The K to 12 Program has worsened the basic educational system in the Philippines, according to progressive leaders who spoke at the K to 12 Summit last Friday, July 17.
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-National Capital Region (Bayan-NCR) Chairman Raymond Palatino, himself a former Kabataan Partylist representative, Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Partylist Representative Antonio L. Tinio, and ACT-Philippines National Chair Benjamin Valbuena exposed the deceiving truth about Aquino governmentís legacy on education.
More than a hundred stakeholders in the educational community — students, parents, and educators — attended the summit held at the multi-purpose hall of Ramon Magsaysay (Cubao) High School in Quezon City.
Public education advocates also joined the summit which called for a nationalist, scientific, and mass-oriented educational system.
‘Exporting labor, importing trash’
Raymond Palatino discussed the current education system and the impact of K to 12 program in the country as well as the Southeast Asian region.
According to Palatino, the Department of Education (DepEd) claimed that the basic education system has the shortest school cycle among its Southeast Asian neighbors, a reason why its quality declined for years. While it is true that the Philippines has the shortest school cycle, Palatino said there are many factors why the quality of education in the country had declined. “Hindi ito (K to 12 program) ang solusyon sa mababang kalidad ng edukasyon,” Palatino said.
The government should not use the K-12 program as an argument to increase education spending, Palatino said. “Nasa konstitusyon natin na dapat mataas ang education spending sa edukasyon.”
The UN recommends that governments spend at least six percent of their GDP on education. Less than three percent of the country’s total GDP is allocated to education.
Palatino also pointed out the need for pilot testing in some schools before implementing the K to 12 program as one reform would affect millions of households. “Magiging guinea pigs yung milyun-milyong istudyante,” he said. “Hindi ito tutugon sa crisis… Kailangan mas maingat. Kahit maliit lamang na reporma, milyun-milyon ang maaapektuhan. Buong henerasyon ang apektado.”
Palatino said that the message “job after K to 12 program” offers false hope to the youth. “K to 12 program is a metaphor of TESDA in high school. Job preparation should not be the focus of education.”
The function of the K to 12 is to prodcue semi-skilled laborers, according to Palatino.
“They will be taught how to ‘maintain a professional image’ as household workers. Other topics include ‘Desirable Traits of a Household Worker’ and ‘Duties and Responsibilities of a Household Worker.’ At the end of the semester, students will be able to identify and operate a vacuum cleaner, floor polisher, and other cleaning materials,” Palatino showed in his slideshow presentation.
“I’m not convinced that education should teach this (the employable skills).” Palatino said that the program is subsidizing education for the needs of the countries abroad, where these skills are in-demand, instead of serving the Filipino students to teach quality education focuses on serving the country.
K to 12 serves the need of the ASEAN economic community which creates a single market and production base, and prepares students to export for the needs of the global market, according to Palatino.
ASEAN economic cooperation is “detrimental to ordinary people because it will lead to an erosion of sovereignty, diminishing access to social services because of a stronger push for liberalization between and within ASEAN countries, skewed labor mobility, job insecurity, increased land and other resource grabs, and the undermining of local small-scale farmers,” he added.
The program continues the “old logic of the neoliberal model of development” characterized by “a race to the bottom in lowering labor, environmental and other regulatory standards and taxes, and in changing national laws to create a business-friendly environment,” Palatino’s discussion added.
“It (K to 12 program) teaches our young people that their dreams will be fulfilled once they go abroad,” Palatino said.
“Walang kahandaan ang DepEd (Department of Education) sa K-12 na sinusulong nila,” he added.
“We export our labor while we import other people’s trash,” according to Palatino.
‘Worsened’ working conditions
The implementation of K-12 would worsen the condition of education workers as they will experience no salary increase, massive displacement, ACT representative Antonio Tinio pointed out.
Tinio said that there is still no salary increase for teachers and non-teaching personnel of basic education. “Education workers are underpaid under K to 12.” ACT Teachers partylist in the summit called to increase salary and not just performance-based bonus. “Muling pinapatunayan, ang salary increase ng government employees, hindi ‘yan binibigay, hindi pwedeng humiga lang tayo sa ilalim ng puno. Kung gusto niyo makuha yung salary increase, kailangan ipaglaban natin ito.”
“The proposed 2016 budget for DepEd of P406.736 [billion] is only 2.65% of the GDP, and an increase of about the same level as the increase from 2014 to 2015,” according to Tinio. This concludes that it does not seem to contain proposal for salary increase for education employees.
A dialogue was conducted last June 15 between ACT Teachers and Department of Budget and Management (DBM) assistant secretary Myrna S. Chua and director Edgardo M. Macaranas, Tinio said that salary increase will “most probably” be proposed as part of next year’s budget; however, Tinio added that “a separate law will have to be proposed amending the SSL 3, to be embodied in a draft bill that DBM will present to Congress during the 2016 budget deliberations (starting August).”
“The long-overdue salary increase will probably take effect next year, depending on Pres. Aquino, DBM, and the Congress,” said Tinio. He further added that the “SSL 4 will be supported by a ‘study’ that DBM is still completing.”
Tino also pointed out the massive displacement of education workers as due to the implementation of the K to 12 program. “The job security of education workers is unprotected under K to 12. K to 12 will render thousands of educators in the tertiary level jobless,” Tino said.
“About 78,318 teaching and non-teaching employees in private HEls (higher education institutions) will lose their jobs either because of retrenchment, redundancy, or early retirement, and lose a substantial portion of their incomes and benefits either because of displacement to basic education or deloading,” Tinio said.
Tenured and regular employees will be terminated and demoted to lower-paying positions, according to Tinio. “Contractuals and casuals will be most vulnerable,” he added
“CHED cannot force private HEls to retain their employees; DepEd can only absorb a few of the displaced considering its staffing structure and number of plantilla items,” according to Tinio. Moreover, the proposed support from Tertiary Education Stabilization Fund “will be given to displaced employees for a period of 6 months. ” he added.
A P29B stabilization fund amounting to was proposed by the Commision on Higher Education, Higher Education (CHEd), Department of Education (DepEd), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to Congress last year.
The massive displacement will be permanent as the K to 12 program will lessen the usual number of students in high schools and elementary schools by 50% starting academic year 2020-2021, as there will be no first year students in the academic year of 2016 to 2017, no first year and second year students in 2017 to 2018, no second year and third year students in 2018 to 2019, and no third year and fourth year students in 2019 to 2020.
K to 12 program will also worsen the already dismal working conditions of educators as they will be forced to endure worse shortages, according to Tinio. On the classrooms and facilities to be used for the senior high school, “SUCs (state universities and colleges) become providers for Grade 11 and 12 and provide capital outlay support.”
However, budget secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad said that funds will be provided for the support of quality classrooms as the DBM has released P31.8 billion for the construction of 22,325 classrooms nationwide to support the K to 12 program.
“The K to 12 Law is a product of foreign dictates in order to make the Philippine education system responsive to the needs of the foreign markets for cheap workers and even professionals,” said Tinio.
K to 12 as ‘band aid’
ACT-Philippine national chairperson Benjamin Valbuena discussed the lack of preparedness of the Aquino administration in implementing K to 12 program. Valbuena the government is unprepared to implement K to 12 program citing the situation of vocational programs currently implemented by government. such as the distribution of modules to high schools and elementary schools. “Sa T.L.E. (Technology and Livelihood Education) book, hanggang ngayon, walang modules.”
Amidst criticism, the DepEd claims that the program won the support of Metro Manila and local parents-teachers alliance.
Acting Presiding Officer of City Council of Manila John Marvin Nieto said that the program will prepare graduates to compete in the global market. “K to 12 opens the door for the recognition of our graduates and professionals under the European Standard known as the Bologna Process and the Washington Accord for the United States,” Nieto said in a statement.
The General Parents-Teachers Association (GPTA) of Mandaluyong had vowed to support to the program as it will give career guidance to students.
Valbuena criticized the government for its labor-export policy. The government gets high revenues from labor export, the reason the government insisted its implementation despite lack of preparedness. “Labor export talaga… malaki ang kinikita sa labor export. Malaking revenue from OFWs (overseas Filipino workers).”
Remittances from OFWs in 2014 set an all-time high for the Philippines at $26.93 billion, according to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
Valbuena slammed the Aquino administration as a “snob” for its failure to listen to the masses. “Sa halip na magpatayo ng classrooms, sana may pupuntahan ang hindi kaya ma-accommodate na students,” Valbuena said as he pointed out that students will be forced to enroll in private schools because of lack of public school facilities.
Valbuena said during the summit that K to 12 is not people-oriented. He further criticized the K to 12 as a “band-aid” to the worsening educational system.
Valbuana stated there is no genuine reform under the K to 12 implemented by the DepEd.
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