A federation of private schools is proposing to shift the additional two years of the K to 12 curriculum to preschool instead of retaining the current senior high school structure.

“Look, after 12 years, we are still evaluating the K to 12 program and unfortunately, quite unsatisfied with its results. In fact, even both our students and parents are really not comfortable with K to 12 graduates,” said Eleazardo Kasilag, founder and former president of the Federation of Associations of Private School Administrators (FAPSA).

Kasilag, who owns St. Nicholas School in Marikina City, argued that many students under the K to 12 system are struggling with literacy and comprehension.

“How do you solve the problem like Maria? Simple, bring the additional two years down. Instead of adding the two years after high school and mandate the senior high school, bring those two years to pre-school,” Kasilag said.

He noted that private schools traditionally had a three-year preschool structure—nursery at age four, kindergarten at age five, and preparatory at age six—before entering elementary school at age seven.

“At this tender age—four to six in the private schools—socialization all the way to reading and understanding sight words are mastered,” he said.

“Sight words are set of two or three-letter words and once absorbed, they go to four and more sight words. And it is guaranteed, before they go to elementary, most of them, if not all of them, could read short sentences.”

Kasilag emphasized that during these years, private schools had strong support from parents, and those who struggled with lessons were given tutorial assistance.

“It is here, where we have the full cooperation of our school parents that if the kids find them difficult to hurdle the program, tutorial is given,” he said.

He recalled how the landscape changed after the Department of Education (DepEd) implemented the K to 12 program in 2012 under then Education Secretary Armin Luistro.

“We were doing alright then, until the government, through former Education Secretary Armin Luistro, introduced the K to 12 in 2012. The Department of Education (DepEd) removed the three years in our pre-elementary, retained just the kindergarten, which eventually lessened the number of private schools’ enrollment in the pre-elementary,” Kasilag said.

“Some of our FAPSA schools closed their pre-school when DepEd changed the academic program,” he added.

Kasilag said parents were initially attracted to the change because it was less costly and allowed children to enter elementary earlier.

“The parents, of course, favored the new set up because it is less expensive and kids can immediately go to the elementary. You have to remember, private schools can fail pupils but not the public schools—they have this program, they call it progressive learning or any highfalutin terms.”