The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) on Friday, Jan. 5, expressed its profound concern and dismay over the “ill-advised directive” to discontinue the Senior High School (SHS) program in universities and colleges funded by the government.
ACT, in a statement, said that the discontinuation of SHS programs in State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs) will “pose significant impact on students, particularly those at risk of losing access to free education due to financial constraints.”
CHED, in a memorandum issued last December, directed heads of SUCs and LUCs to discontinue the offering of SHS due to a lack of legal basis in funding.
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https://mb.com.ph/2024/1/2/ched-confirms-discontinuation-of-shs-program-in-su-cs-lu-cs
For ACT, CHED’s memorandum directing the discontinuation of SHS programs in LUCs and SUCs “threatens to have severe consequences on students’ access to free education and public school teachers’ working conditions.”
This circumstance, ACT added, may also “compel students to pursue education in private schools, imposing an undue financial burden on them and their families.”
ACT maintained that closing down SHS programs in the LUCs and SUCs will “not solve the cases of students dropping out of schools but will just exacerbate it.”
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“Furthermore, the directive will worsen the existing shortages in public senior high schools, leading to overworked and overloaded teachers that will accommodate student transferees,” the group added.
ACT furthered that this “domino effect will inevitably result in a compromised learning environment and further decline in the quality of education for our students due to large class sizes and additional workload for teachers.”
Given this, the group urged the Department of Education (DepEd) and the CHED to “reconsider this directive and to recognize the importance of SHS programs” in LUCs and SUCs as integral components of the public education system.
ACT also stressed that the government “must take responsibility” for providing adequate support --- including a higher education budget to address the backlog in the education system.
This, ACT noted, should “encompass” the construction of enough classrooms and facilities, provision of sufficient learning equipment and materials, and hiring of an adequate number of teachers and education support personnel.
Moreover, ACT asserted that “education is a fundamental right” and the government is “duty bound” to make all the necessary policies and programs that will "promote education for all."
“Our present situation demands the establishment and full funding of more schools instead of the closure of existing ones,” ACT said.
Related to this, ACT also reminded government agencies such as DepEd and CHED that any decision affecting “education accessibility and quality must undergo thorough assessment and consultation with all stakeholders.”
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