WITH the recent announcement of PAGASA that it is officially summer in the Philippines, it almost became a go signal for students who are on summer vacation to head down to the beach or unwind in the cool mountains with their friends and family.
For the Department of Education (DepEd), however, the coming school year this June also serves as a go signal to implement the first phase of the K+12 (kindergarten+12 years) program, in which the Universal kindergarten will be introduced in almost 38,000 national elementary schools of the country. The Universal kindergarten will be mandatory so as to train young children to read and write before stepping up to grade one.
Aside from the Universal kindergarten, the K+12 also include six years of elementary education, four years of junior high school, and an additional two years of senior high school with the general aim “to provide better quality education for all.” The K+12 imposes on adding two more years in national secondary schools so as to “decongest and enhance” the basic education curriculum.
Following its initial implementation this school year 2011-2012, the new curriculum will be implemented to grade one and high school students come the school year 2012-2013.
The K+12 program is also one of President Aquino’s answers to poverty. He was quoted in the Enhanced K+12 basic education program discussion paper that he wants “at least 12 years for our public school children to give them an even chance of succeeding” with those who can afford to go to universities.
While the current curriculum is intended for those who cannot afford, parents living in poverty see otherwise saying in a report from ABS-CBN news that additional two years are a burden since they “can barely meet the finances for their children’s school projects and other household necessities especially these days when prices are high.”
Other concerns like slashing of DepEd’s budget proposal of P300billion ($6billion) to P207million ($4million), caused outcries from students of national universities, not to mention, the issue of classroom, textbooks, and teachers shortage.
According to UNESCO, the Philippines is the only country with a 10-year education cycle.
Although an additional budget of P43.67billion ($995million) is needed for more classrooms, teachers, and textbooks, Luistro stressed that “DepEd is not yet focusing on the financial aspect of the program since the additional two years of school will only be set up by school year 2016-2017.” He, however, said that the shortages in classrooms are currently being addressed.
Everybody deserves to be educated. Knowing that some people are really eager to learn but could not because of poverty should serve as an inspiration for others who can afford to go to school. Real education is something more than a means to make a living in the future; it is being able live a life outside the school and applying the knowledge gained to make it accessible to everyone.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(Las Vegas April 28-May 4, 2011 Sec A pg.6)
