K+12 no answer to education woes, say bishops

Not everyone is enamored of the new school curriculum.

At the start of the new school year, several Catholic bishops have expressed doubt the K+12 program of the Department of Education (DepEd) is the answer to the deteriorating quality of basic education in the country.

Marbel (Cotabato) Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez said that instead of adding two years to basic education, the government should work to provide for more schools, competent teachers and high-quality textbooks to boost the quality of education in the public schools.

“The two-year addition to basic education will not help improve the quality of education in the Philippines but more schools and skilled teachers,” said Gutierrez over Church-run Radio Veritas on Sunday.

“Quality education requires good textbooks and workbooks, good and intelligent teachers, a good educational environment, discipline, prayers and, of course, money that the government should provide,” he said.

The DepEd has rolled out the expanded public kindergarten program this school year as part of the government’s K+12 (Kindergarten plus 12 years) program, which will add two years to the regular 10-year basic education cycle.

The complete implementation of the program will happen in five years.

Baguio Bishop Carlito Cenzon said that parents should monitor the program to see if extending the basic education cycle would really benefit their children or just be an additional burden to them.

“The parents should continue monitoring the school heads and personnel, they should also know whether this program will really help,” said Cenzon also over Radio Veritas yesterday.

While the government prepares for the full implementation of the program, Cotabato Auxiliary Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo said the children in his province will still face the same old problems when they go back to school on Monday.

“Students still have to walk far to reach their schools and because of poverty, they cannot afford to buy school uniforms and supplies,” said Bagaforo.

Classes in restive areas also cannot be conducted smoothly and would have to be suspended often because of the tensions and conflicts between government troops and armed rebels, the prelate added.

In southern Mindanao, a teachers’ organization said the DepEd was unprepared for the mandatory kindergarten curriculum.

The Kahugpungan sa mga Magtutudlo ug Kawani sa Edukasyon sa Mindanao (Kamkem), or Alliance of Teachers and Education Employees, said that up to the school opening, the DepEd was still looking for volunteer teachers to handle kindergarten classes.

Elenito Escalante, Kamkem chair, said the situation was glaring even at Kapitan Tomas Monteverde, one of the largest public schools in Davao City.

Escalante said that at Monteverde there was only one kindergarten teacher to handle some 300 pupils.

The DepEd had said it expected the number of kindergarteners in southern Mindanao to rise above last year’s 54,847 enrollees in 800 public schools.

“The DepEd is now in haste, looking for volunteer teachers to teach kindergarten, saying that if no volunteer comes up, grade one teachers already handling classes will have to fill in,” he said.

The problem, Escalante said, is that Grade 1 teachers already have their hands full and will be so burdened by the additional load.

Escalante said it appeared that instead of addressing the problem of the declining quality of education, DepEd officials have offered solutions that will only worsen the problem.

DepEd officials in southern Mindanao were not available for comment.

In the information kit on the K+12 program, which it released last week, the DepEd said there was no need to allot an additional budget for kindergarten teachers because they would not be handling additional work beyond their regular workload.

Escalante said that without an additional budget for more teachers and classrooms, K+12 will further burden the existing pool of public school teachers and, in turn, worsen the already deteriorating quality of education in the country.

“How can you expect quality education if you lack teachers to teach,” he said. With a report from Germelina Lacorte, Inquirer Mindanao