ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro has thrown her weight behind the calls to review to the Enhanced Basic Education Act, popularly known as the K to 12 educational system.
"The K to 12 program has brought with it a countless number of problems with shortages in facilities, learning materials, and lacks support for adequate salaries and benefits for teachers and non-teaching personnel which ultimately compromises the quality of education the students receive...Teachers, students, education support personnel, and the parents experience first-hand the effects of the shortages, under-funding, and low salaries brought by the implementation of the K to 12 program, their clamor should be heard," Castro said in a statement on Thursday, June 23.
" did not enhance the curriculum of basic education. It simply mandated additional 2 years of high school and even condensed lessons to the pupils leaving behind many. We should also remember that the removal of Philippine History as a separate subject in high school and the removal of the Filipino language and Filipino literature in tertiary education as required units as a result of the implementation of the K to 12 program. Moves in the policies for education that would worsen the education crisis in the country," Castro continued.
"Government has to put up a nationalist, scientific and mass-oriented curriculum and system of education, and at the same time, create more decent jobs with decent wages through national industrialization which would make available millions of jobs for Filipinos...The budget for the K to 12 program has been increasing every year without addressing perennial problems of shortages in classrooms, learning materials, teachers, and education support personnel, among others. These shortages are endured every day by teachers, other school personnel, parents, and students which were highlighted and have worsened by the pandemic. Our teachers, the parents, and our students are forced to shell out from their own pockets to make school facilities and equipment available to gain access to quality education," she said.
Castro and the ACT Teachers party-list have been long time critics of the K to 12 system, even urging outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte to scrap the educational system.
The aforementioned party-list is a member of the Makabayan cluster, traditionally considered an opposition bloc and vocal critics of the Duterte and incoming Marcos administration.
Vice President-elect Sara Duterte–also the incoming Secretary of Education–bared that President-elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. had ordered the incoming administration's review of the K to 12 educational system which was passed during the Aquino administration.
Read more here: https://mb.com.ph/2022/06/20/incoming-deped-chief-vp-sara-duterte-to-review-k-12-program/
"We will refile our resolution urging the House of Representatives to conduct a review of the K to 12 program and the status of its implementation. It is about time that the government takes notice of the perennial problems in education, especially those brought about by the K to 12 program. We urge Congress and incoming Department of Education Secretary, Vice President-elect Sara Duterte to listen to teachers, education support personnel, unions, students, and parents for their investigation of the K to 12 program to see the realities and effects of under-funding, low salaries, and the shortages brought about by the implementation of the Enhanced Basic Education program," the teacher solon concluded.