ACT joins call for K to 12 program suspension

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Two weeks before the opening of classes, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) urged the government to suspend the  K to 12 program, citing lack of preparation, especially in terms of facilities, equipment, and the hiring, training and salaries of teachers.

The K to 12 Program adds two more years to basic education in the Philippines. Under the program, schooling now includes kindergarten and 12 years of basic education – six years of primary education, four years of Junior High School and two years of Senior High School.

The program began implementation in school year 2012-2013, with the first year of high school becoming Grade 7. Secondary school levels have been adjusted to junior high school levels every school year thereafter. Senior high school will be implemented starting 2016, with the establishment of Grade 11. Grade 12 will be implemented in 2017.

But three years into the program, ACT is convinced “we are not ready” for it, said ACT national chair Benjie Valbuena.

“For instance, out of the P68.7 billion allocated last year for classroom construction, only a meager P2.9 billion, or 4.22 percent, was released for implementation. Out of that figure, only P1.7 billion has been utilized,” Valbuena said, in a statement.

Valbuena also cited a backlog in the construction school laboratories and sanitation facilities, in deliveries of books and modules, and in the hiring of more teachers, to resolve the problem of large-sized classes.

“The government must address also the clamor for salary increase as stipulated in the Magna Carta of Public School Teachers
and the Salary Standardization Law III,” Valbuena said.

Under the salary standardization law, state workers’ pay should be increased every three years, but according to ACT-National Capital Region union secretary Joy Martinez, the last salary increase teachers received was in 2009.

“There has been no salary increase for teachers under President Aquino’s time,” Martinez pointed out, speaking in Filipino in a press conference at the ACT headquarters on Tuesday.

“If teachers are going hungry, will the K-12 program work?” Martinez asked, rhetorically. “A salary increase is justified. According to the Philippine Constitution, education should be given the highest budgetary consideration. But the budget for education now is just 2.3 percent of the national budget. That’s not even half of international standards of six percent,” Martinez said.

“We are trying to globalize education in the Philippines, but not its budget,” Martinez pointed out.

Too, teachers lambast the Department of Education’s Order no. 7, issued last March 27, increasing the passing grade, from 55 to 70, required of public school teachers before they can be considered for hiring.

According to Quezon city public school teachers association (QCPSTA) president Priscilla Ampuan, “the implication is that, nationwide, there will be less new teachers for school year 2015-2016.” Ampuan said for Quezon city alone, only 120 out of 1,500 applicants passed because of the new policy.

“Licensed teachers have been hoping to get hired because the government said 30,000 teachers will be needed for senior high school. But how will they get accepted with there is now a higher passing rate?” Ampuan said.

Ampuan urged that the passing rate be lowered to at least 60, and the criteria be adjusted. “It’s too high. For example, they put a lot of premium on work experience, so that excludes the fresh graduates,” she pointed out.

Ampuan expressed suspicions that the new “limitations” on hiring new teachers cropped up because DepEd will prioritize giving teaching slots to college professors who will be displaced once senior high school is implemented.

“We weren’t even consulted. What kind of preparation was made for K-12? There’s no technology or funds for teachers’ training, and it’s teachers who will implement it. We need more time before it gets [fully] implemented, so we want it suspended as soon as possible, or junked outright,” Ampuan said.

Valbuena said that on May 28, ACT would file a petition with the Supreme Court, asking that K to 12 be suspended. ACT has also started a signature drive for the same cause.

On June 1, during the opening of classes, ACT’s 200,000 members nationwide will hold protests in their respective areas, Valbuena said. ABC