educational system before we end up in the point of no return. 

As one famous quote says, "The die is cast!"