New school year, same old problems: K to 12, shortages in
classrooms, teachers
MANILA – Members of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers
(ACT) picketed the Department of Education (DepEd) central
office in Pasig City on the first day of school, June 5, Monday,
to call for higher education budget and for salary increase for
teachers and employees. It is a new school year, with the
same old problems, ACT said.
“There are still no sufficient teachers, classrooms, facilities
and equipment and other instructional and teaching
materials. Several schools have double, even triple shifts!”
Raymond Basilio, ACT secretary general said.
Basilio stressed that the education budget for school year
2017-2018 may have increased by 17 percent, but this has
not addressed the long time problem of shortages. He said
the budget, which increased from last year’s P435 billion to
P543 billion ($8.8 billion to $11 billion) this year, is still far
from international standards, which sets the education
budget to 20 percent of the national budget and six percent
of the country’s gross domestic product.
ACT said data from DepEd itself shows huge gaps that need to
be filled to give real quality education.
Shortages
As of November 2016, DepEd data showed shortages that the
agency is yet to meet; 13,995 classrooms, 88,267 teachers;
235 million instructional and other learning materials; 2.2
million school seats for 2016 and 66,492 sets – each seat with
45 seats and 1 teacher’s desk; and 44,538 computer
packages.
The lack of learning materials has become a burden not only
to students but teachers.
Joselyn Martinez of ACT National Capital Region (NCR) Union
said, teachers have to make do with the insufficient learning
materials provided to them. In NCR for instance, in a class
with 50 students, only 35 learning materials are provided. It is
worse for teachers in the regions where they were not
provided with learning materials at all. “They have to look for
their own learning materials,” said Martinez.
Large size classes still persist in public schools said Martinez.
In Davao City, for one, 70 students are cramped into one
class. At the Muntinlupa Elementary School, students Grades
5 and 6 will be temporarily holding classes in another school
because the construction of additional classrooms are not yet
finished.
Martinez said these backlogs have become a burden as
teachers make do with what is available. Meanwhile, their
salaries have not increased, and worse, the chalk allowance,
which was already approved in the Senate, is in danger of
being vetoed. Reports said Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno
will recommend to President Rodrigo Duterte to veto
Teaching Supplies Allowance Act of 2017, which will increase
by 100 percent the chalk allowance, from P2,500 to P5,000
($50 to $101).
Huge allocation for privatization
Basilio said the increased education budget goes to the
implementation of senior high school. He said, however, the
huge amount was not allocated to address backlogs and
shortages, but to fund privatization of education through the
voucher system.
For this year, allocation for voucher system increased to P34
billion from P21 billion in 2016 ($688 million from $425
million). The voucher system intends to decongest public
schools by sending high school students to private schools.
However, the voucher system only provides P11,000 ($222)
per student. An average cost of education in private schools
at the minimum is pegged at P30,000 ($607).
Basilio said there are reports reaching the ACT office that
there are students who were not able to finish their studies in
private schools because they cannot keep up with the day-to-
day expenses for transportation, food and other school
related expenses.
In Manila City, enrollees in private schools decreased by 10.4
percent after the first semester of 2016, with dropouts citing
financial circumstances as the reason, said Basilio.
Problems brought about by senior high school
implementation
Vladimir Quetua, senior high school teacher at Araullo High
School, said facilities for senior high school were often
lacking. In Araullo High School for one, no facilities were
provided for courses like automotive and baking. A colleague
of his had to teach automotive theoretically, without hands-
on exercises. “He was saddened that he was not able to teach
the students the course in a practical way,” he told Bulatlat in
an interview.
In baking, he said DepEd sent a machine for making dough
but it was defective. There are also no laboratories for
communication subjects. Modules are also lacking
particularly in Philosophy and Sociology subjects and students
have to pay for books to use. “Students have to shell out
P400 ($8) per semester, a total of P800 ($16) for one year,”
said Quetua.
The curriculum also became a problem as subjects meant for
Grade 12 was already given to Grade 11. Quetua said as a
result, students who wanted to return to Araullo High School
as Grade 12 students cannot enroll because their subjects
from their previous school are different. He said many of
their Grade 10 students who enrolled in private schools for
Grade 11 wanted to return to Araullo for Grade 12 because
they cannot afford tuition in private schools.
The mixed-up in subjects is due to the lack of teachers for
particular subjects. For one, Quetua who teaches Philosophy,
a subject in Grade 12, already taught it for Grade 11 students.
These are among many issues afflicting the teachers and
students of senior high school, on top of the framework of
the K to 12 curriculum, which is to produce cheap labor, said
Quetua.
Out-of-school youth increasing
Meanwhile, ACT Teachers Party Rep. Antonio Tinio said the
government still failed to address the increasing dropouts
and out-school-youths in the country. This, despite the
increase in budget and other schemes like voucher system
and conditional cash transfer program, which requires
beneficiaries to send their children to school
Tinio said participation rates from DepEd’s data revealed that
4.8 million were out of school in 2015-2016, an 11 percent
increase in five years.
The number of elementary school-age children who are out
of school has more than tripled, from around 431,000 in 2011
to 1.4 million in 2015. The out-of-school who are of high
school age decreased, but remain high in 2015 at 3.4 million,
said Tinio.
Tinio also noted wide gaps between the enrolments in
elementary and high school, 91 percent and 68 percent
respectively. The gaps showed that fewer students were able
to enroll in high school. “This means that while nine out of 10
elementary school-age children are enrolled in elementary,
enrollment in high school dropped to only around 7 out of
10,” Tinio said.
He stressed the need to build more high schools as there are
only 7,000 high schools that offer junior high school in the
country. Most high schools are located in the urbanized
areas, inaccessible to students from far-flung areas.
ACT Teachers Party Rep. France Castro also said there is only
one high school for every four to five villages.
“We attribute low enrolment and high drop-out to the
alarming shortage of public schools, especially high schools,
and the insufficient budget for their maintenance and
operations,” said Tinio adding there are 36,492 public
elementary schools and only 7,677 high schools.
Both solons believe that more students will be able to
continue their schooling if the government only reverses its
habit of underfunding public education.
“These dismal enrolment and dropout statistics should be
enough to push the Duterte administration to pour more
direct investments into public schools,” said Tinio.
MANILA, Philippines – Last May 15, President Benigno Aquino
III signed the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 into law.
As classes start on June 3 for public schools and June 10 for
private, here are 10 things you need to know about the K to
12 program.
1. PH is last in Asia to implement K to 12.
The Philippines is the last country in Asia, and one of only 3
countries (Angola and Djibouti) worldwide, with a 10-year
pre-university cycle.
2. DepEd opted for gradual implementation of K to 12.
The implementation of the Universal Kindergarten began in
SY 2011–2012.
The enhanced curriculum for Grade 1 and Grade 7 (1st Year
Junior High School) was rolled out in SY 2012–2013, and will
be progressively introduced in the other grade levels in
succeeding school years.
Grade 11 will be introduced in SY 2016–2017 and Grade 12 in
SY 2017–2018.
The first batch of high school students to go through K to 12
will graduate in March 2018.
3. K to 12 is free for public schools.
Kindergarten to Grade 12 is offered for free in public schools.
There are additional indirect costs, but government agencies
are collaborating to provide programs that will enable
everyone access to quality education, especially those with
lesser means. DepEd is also developing other cost-sharing
arrangements (ex. Expansion of Education Service
Contracting).
4. K to 12 can help graduates earn more.
K to 12 graduates will be ready to be employed in various
industries. Education Secretary Armin Luistro earlier said that
"the K to 12 program would like to ensure that even if they
don't choose to go to college, they finish studying what is
basic."
5. Kindergarten in K to 12 is mandatory.
As per Republic Act no. 10157 or the Kindergarten Education
Act, Kindergarten has become part of the education system
and a pre-requisite for admission to Grade 1. Public schools
will continue to admit children who have not taken
Kindergarten into Grade 1 until SY 2013-2014.
6. K to 12 provides specializations for employment.
Senior high school students can choose from 3 tracks:
Academic, Sports and Arts, and Technical-Vocational-
Livelihood.
After Grade 10, a student can obtain Certificates of
Competency (COC) or a National Certificate Level I (NC I).
After finishing a Technical Vocational-Livelihood in Grade 12,
a student may obtain a National Certificate Level II (NC II),
provided he/she passes the competency-based assessment of
the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority
(TESDA).
NC I and NC II improves employability of graduates in fields
like Agriculture, Electronics, and Trade.
7. K to 12 aims to strengthen the mother tongue.
In Kinder, mother tongue, or the common language in the
area or lingua franca, shall be used as the medium of
instruction.
In Grades 1-3, the mother tongue will be used in teaching all
subjects, except in teaching Filipino and English subjects.
Starting Grade 4, Filipino and English will become the
languages for instruction.

8. DepEd will partner with colleges and universities for K to

12.

Starting SY 2016-2017, DepEd shall engage in partnerships

with colleges, universities, and Technical-Vocational
Institutions (TVI) to use their existing facilities and teaching
staff to ensure that reduction in enrollment in these colleges
and universities will be offset during the transition period.

9. Private schools to follow K to 12 starting this S.Y.

Private schools are to adhere to the minimum standards of

the K to 12 curriculum. They should also follow the K to 12
progression, even if they choose not to offer grades 11-12
(e.g. private junior high schools can remain as such but their
students will have to transfer for senior high school).

10. Government’s active participation in K to 12.

A Joint Oversight Committee from the Senate and the House

of Representatives shall be formed to oversee, monitor, and
evaluate implementation.