A MOTHERS INSIGHT ON THE K-12 PROGRAM

Metro Manila, Philippines
7:00 AM

By Felix Joshua Gaddi

The K-12 System in the PH

In 2011, the Government officially announced something that would welcome millions of students across the country and would shape their future: The K-12 program. The K-12 Program is more than just adding years to your child’s schooling. It aims to provide sufficient time and education for every student so that they can be globally competitive in the near future. And although this means that Parents around the country would be shedding more money than they usually would, the government believes that this is of little sacrifice in exchange to give their child the best quality education the country has to offer.

Some however are against this program, saying that it is too early for implementing the program and believe it this is not the solution to the real problem at hand, which is the declining rate of jobs in the country.  In a separate article, parents expressed their dismay and believe that K-12 is just a half-baked experiment.

Parents firmly oppose the K-12 system, 2015

In the article “Parents to Deped: Don’t experiment with our kids”, Parents’ Movement Against K-12 spokesperson Jovita Montes said that their group was formed in partnership with women’s rights group Gabriela to call for the suspension of the education reform program which adds two years of high school to the country’s current 10-year basic education program.

Montes said during the group’s launch in Manila that they were against the implementation of the program because they believed that DepEd was “ill-prepared.” The group will be launching a nationwide signature campaign seeking the support of other parents opposed to the K to 12 program.

“As a parent, is it okay with you that your child’s education is subject to experimentation?” said Montes, whose youngest daughter will be among the first batch to enter senior high school in 2016. She said they feared the new program would not guarantee quality education.

“Our fear is the quality of education [that will result from this program]. Yes, it’s guaranteed that after two years your child may be able to land a job, but what kind of job would that be?” she said, adding that the technical-vocational track of the program would only result in the production of “cheap labor.”

Students entering senior high school in 2016 have four tracks to choose from: Academic, technical-vocational livelihood, sports, and arts and design. Montes said the unavailability of some of the program’s four tracks in public schools also proved to be troublesome for the parents. This article was published exactly 3 years ago on the 11^th of May 2015.

Photo grabbed at change.org site

There is an existing petition online at change.org to stop the k-12 program, urging all Filipinos to help stop the K-12 program because of the following points:

1.       K-12 will increase joblessness and depress wages, reinforce labor export:

They believe that K-12 is not a solution to unemployment in the country 

because bringing down the age of the employable pool will increase

 joblessness in the country and lower the value of Filipino labor.

2.       K-12 will only bring additional burdens to Filipino youth and their parents:

They believe that K-12 will only make students and their parents 

bear the brunt of the high costs of education and annual increases 

in tuition and other school fees. K-12 will further privatize and 

commercialize education.

3.       K-12 will worsen current education woes:

They believe that K-12 is not the solution to low-quality education. 

This program will aggravate instead the country’s education crisis. 

Touting K-12 as a solution to the poor quality of education is actually 

a feeble attempt to cover up a more glaring fact: that low-quality of 

education is a result of the government’s grave insufficient allocation 

of funds and foreign-dictated policies.

With this in mind, we will be seeking insights from parents 3 years after the issue.  I will be interviewing my mother, who so happens to have a K-12 graduate daughter and is a government employee for more than 20 years. She will be sharing her thoughts on the K-12 program.

VO interview K-12

In the interview, my Mom noted that K-12 should have been thoroughly studied before deciding to implement the program. The program was imposed hastily, and therefore it seemed as if the first batch of students who are included in the program were mere experiments to oversee the early turnout of the program. 

Me: “So what do you think of the K-12 program?”

Interviewee: “Para sakin, mas maganda ang k-12 kung mas napag-aralan maigi ng gobyerno. 

Sa ngayon ay di ko pa masasabing ito ay tagumpay, sapagkat ang k-12 ay dapat masusing 

pinag-aaralan ng gobyerno dahil naksalalay dito ang panahon ng mga kabataan. Mayroon 

mang k-12 o hindi, sa aking palagay, kung mga mag-aaral ay masipag mag-aral at mayrong 

lakas ng loob at tyaga para makamit ang kanilang future, ang dapat gawin ay hindi naman 

dapat mag-suffer ang mga magulang at kabataan, ang dapat bigyan pansin ng gobyerno ay 

ang mismong suliranin sa edukasyon.

 Mawala ang korupsyon sa gobyerno at gamitin (ang pondo) upang makapagtayo ng maayos 

na mga gusaling paaralan at dagdagan ang mga hanap buhay para sa mga makakatapos ng  

kanilang pag-aaral. Hindi dapat mag suffer ang mga kabataan, dahil noong unang panahon, 

kami na mga magulang, di naman kami dumaan sa k-12 pero nandidito naman kami. 

Masasabi naman namin na kami ay may maayos na trabaho at ang mga iba ay nagtatrabaho 

pa sa ibang bansa. Yun ang aking pananaw sa K-12.”

           In conclusion, after 3 years of its official implementation nationwide, some are still doubtful of the K-12 program due to the set backs that brought with it. Though it is still to early to accurately say what the positive and negative impacts now, it is relatable that the K-12 program has been implemented with haste. We do have to note that it is in its early development and we have to wait and see in the near future its true impact on students.

SOURCES:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/690478/parents-to-deped-dont-experiment-with-our-kids
https://www.change.org/p/teachers-youth-parents-stop-the-k-to-12-program