Busted: 12 Myths about K-12
Much has been said about K-12 and how it can change Filipino lives forever. Still, misconceptions abound, endangering the very future of the country. About time they’re rounded up and finally put to rest.
1. It’s a financial burden.
K-12 will actually save families two years’ worth of expenses. Currently, students have to have some years of college just to get employed. This is difficult for families who can’t afford it. In K-12, the government pays for the additional two years that will produce employable graduates.
2. Ten years of education is enough.
Students are forced to absorb in 10 years what they’re supposed to learn in 12, so mastery becomes tough. It’s like cramming for a test, only it’s for your future. This is why we have 15-year-old graduates who are simply too young and too inexperienced for work or for college.
3. Extending schooling will just increase the number of out-of-school youth.
Students leave school because they lack interest. With K-12, students choose their electives and specializations based on their interests. So if you fancy yourself the next Christopher Nolan but break out in cold sweats thinking about pre-calculus, then there’s a track for that in the arts.
4. K-12 promotes exploitable, semi-skilled workers.
Exploitation happens partly because workers are underage. With K-12, graduates can start working at 18. They will have the maturity and the qualifications to fight unjust labor practices, empowering them to demand better compensation and working conditions in the future.
5. K-12 will only produce more overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
Labor migration has long existed, even before K-12. If anything, K-12 will help OFWs meet the standards in other countries. In Thailand, for example, Filipinos are paid much lower than their counterparts. In Qatar, Filipino engineers are demoted to technicians despite having the same competencies, simply because they’re two years short on basic education. Halting K-12 would only perpetuate these tragic labor stories.
6. The program is irrelevant because most Filipinos do not go overseas to study anyway.
You might not need it, but the law protects every Filipino’s right to quality basic education anywhere in the world. Filipinos studying abroad face a particular disadvantage. For example, Filipino post-graduate students in Europe have experienced receiving only a diploma, instead of a master’s degree, just because of the two-year disparity.
7. High school is not enough preparation for employment. That’s why there’s college.
Actually, high school is preparation for both college and employment. The tracks in K-12—academic, technical-vocational-livelihood, and sports and arts—will immerse students in practical learning experiences, preparing them for eventual absorption at work. Technical-vocational graduates will receive certificates that qualify them for employment even with a high school diploma.
8. Because of additional subjects, the revised curriculum will still end up congested.
Classes will only last 6 hours and 12 minutes everyday, thanks to senior high school. That’s almost a two-hour difference from the current curriculum!
9. Shortages must be resolved by adding more teachers and better facilities, not extending years in schooling.
K-12 isn’t just about extending high school. It actually entails adding necessities such as teachers and staff, as well as classrooms, books, and teaching aids.
10. At least 80,000 college personnel will lose their jobs.
Only an estimated 25,097 college personnel will be affected (Commission on Higher Education [CHED]). Also, in 2016 alone, when senior high school operations kick in, at least 30,000 teachers and 6,000 non-teaching staff will be hired (Department of Education [DepEd]). And priority will be given to college personnel.
11. High school teachers will bear additional teaching load.
K-12 will not overburden high school teachers because the law still mandates that teachers only teach up to six hours a day.
12. K-12 is a product of Filipino colonial mentality.
The Philippines is one of only three countries in the entire world to still have 10 years of basic education. We are quite literally left behind. Also, proposals to extend basic education in the country have existed since 1925. That’s even before we had our second president!
And, with a mother tongue-based multilingual approach in grade school, K-12 will actually promote a singular Filipino identity, grounded in cultural diversity. So, colonial mentality, you say?
