Crystalline Andrea B.

Diva
STEM 2A Callisto

No to Abolishment of K to 12 Education in SUCs

The K to 12 system was implemented to prepare young students for college education.
State Universities and Colleges are the places they can get the quality education, facilities and
conducive environment. So why are we abolishing it in SUCs knowing it will lessen places of learning
and make it difficult for students to find schools offering their desired strand.
The Philippines was the only one of three nation in the world without 12 years of basic
education and was also the last Asian country to implement the curriculum. The implementation put
Filipino students at the same level of education attainment and aligned with international
educational norms.
There are millions of senior high school students enrolling each year. For the school year
2018-2019 alone, 2.813 million grade 11 and grade 12 learners enrolled. The numbers will keep
increasing per school year as the program also encourages who dropped out to return to school. As
of 2018, there are 5, 965 public schools that offer senior high school education. In addition, there are
4, 830 private and public universities and colleges, technical-vocational schools and Philippines
schools overseas. If SUCs stopped offering K to 12 education, the schools left will not be able to cater
the needs of millions of students. There will be lack of classrooms and learning materials and
overcrowding of facilities.
Latest National Achievement Tests (NAT) and Trends in International Mathematics and
Science Study (TIMMS) results show low scores. Grade 6 students record a 40% average and Grade
10 students record a 44.1% average, which is lower than the 41.5% and 44.7% averages. Senator
Sherwin Gatchalian, Vice Chair of the Committee on Education, Arts and Culture states that “the
curriculum that is supposed to be taught under K to 12...is not being taught well.” He also brought
up the declining quality of teachers. If SUCs stopped offering K to 12 education, these new teachers
will lack the training they will get working with trained and experienced educators. Moreover, if
senior high school students will study in a non-conducive learning environment taught by educators
with little to no experience, the declining NAT scores will never recover.
Alongside raising 21st century learners, another goal of the K to 12 program is to prepare
them for college education. Before the said program was implemented, high school graduates are
generally too young for college and most want to work immediately. However, they are also still
young for labor force as most of the graduates are ages less than 18. Studying in a school where
they see college students will give them an idea of what is done is college and will spark their
interest.
As the today’s world is much more demanding, it is necessary to be educated. The youth
today need quality education that will help them form their dreams and study about it. They need
schools where they will learn, they need trained teachers to instruct and guide them and they need
facilities and materials SUCs can offer. The K to 12 curriculum must not be abolished in a place
where it has the potential to grow and provide quality education.
CHED Chairman J. Prospero De Vera III said that “SUCs are having a hard time maintaining
the program – for instance, it’s difficult to look for teachers who are willing to teach senior high.” If
the number of teachers are a problem, aren’t there thousands of LET passers for secondary
education? Just this year, there are 54,179 new LPTs that might be looking for jobs. If competence is
a problem, the DepEd has created a Teacher Education Council (TEC) to discuss admission
requirements for a teacher education program.
Another stated problem is that many schools offering senior high school cannot offer the full
range of tracks. De Vera stated how important it is “because if all the tracks are available for the
students and they make their own choice in SHS to go to a specific track, then we can already enact
policies when they go to universities.”
Most schools, public and private, already offer academic tracks namely, STEM, ABM, HUMSS,
and GAS. TVL and Arts & Design tracks would most likely be accessible to SUCs since they offer
college education that are related to the said strands.
If the K to 12 program would be abolished at SUCs, then there will be less places of learning,
limited strand choice, less training and job opportunities for new educators and the possibility of
continual decline of achievement test scores. If continued, the needs of senior high school students
will be provided and prepare them for higher education that will make them effective 21 st century
learners.

Bibliography
(2019, December 1). Retrieved from prcboard.com: https://www.prcboard.com/2019/09/list-of-
passeers-let-result-elementary-secondary.html?m=1

Aguinaldo, C. A. (2019, March 6). K to 12 review finds declining test scores, skills mismatch. Retrieved
from bworldonline.com: https://www.bworldonline.com/k-to-12-review-finds-declining-
test-scores-skills-mismatch/

Craddock, A. (2016, June 7). Philippines K-12 Reforms Poised to Transform Higher Education System.
Retrieved from wenr.wes.org: wenr.wes.org/2016/06/philippines-k-12-reforms-poised-
transform-higher-education-student-mobility

Education, D. o. (2018, May 8). List of Senior High Schools. Retrieved from deped.gov.ph:
www.deped.gov.ph/k-to-12/senior-high-school/list-of-senior-high-schools/

Malipot-Hernando, M. (2019). State Colleges out to stop offering Senior High School program-CHED.
Manila Bulletin.