“We are ready for K to 12”, says DepEd officials
LINGAYEN—Despite the opposition from a number of parents and other stakeholders to the addition of two more years of schooling in the secondary level, the Department of Education (DepEd), represented by six division superintendents in Pangasinan, affirmed that schools in the province are now ready to implement K to12 beginning this school year.
During the June 11 question hour of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, Division Superintendents (DS) were asked by Board Member Jeremy Agerico B. Rosario to explain the plans and programs of DepEd regarding K to 12’s implementation.
DS Dr. Aurora T. Domingo (Pangasinan I), Dr. Vilaruz Raguindin (Pangasinan II), Dr. Maria Cecilia Junio-Fernandez (Urdaneta City), Rowena C. Banzon (San Carlos City) and Dr. Oscar C. Tadeo (Alaminos City) explained that “K+12 is not anti-poor, instead, it is pro-poor” for this allows high school students to be enriched for an additional two years equivalent to a college advance academic venture or technical/vocational enrichments after an assessment/evaluation.
Thus, this program is not anti-poor for this enables those who can’t afford tertiary schooling to become technically competent to land a job after K to 12.
K to 12 was initiated last year when DepEd institutionalized Kindergarten as a prerequisite for schooling beginning the school year this June. With this, division superintendents in the province have instructed principals in the elementary and secondary levels under their supervision to prepare and have their teaching staff undergo trainings for the new educational system.
Regardless of the disagreement of some people on this program claiming that this would just degrade the current quandary of educational system in the country, the six division superintendents stood with conviction that problems on the shortage of classrooms, insufficiency of books and school facilities have been age-old problems in most schools, so whether to implement K to 12 or not, these problems would still be present.
“The best thing that we should do now is to be optimistic in resolving and augmenting the scarcity of these resources as we vow to fortify the basic foundation of Philippine Educational system through K to 12,” they said.
Junio-Fernandez gave assurance in behalf of her colleagues that the DepEd, with the support of other agencies and local government units, will be able to work hand-in-hand for a noteworthy implementation of this program.
“In joint venture, not only teachers are involved in this program, local officials too, have been showing full support to realize the vision of K to 12,” she added.
Raguindin, in turn, conveyed that genuine backing up on this good move to level up education in the Philippines calls for the cooperation of the members of the community for “It takes a community to raise a child”, she emphasized. (PIO/Mark Gerry Oblanca)
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