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MANILA, Philippines — The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines is seeking the overhaul of the Kinder to Grade 12 (K-12) program amid its ongoing review by the Department of Education (DepEd).
The group issued the call on Tuesday, echoing the findings of a Pulse Asia survey commissioned by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian that showed 44 percent of adults were dissatisfied with the program first implemented in 2012.
According to ACT chair Vladimer Quetua, the current K-12 program “is bound to fail in bringing development,” as it could not give Filipino families decent-paying jobs with security of tenure.
“Employers who are dissatisfied with [K-12] only mean that they are not happy enough with the training of our [K-12] graduates for what scant wages that they are willing to pay. They demand that the exploitative system be further intensified,” he said in a statement.
‘Whole education system’
For the group, the current K-12 only made the country competitive against other underdeveloped countries in producing “a steady stream of semi-skilled cheap labor force for foreign capital.”
“These kinds of jobs are largely contractual in nature and are the lowest-paying in different industries,” Quetua added.
“The whole education system needs to be overhauled. Education should serve the aspiration of Filipinos for national development. We need a system of education that will develop our agriculture and serve the establishment of national industries,” he noted.
Gatchalian filed Proposed Senate Resolution No. 5 seeking a Senate inquiry into the status of the implementation of the Republic Act No. 10533, or the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013.
K-12 review finished
He said the review of the law would be his priority when Congress resumes session—exactly 10 years from the time the enhanced curriculum for K-12 was initially implemented in school year 2012-2013.
Prior to the law’s enactment in 2013, the Philippines was the only country in Asia and one of only three countries worldwide, together with Angola and Djibouti, with a 10-year pre-university cycle.
In late June, then President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. instructed the Department of Education to review the K-12 program’s implementation, as he cited the need to improve the quality of education in the country, particularly in English, Science and Mathematics.
According to Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, the DepEd under the previous administration already finished the review of the curriculum for Kinder to Grade 10. Its findings, however, have yet to be made public.
Duterte last week ordered a look into the curriculum for Grades 11 and 12.
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