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BY NEIL HONEYMAN
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Tuesday, October 10, 2017
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ON NOVEMBER 28-29, 2017 the Private Education Assistance Committee (PEAC) will host the 2017 Philippine Education Conference. The Conference theme is “Achieving the Promise of K to 12.”
What promise? There was the promise that students entering high school in June 2012 and beyond would be subjected to a compulsory six-year program instead of the previous four-year activity.
That’s it?
That’s it.
What was never promised and possibly never seriously considered was the impact, if any, that the additional two years would have on the tertiary education sector. I was expecting Dr. Patricia B. Licuanan, chairperson, Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) to have expressed her opinion on the issue during the period 2010-2013 when the six-year high school program was being proposed. If she had any views, we did not hear of them, at least not in public. Instead we heard, endlessly, the dubious assertions of Bro. Armin Luistro, secretary, Department of Education (2010-2016).
Possibly as a reward for not rocking the boat, Dr. Licuanan, in 2014, was offered, by President Aquino, a four-year extension. I see a lack of delicadeza here. President Duterte should have been able to make his own appointment for the CHEd chairmanship. In fact, I recall that he did make a verbal offer to someone in 2016, possibly not knowing then that the incumbent would be in post until 2018.
The world of education is becoming increasingly insular. There is a widening disconnect between educationalists and other stakeholders, particularly students and their parents. I hope Education Secretary, Dr. Briones will be able to make reassurances that she recognizes that this gap has arisen and that it should be narrowed.
Students who entered high school in June 2012 will be the first ones to graduate from the six-year program in March 2018. They have no way of knowing how they measure up to the standards expected by the Department of Education (DepEd) because there are no examinations or indeed any other measures of assessment.
Some Grade 12 students will be taking entrance examinations for individual tertiary institutions but have no way of knowing how these examinations will compare with those their counterparts took up to and including last year. Will the the tertiary institutions set similar examinations to those in previous years? If so, what was the purpose of the additional two years of compulsory high school?
Students in previous years showed themselves to be the College-ready. Why the additional two years of high school? This is a question that Dr. Licuanan should have been asking before the K-12 Act (RA 10533) was passed. Had she done so, we would have the possibility of a more cohesive school-college transfer.
The Philippine system is not globally competitive. Do we want it to be? If so, we need to admit this and then face up to our areas of inadequacy.
K-12, as currently implemented, is not the answer./PN
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