By Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman
Progressive education reform is good, but it does not follow that the transition will be smooth. While adding two more years to the country’s traditional education system was done in good faith, there has been a seemingly unforeseen glitch in the K-12 system: the temporary closing of some college courses as an effect of the junior-senior high school transition period.
Because the K-12 system requires Grade 10 (formerly called fourth year high school) students to take an additional two school years (senior high school), the first year college programs in some universities and colleges have not surprisingly suffered from the low number of enrollees for this academic calendar and the last. The University of Sto. Tomas (UST), for instance, did not offer A.B. Journalism and Legal Management courses because of the small number of enrollees: six and 11 people applied for the courses respectively. Those who passed the entrance exams were requested to shift to Communication Arts and Political Science, or move to other schools that offer the courses they wanted.
“The programs remain, it’s just that there are no learners. For the time being, since there are no learners, naturally, we cannot offer the programs. The programs essentially remain. It’s just that is not cost effective if there will be low number of enrollees. It’s not practical,” UST senior high school principal, Prof. Pilar Romero Ph.D. told BusinessWorld in an interview on March 8.
In a Facebook post, UST School of Journalism advisor and professor Jeremiah Opiniano said “there will be freshmen from all courses — including journalism” once the majority of the senior high school students graduate and enter the school system in 2018-2019. “Do not be worried, dear alumni and friends,” he said.
In the southern part of Metro Manila, in San Beda College Alabang Muntinlupa, the same scenario has pushed the college to offer only B.S. Education for the past two years, again, as a result of the low number of enrollees thanks to the Grades 11 and 12 implementation and transition period.
“I mean, it’s not the students’ fault that their choice [of course] is not available,” said Cecile De Leon*, a mother of a senior high school student in a school in the south of the metropolis, told BusinessWorld in a phone interview on Feb. 16. She was worried that her daughter, Pilar*, will not be in school this year.
Pilar, 17, wants to take up Business Entrepreneurship. But since San Beda Alabang, the school she got into, only offers Education, she does not have a choice.
“It’s a Catch 22,” said her mother, frustrated.
“I don’t want her to be out of school,” she added. “So Pilar was told to enroll in B.S. Education and try it out,” she said. Though Pilar is willing to start over again as a freshman once the course she likes is offered, Ms. De Leon said there is no assurance that the school will offer other courses after the K-12 transition phase.
“They said they may open other courses in the second semester, with emphasis on the word ‘may,’” she said over the phone.
BusinessWorld called San Beda Alabang on March 6 to inquire about and confirm the current situation. According to Virgilio Sedo, college admission coordinator, the school’s management has decided to close other courses and “Education is the only course that we have the full logistics,” he said in Filipino. He said the rest of the courses that used to be offered didn’t have enough enrollees and sufficient number of faculty members. He assured this writer, however, that the school will reopen its courses in 2018-2019. He said San Beda in Mendiola, Manila might be offering more college courses.
The Department of Education (DepEd), meanwhile, is seemingly unaware that such things are happening. At the sidelines of a press conference on March 9, DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones was surprised when BusinessWorld told her about the situation.
“Talaga? Dapat meron, kasi usually business, science, education… those are usually the standard courses. I cannot imagine UST losing its journalism program, which is one of the best in the country. Mag-shift na lang,” she said, assuring this reporter that everything will turn out fine after the bulk of senior high school students graduate in the next school year.
Ms. Briones is a professor herself and she comes from a family of teachers.
Tonisito M.C. Umali, DepEd assistant secretary for legislative affairs, added: “Ganon talaga eh, hanap na lang siya [ng ibang school].”
While it is easy to tell Pilar and the rest of the students in the same boat to find another university, not everyone has the luxury to transfer schools. Ms. De Leon told BusinessWorld that she is looking at schools in the South of the metro because the proximity lessens the additional financial burdens for transportation and accommodation. She said over a text message exchange on March 9 after a follow-up that her daughter has finally decided to enroll is B.S. Education in San Beda and transfer to the course she really likes later. “My daughter decided to enroll anyway and hope they offer a Business course by the second semester. So sad but I am hoping it is all for the best… at the end,” her text message read.
GENERALLY SMOOTH IMPLEMENTATION
Despite the turbulence that the senior high school transition has wrought, it will be worth it. After all, the additional two years will gear the students to the demands of the local and international employment arenas.
“But while I thought that the transition period is not well thought of, ultimately, yes, I am in favor of the K-12,” said Ms. De Leon. The additional years in high school, she said, helped her daughter discover the path she wanted to pursue.
“Pilar was lost and unprepared to go to college [earlier] because she still did not know what she wanted. But I am thankful that the senior high school offers the job training, and the subjects are tailor-fit to students and what they think they want. The senior high school prepares them for college, and I appreciate that,” she said.
Under the senior high school program, students have the liberty to choose the path they want to take (or will discover that path) based on their personality, passions, and skills. In the senior high school curriculum, there are different tracks the students can choose from: academic (including Business, Science and Engineering, Humanities and Social Science, and General Academics), technical-vocational livelihood (with TESDA qualifications), arts and design, and sports. These tracks aim to equip a student with entrepreneurship skills, employment skills, tech-vocational training, and readiness for higher education. According to DepEd Secretary Briones, 60% of senior high school students in the Philippines are enrolled in the academic track, 39% are on the tech-vocational track, while less than one percent are under the sports track. There are currently more than one million students in Grade 12 and 1.5 million students in Grade 11 in the country.
Overall, the K-12 system reform has received the nod of approval of teachers in the provinces, though they noted the challenges it has entailed.
“Noong mga first to second year of the K-12 implementation, kulang pa sa mga modules pero unti-unting napupunuan ang mga pagkukulang. Maraming lapses ’yung K-12 lalo na sa public schools, pero sabi nga, kailangang gawan ng paraan, at laging nasa kamay ng mga teachers ang challenge. (During the first and second year of implementation of K-12, there were many missing modules put slowly the shortages were filled. There were many lapses in K-12, particularly in public schools, but as they say, a way has to be found, and the challenge is always in the hands of the teachers.) K-12 is a great gamble with big risk, but it is worth it. It’s about time, we need education reform,” Arlene Pilar Domondon, a Grade 9 and 10 Araling Panlipunan teacher, told BusinessWorld.
Her school, the Alaminos Integrated National High School in Laguna, is among the almost 6,000 public schools in the country, operated and funded by the Education department, and offering junior and senior high school programs. There are also 4,711 private high schools, private and public universities and colleges, and tech-vocs offering Grades 11 and 12.
“We are still in the transition period, so it is inevitable that there we are encountering problems. Subukan muna natin. Ginagawa naman ng gobyerno ang lahat (Let’s try it out. The government, after all, is doing everything),” said Abigail Reyes-Valena, a Grade 7 Filipino teacher at Dizon High School in San Pablo City, Laguna, which is currently not yet equipped with facilities to accommodate Grades 11 and 12. According to DepEd’s Ms. Briones, nationwide K-12 implementation should be done as soon as possible. The Education department is working with the Department of Public Works and Highways to create more schools, especially targeting areas like Leyte and Surigao, which were devastated by typhoons and earthquakes.
LOOK AT THE BRIGHT SIDES
Earlier reports on K-12 highlighted the fear that this would lead to college professors and even high school teachers losing their jobs. Instead, colleges and universities nationwide are actually on the lookout for new educators to fill the additional two-year education plan.
“One of the good effects of K-12 is that our teachers who are in the tertiary [level] will be accommodated in the senior high school. What others were saying that there would be displacement of teachers is not true, especially in UST. We offered options to our teachers,” said Ms. Romero, UST senior high school principal.
She said of those who don’t want to teach in senior high school, “well, that’s their option. There’s no way of forcing them [to],” she said.
According to some teachers, they didn’t want to change the subjects they were comfortable teaching for the past years. Some also did not like the additional work load.
“I resigned because I was afraid of its effects, including the decrease of my units. Tapos lugi na kasi mababawasan ’yung teaching load (and I would be paid less because my teaching load was lightened), considering we were paid per hour/per unit,” said Fay Virrey, a General Education college instructor at Lyceum of the Philippines.
“The other option they are offering is to teach at the senior high school, but I thought it was more demanding than college, kaya ayaw ko rin, kasi may mga club and class advising (which I did not want either because it includes club and class advising). It’s taxing,” she added.
Schools nationwide are actually looking for extra helping hands, especially teachers equipped with innovative teaching approaches. For instance, De La Salle University in Manila is looking for instructors adept with subjects like Media Literacy (which is helpful in today’s age of fake news and “alternative” facts).
“This [K-12] is the reform our country [has needed] for the longest time because others consider our school system as inadequate. But with K-12, we are now at par [with] international [schools]. This is an advantage, that we need to be globalized,” said UST’s Ms. Romero.
Progressive educational reform is good, and while the K-12 transition is not as smooth, everything gets better in time.
“Education is everybody’s business,” said DepEd’s Ms. Briones.
* Names have been changed.
