By Cielito M. Reganit
MANILA, April 16 (PNA) — Despite the various hurdles that the Department of Education (DepEd) is facing in implementing the K to 12 Program, a Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) stalwart at the House of Representatives on Thursday expressed his full support for K-12 and said the program will serve as the necessary springboard to have an educational system that rivals the best in the world.
Valenzuela City Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian said that regardless of the challenges, we have to keep our eyes on the prize, which is an education system that rivals the best systems in the world in terms of equal access and learning outcomes.
“In all honesty, we will have to make certain sacrifices today if we want to reach our goal tomorrow. We need to use foresight, and we need to exercise strong political will to push ahead with challenging but meaningful programs such as this,” he said.
He noted that DepEd is currently facing challenges as the K-12 implementation approaches – among them the lack of classrooms and teaching personnel.
However, he said he remains optimistic that DepEd is capable of addressing these problems.
“I think their preparations are on track and they have available solutions for the problems. That is why I am positive that the DepEd will overcome these logistical challenges in implementing a program that will reap long-term benefits for Filipino students,” the lawmaker said.
Gatchalian pointed out that K-12 program is designed to make students more employable after graduation as it introduces different tracks of specialization in preparation for college or actual employment.
Under the K-12 program, students in senior high school may specialized in academics, sports, arts and design, and technical vocational livelihood.
Senior high school students will also undergo immersion, which may include earn-while-you-learn opportunities, to provide them relevant exposure and actual work experience in their chosen track.
After finishing K-12, senior high school graduates will also obtain National Certificate Level I (NC I) and National Certificate Level II (NC II) accreditation, equivalent to a two-year training in the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
“Having NC I and NC II improves the employability of high school graduates in fields like agriculture, electronics, and trade,” Gatchalian said.
Meanwhile, he said that the government has allotted P53.9 billion to the budget of DepEd to cover the construction of 31,728 classrooms and the repair of another 9,500 in preparation for the K to 12 program.
The said budget will also fund the construction of 13,586 water and sanitation facilities as well as 455 technical-vocational laboratories, and the procurement of 1.3 million chairs.
For the mid-2015 report of DepEd on K-12, a voucher program for incoming senior high school will also be introduced to subsidize their tuition fee in private high schools, or state universities and colleges.
“Congress is also preparing a P29-billion transition fund for the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to create more jobs for teaching and non-teaching personnel that may get displaced once K-12 program starts,” Gatchalian said. (PNA)