Catholic schools back K+12 program

DESPITE the additional costs to parents and to them, Catholic schools in Central Visayas still voiced support for the government’s K+12 program over the weekend.

Rev. Fr. Gregg L. Bañaga, president of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP), said the program will benefit graduates in the long run since it would make it easier for them to land overseas jobs.

“We see that it is good for the country. Our engineers often end up as technicians not because they aren’t capable but because (they lack the educational credits),”  Bañaga told delegates of the two-day CEAP regional assembly in Cebu City.

During the assembly held at Hotel Fortuna, Fr. Bañaga said the Philippines, Botswana and Angola are the only three countries with 10 years of basic education in the world.

“We are trying to give seminars to all teachers even parents so that they will really see the importance of this approach to educational system,” CEAP Region 7 Trustee Rev. Fr. Enrico Peter A. Silab, OAR said.

The K+12 program launched last April will consist of one year of kindergarten, six years of elementary school, four years of junior high school and two years senior high school.

Regional Director Dr. Amelia A. Biglete of the Commission on Higher Education in Central Visayas (CHED-7) said high school students will then be asked to choose either to pursue further studies or take technical and vocational courses.

A memorandum was also released by CHED imposing a moraturium on graduate and undergrad programs on information technology, education and nursing.

Also covered under the CHED order are business administration and hotel and restaurant management courses.

Biglete said their office is promoting science and technology and agriculture and fisheries courses instead.  The Philippines ranked 34th out of 38 countries in Asia in high school Mathematics and 43rd out of 46 in Science.

Capping the CEAP assembly is the campus tour for Central Visayas Catholic educators to the Sisters of Mary (SOM) school, the K to 12 model campus in the region.

The Sisters of Mary schools in Minglanilla and Talisay City have implemented components of the K + 12 program even before the program went into effect this year. With SWU Intern Agnes Domasig