K-12 program up for review

Grade 12 students of Luis Ferrer Jr. Senior High School in General Trias, Cavite, were among the first batch of K-12 program graduates in 2018. (PNA photo)

A joint congressional oversight committee will convene in January to review the implementation of the K-12 program as it is not “living [up to] its promise of providing employable senior high school graduates.”

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chair of the Basic Education, Arts and Culture committee, said in a statement on Thursday that their counterparts in the House of Representatives also affirmed that the program is facing challenges in terms of employing senior high school graduates.

House members noted that “among the biggest challenges of the K-12 program is the persisting inadequacy of equipment in schools.”

Gatchalian said the joint oversight committee hearing will be conducted to ensure that the program meets the needs of both students and the private sector.

“The K-12 program is a massive historical educational reform we introduced to produce quality of graduates that our country needs. While the program has gaps and challenges, we need to sustain it in a way that also addresses implementation issues to provide quality education and boost global competitiveness,” Gatchalian said.

He added that the budget proposal for the K-12 curriculum implementation will be thoroughly scrutinized in the Senate as the Department of Education gets a large portion from the P4.1-trillion national budget.

Under the budget version of the House of Representatives, P551.7 billion will be allotted to the Education department while P550.89 billion will be under the National Expenditures Program submitted by the Executive Department.

“As we work towards finalizing the 2020 budget, we will ensure that the program gets an allocation that responds to the needs of both students and teachers. We need to make parents and students feel that this program is helpful, not an added burden,” Gatchalian said.

It was during the administration of President Benigno Aquino III when the national education curriculum shifted from Basic Education to K-12, which added two more years now known as the Senior High School program.