MANILA — Refuting the claims of some lawmakers, Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) cair Prospero de Vera III said his memorandum on the discontinuation of the senior high school (SHS) program in government-run universities was “not abrupt or arbitrary” because other institutions had stopped offering the program as early as three years ago.
“The issue is a problem caused by the transition period; it is not caused by anyone’s fault… This is not arbitrary, this is not whimsical, this is happening not only now,” De Vera told reporters on Monday.
According to him, the CHEd has been issuing advisories on the matter to state and local universities and colleges for several years now, with the most recent — the Dec. 18, 2023, memorandum — instructing their presidents to discuss it with their governing bodies.
Added burden
In a statement on Jan. 4, Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas criticized De Vera, saying the phaseout of the senior high program in public universities would be an added burden on parents, students and educators and also threaten the job security of SHS faculty and personnel.
For fellow Makabayan lawmaker, ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro, the CHEd and Department of Education (DepEd) should have held consultations with stakeholders first.
In the Dec. 18 memorandum, De Vera cited the “lack of a legal basis” to fund the SHS program in the affected institutions as the five-year transition period for the K-12 program from 2016 to 2021 had already lapsed.
He also denied ordering these institutions to stop accepting senior high students, saying that the CHEd memo merely directed the institutions to “go to their boards so they can decide what to do.”
Based on DepEd data, there are currently over 17,000 Grade 11 students in state universities and colleges without a government subsidy. They face displacement should their schools stop offering the SHS program next school year.
Asked where these institutions could be getting the money to fund the education of affected students, De Vera said this was something he also wanted to look into. “If you still accepted Grade 11 students, then they had no voucher anymore, the question is, how do you deal with the cost of educating them? That’s an issue that has to be studied thoroughly,” he added. (Jane Bautista © Philippine Daily Inquirer)
