In the 2014 National Budget, the Philippine education sector gets the biggest share of P309.43 billion1. This fund includes the construction, repair, and rehabilitation of school buildings nationwide in support also to the K-to-12 program. According to Pres. Aquino, the K-12 program will pave the way for even brighter future for young Filipinos by equipping them with basic education to international standards.
The implementation of K12 System will enhanced from the 10-years of basic education curriculum into 12-years education program. With this, it is believe that students will be able to get sufficient instructional time to do subject-related tasks which makes them more prepared and competent in a global context. Another good reason is that the graduates of this program will be well-trained to enter the labor force.
For all we know, this change in domestic education policy is not that easy. The government will face many problems in the long run of the implementation of the program and the importance of international educational institutions in looking for potential new students’ recruitment markets must be considered. Another big problem is the population growth in the country. Philippines is said to be a regional growth pole since the population has been steadily growing for many years. In 2014, it is the 12th most populated country in the world with a growth rate of 1.89% per year2.
Population growth has a direct effect on the educational system. And as a result, the demand for education, supply of education and budget constraint also increase. These changes are analogous to the material and human resources that the government needed to attain and to meet certain education standards. When population increases, the number of children entering school also rises. Therefore, the government have to invest more money to sustain the quality of education. Although the literacy rate of the Philippines improves from 92.3% (2000) to 97.5% (2010)3, we can’t deny that many of our fellowmen are still illiterate. Last 2009, 15 million of Filipinos are said to be illiterate and this stats still pushes upward as the year goes by4.
Philippines adopted the United Nations’ Education For All (EFA) in 2006, aiming zero number of illiterate Filipinos aged 10-64. But the result seems to be the other way around, the number of illiterate still elevates. And it looks like the Education in the Philippines is still at risk. Many of the schools in the country are recorded as ‘congested’ and almost of these use ‘shifting’ in class to accommodate larger number of students. Many Filipinos because of poverty can’t afford to go to school, and if there is a chance, almost all of them finish grades school. Adding 2 more years in basic education curriculum could be much harder for them. Implementing this kind of policy could be so hard to sustain since many aspects should be considered for it to be successful. Yes, it will surely enhance and give brighter future for some of our children but we should also bare in our minds that this is not only the solution for attaining quality education in the country. We have to consider different factors like the readiness of our government specially the DepEd in providing necessary facilities, additional teachers, sufficient trainings of administrators and teachers to upgrade their knowledge and skills, and updated learning materials necessary to realize the objective of the K to 12 new curriculum. A risk to face but a need to handle since K to 12 is almost in its 3rd year of implementation. We have no room to back out but to move on for the sake of our youth’s welfare and development. A joint effort of everybody is indeed important! We need to mobilize ourselves– parents, teachers, students, different government agencies and non-government organizations to join hand in hand in overcoming the risks and challenges of its productive implementation!
References:
1.http://www.gov.ph/2014/01/27/education-gets-lions-share-of-2014-budget/
2.http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/the-philippines-population/o
3.http://www.philstar.com/business/2013/12/31/1273515/phl-literacy-rate-improves-97.5-nso
4.http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/09/23/09/illiterate-filipinos-now-15-million-and-counting
By: Loreta B. Andaya | MT-I | Lamao NHS | Limay, Bataan
