Baguio exec calls for suspension of K-12

By Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY – Councilor Leandro Yangot Jr. called for the suspension of the K to 12 program implementation pending the resolution of cases questioning its constitutionality.

In his proposed resolution, Yangot said there are grey areas that need to be cleared first before the program can be effectively implemented.

He said there are now four cases filed before the Supreme Court assailing the program’s constitutionality.

Yangot noted loopholes in the program like its “lack of legal foundation as applied to children who were subjected to the K to 12 Program prior to the passage of Rep. Act No.  10533 in 2013” as articulated by Department of Education Secretary Armin Luistro himself in his report to the Senate where he stated that the K to 12 Program will produce two kinds of graduates: a) the real graduates of the K to 12  Program whose first batch will graduate in 2024 under Rep. Act No. 10533;  and b) the other graduates of the K to 12 Program whose first batch will graduate from secondary school  in 2018 under Department of Education Order No. 31.

“In the same report to the Senate, Sec. Luistro admitted that the government will need at least 30,000 classrooms and almost 40,000 teachers for the opening of Grade 11 in 2016 which are still not available as funding therefor is dependent on whether or not Congress will appropriate budget, on top of the Department’s backlogs for the previous years,” Yangot said.

“Aside from the above requirements of the K to 12 Program the funding provision of which is still uncertain, the Department of Education does not have enough classrooms and teachers to meet present needs, such that in certain areas of the country, grades are combined or two shifts of shortened classes per grade are held.”

He said that even the Commission on Audit,  in an  audit report released recently brought up lapses in planning and lack of foresight in implementing the K to 12 program which deprive students of their access to quality education;

He said that at present many colleges and universities are taking advantage of the program to violate the security of tenure of employees as shown by Saint Louis University’s plan to retrench 180 employees and dismiss around 400 contractual faculty instead of working on measures to protect its employees or mitigate the adverse effects of the Program.

“While there are no safety nets or protective measures in place to ensure the full protection of labor, university and college teachers and other employees will be vulnerable to massive displacement and violation of their rights, exacerbating the acute unemployment in the country,” Yangot stressed.

The program which added two years to high school education, with the roll-out of Grade 7 under Department of Education Order No. 31, s. 2012 was implemented in June 2012.

On May 15, 2013, Pres. Benigno S. Aquino signed Republic Act 10533 or the Enhanced Basic Education Act, statutorily institutionalizing the K to 12 Program applying for the first time to children who enrolled in kindergarten during the academic year 2013.

Yangot’s proposal was referred to the council committee on education for study.