Philippines
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Teachers' group says K-12 program failed to fulfill its promises
Teachers' group says K-12 program failed to fulfill its promises
The country’s K-12 basic education system failed to fulfill its promises, said Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) ten years after the program was implemented in the Philippines.
“Noong magsisimula ang K-12 na ito 10 years ago, pinag uusapan na natin ito. Nag release kami ng issues, concerns, at pagtutol. Mukhang hindi naman natupad ‘yung lahat ng pinangako ng K-12 (When this K-12 started 10 years ago, we were already talking about it. We released issues, concerns, and objections. It seems that all the promises of K-12 have not been fulfilled),” said TDC National Chairperson Benjo Basas in an interview over DZRH on Monday, July 18.
Among these promises, according to Basas, were to prepare the children for tertiary education, increase the youth’s “employability” or readiness in the workforce, and enhance skill competency for the global market.
“We really a scientific assessment on this, pero sa tingin namin ay bigo na maibigay ng K-12 program iyong pangako na ito (We really need a scientific assessment on this, but we think the K-12 program has failed to deliver these promises),” he furthered.
His statement came after Pulse Asia’s latest survey was released. This survey conducted on June 24 to June 27, showed that there is an increasing number of Filipino adults who are “dissatisfied” with the country’s K-12 program.
Pulse Asia’s survey indicated that of the 1,200 Filipino adult respondents, 44 percent were not satisfied, 39 percent were satisfied, and 18 percent were undecided.
Despite this, Basas underscored that these criticisms do not mean that they want to go back to the old education system. He likewise urged the national government to review this issue thoroughly to determine the most efficient and practical method to implement in the Philippines.
“Unti unti tayong nag-aadapt dito. Pero, tignan din natin kung ano ang capacity ng ating gobyerno para tustusan dahil dito tayo nagkakatalo. Napaka ambitious ng programa, napaka ambitious ng project, at napaka ambitious ng gusto nating gawin dito sa ating education system and yet hindi naman natin binibigyan ng pondo simula noong ipinatupad natin ito noong 2012 (We are gradually adapting to it. But, let’s also look at what our government can finance because this is where we are losing. The program is very ambitious, the project is very ambitious, and what we want to do here in our education system is very ambitious, and yet we have not given enough funding since we implemented it in 2012),” he added.