PNS –AN on-going online survey being conducted by the House of Representatives on adding two years to basic education yesterday showed that 407 or 65.22% of the respondents rejected the proposal.
Based on the partial results of the survey in congress.gov.ph, the official website of the House, as of 12 in the afternoon yesterday, the majority of respondents were against the Kindergarten-12th Grade (K-12) education model being pushed by the government through Education Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro.
Only 206 of the respondents or 33.01% supported the proposal which critics have described as anti-poor despite its good intention to uplift the quality of education.
It was also learned that at least 11 respondents or 1.76% remained undecided on whether the proposal will help improve or not the country’s deteriorating educational system.
Supporting the voice of majority of respondents, Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles said the government can only implement the 12-year basic education if it has fully modernized the public school system and has adequately addressed all shortage problems including the lack of teachers.
“In the meantime, let’s keep our eyes on the ball and focus on what’s needed to be accomplished first. Once we are assured that there are no longer classrooms under the trees, then we are ready to have a 12-year basic education cycle,” said Nograles.
But Aurora Rep. Edgardo “Sonny” Angara Jr., chairman of the House Committee on Higher Education, welcomed the plan as he agreed with the DepEd’s observation that much of the country’s unemployment woes are caused not only by the high rate of students who cannot go to college but mainly by their lack of skills and competencies even after completing secondary education.
Angara said that since many of the country’s secondary school graduates can hardly afford to go to college, the government might as well equip them with better skills and competencies to improve their chances of finding gainful employment even without a college degree.