Weight of Hope
PHOTO BY: Victor Angelo Roco
Filipinos are known to be highly competent in any field of specialization. But some of them, though a degree finisher, remain unemployed due to the reason that they do not meet the standards of the employer especially when taken out in the international scene.
Philippines used to be one of those countries stuck in a ten-year basic education curriculum. Due to this, RA 10533 or the 2013 Enhanced Basic Education Act was implemented. In the present time, K-12 is in full swing mode letting Grade 11 students feel the change.
Aiming to produce globally competent graduates, the Department of Education (DepEd) offers a decongested lecture from their K-12 ready teaching staff.
Brought in the country's highest court with more or less six petitions, K-12 implementation is not yet in a stable condition.
After it has been passed in 2013, the government was doing a lot of construction in providing and sufficing the needs for this program starting with the classrooms, teaching staff, water and sanitation, textbook and seats.
On the other hand, the very idea of adding up two more years in secondary education in this program made everyone's eyebrow raised. Complaints of people, especially those who belong to the Class E, saying that their hope to have a graduate in due time will be shattered because of this K-12 program.
It's a waste of time and they believe that in a ten-year span of learning in an educational institution is enough to get a stable and fine job. Yes, our old education program produced highly appreciated professionals, and I believe it is fully possible if and only if you are intelligent and determined enough to be accepted in the real world where money matters most for independent individuals.
In fact, companies admitted there are so many job vacancies yet many are not qualified for the job.
We will see the result for the next two years if the experiment is successful. Sad to say that as of now, SHS students are facing problems especially in the module of DepEd.
The students keep on photocopying their teacher's module because they do not have any to refer in Culture shock as they say it might be, still the DepEd is really firm in implementing this program especially now that our newly elected president Rodrigo Duterte was okay with this change.
The bright side of this K-12 program is that SHS graduates can apply and get a job after graduation and skip college.
The K-12 program offers four career tracks: Academic, Technical-Vocational-Livelihood (TVL), Sports and Arts and Design. Whatever the result of this change would be, I hope for a better one for the next two years. Some course subjects under General Education Curriculum or GEC are being downloaded in the senior high. With this, the higher education institutions are hoping that their freshmen after two years will be a good communicator and a flexible one.
Trying new things is not bad especially when it was studied about. This K-12 program will give more opportunities to the highly competent folks we have. This will let parents realize that the idea is not really that awful and it will be highly beneficial to them personally.
This load of hope will set optimism -- hope to everyone that a wish for development must be set in a positive perspective.
