THE Department of Education (DepEd) maintained that it is not giving President Benigno Aquino III wrong information on the government’s readiness to implement the K to 12 program, contrary to claims made by a senator.
In a statement, DepEd disputed the claims made by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV that the education department is deceiving Aquino into thinking that the country is all set to fully implement the basic education reform program.
“The Department of Education (DepEd) strongly objects to the accusation that DepEd officials and other agencies are feeding President Benigno S. Aquino III with wrong information on the readiness of the government to implement the K to 12 Program. The Department maintains fidelity to the Filipino people and assures them that we continue to be transparent and accountable,” the statement read.
DepEd said that K to 12 implementation is “on track,” citing figures pertaining to its preparations such as the construction of more classrooms and hiring additional teachers.
“We reiterate that the government is on track in the implementation of the K to 12 Program. In fact, DepEd has built 86,478 classrooms and hired 128,105 teachers from 2010 to 2014. DepEd has already requested funds for the construction of 27,499 classrooms, and will be hiring 37,000 teachers in 2016 for Senior High School alone,” DepEd said.
In an interview on DZBB on Sunday, Trillanes said that several schools still lacked classrooms, teachers and instructional materials to accommodate students who would enroll for Senior High School.
“I’ve raised these issues [about the DepEd’s lack of preparation for K to 12] in 2012, but I never got in the way of their preparation for the program’s implementation. DepEd is already lying and deceiving the President. The Philippines is not yet ready for K to 12,” Trillanes said.
He also accused Education Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro, FSC and members of the government’s education cluster of misleading Aquino.
“Everyone is telling him (Aquino) that we’re prepared at ready to go [to implement K to 12]. Since he has already allotted funding for the K to 12, he cannot see in his level why there is a need to suspend it,” the senator said.
Trillanes and Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano and Francis Ashley Acedillo filed a petition before the Supreme Court last May 6 seeking to declare the K to 12 program as unconstitutional. The petitioners claimed that relevant stakeholders were not properly consulted for the program’s implementation.
Meanwhile, Malacañang on Monday said that it is ready to defend the constitutionality of the K to 12 program before the Supreme Court.
“The K to 12 program is important for the country’s future that it why the government will defend its importance before the Supreme Court. Everything is being done to ensure the proper implementation of the program and the needs of the students and teachers are being addressed,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in a statement. AC
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