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K to 12 burden not a solution, group says

DAVAO CITY – An alliance of student leaders, parents, teachers and concerned citizens convened on Saturday, November 12 at the People’s Park Conference Room, for a round-table discussion on the proposed K+12 program of the Aquino administration. The alliance, which calls itself the “No to K+12” Alliance, poses its strong opposition of the said government proposal that aims to add two more years in the basic education cycle.

The alliance said in its position paper that K+12 is more of a burden than a solution to the looming crisis in the educational system of the Philippines. It said further that the implementation of the K+12 policy amidst economic upheaval and depressed reality of the Philippine schools is a lapse in judgement and a wilful abandonment of the state’s responsibility to its citizens.

Krista Melgarejo, of the National Union of Students of the Philippines and a convenor of the “No to K+12” Alliance, said that what the students need is more budget for education.

“The government spends more for debt servicing than for our education. This is manifested by the yearly slash in the subsidy for public schools, which further adds insult to the injury of poor learning environment,” said Melgarejo.

In support to the statement of Melgarejo, Mr. Elenito Escalante, a high school teacher from Daniel R. Aguinaldo National High School and spokesperson of Alliance of Concerned Teachers-Davao, said that not only the parents and the students who are carrying the burden of the educational crisis, but also the teachers, most of whom are unjustly compensated.

“It is very difficult for a teacher who even gets to teach subjects not of his or her field because there is a shortage of teachers. What’s more stressful is that, the average ratio of teacher to students is 1:80, and the ratio of book to students is 1:3. How can we assure quality learning then? This is the real problem and not the number of years of schooling,” said Escalante.

According to DepEd, the bottom place of the Philippines in the Trends in Mathematics and Science Studies (TIMSS) and the poor performance of pupils and students in the National Achievement Tests are enough evidences of the poor educational system, and the best way to resolve this is to add two more years in the basic education cycle.

But, according to Prof. Mae Fe Templa of the Educators’ Forum for Development – Mindanao, “there has already been a research by education experts saying that there is no basis to expect that lengthening the education cycle, calendar-wise, will improve the quality of education. What we need is immediate action on the basic problems of the Filipino people namely: landlessness, unemployment, inadequate social service delivery, among others.”

The alliance is also convinced that the additional years in basic education is a grand design to help high school graduates find jobs easily - or to be exported easily.

“The shortages of classrooms, teachers, and facilities do not provide the right condition for learning no matter how the government adds dozens of years to basic education,” conluded Prof. Templa.

One of the aims of the round-table discussion is to come up with a unified stand that could serve as a basis for legislative agenda for the city council, under the office of Hon. Councilor Leah Librado, who also sponsored the event. ###

For reference:

Krista Iris Melgarejo
Chairperson, National Union of Students of the Philippines - Davao City
09266453953

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National Union of Students of the Philippines

Davao City Chapter
Mobile: +639266453953
Email: nusp.dvo@gmail.com
Facebook: facebook.com/nusp.smr