‘2 More Years to Basic Education an Added Burden, Not a Solution’

The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) said, in 2008, that out of 100 Grade One pupils, only 66 finish Grade Six. About 58 of the 66 who finish grade school enroll in first year high school, but only 43 of the 66 complete their secondary education. Of the 43 students, only 23 enroll in college and out of this only 14 students finish a degree.

Very Low Education Budget

“The proposal itself is very ideal, if not whimsical, for a country whose public spending for education is one of the lowest in the world,” Kabataan Partylist said in a statement.

In 2001, the country allotted an education budget equivalent to only 3.3 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). The education budget was 2.19 percent and 2.17 percent of GDP for 2008 and 2009, respectively. The group said that the country’s education budget is way below that of its neighboring countries such as Malaysia and Thailand, which allot for education a budget equivalent to 7.4 percent and four percent of their GDP, respectively. The country’s education budget is way below the UN prescribed six percent of GDP.

The annual budget for education has decreased from 17.4 percent of the national budget in 2001 to 15 percent by 2010. The Alliance of Concerned Teachers estimated that last year’s budget cut on education has brought about shortages of 54,060 teachers, 4,538 principals, and 6,473 head teachers; 61,343 classrooms, 816,291 seats, and 113,051 water and sanitation facilities for school year 2010-2011.

“How then can the government afford to subsidize an additional two years when the budget for the present cycle has been found lacking?” the statement read.

Unemployment and Cheap Labor

Kabataan Partylist said the DepEd’s claim that K+12 graduates would be employable is a “fallacy” and “hopefully not a deliberate ploy to create a wrong impression and a false sense of hope among our youth.”

Young Filipinos are twice as likely to be unemployed than those in older age groups. The youth group thinks that this is a bad scenario as the country has a predominantly young population. These young workers will also be disadvantaged due to their lack of work experience and, of course, the lack of job opportunities.

The Department of Labor and Employment reported in January 2008 that 2.7 million of the 4.4 million unemployed belong to the age group 15-24, where some 461,000 graduated from college and 700,000 were either able to finish high school or reach undergraduate college levels.

“To really address youth unemployment, there is a need to overhaul not the basic education cycle but the country’s economic and labor policies,” its statement read.

“Yes, some might land a job. But what kind of job?” Palatino told Bulatlat.

Kabataan Partylist said K+12 is designed to reinforce labor migration as the competition for the limited local jobs available becomes more intense. Recent data reveals that roughly 10.7 percent of the total Filipino migrant workers population, consists of young, semi-skilled and unskilled workers who accept low-paying jobs.

Even professionals, such as young nurses, teachers and doctors, leave the country to work as caregivers, medical assistants and domestic helpers abroad.

The youth group said under the K+12, the country would be offering its citizens for cheap labor to serve the interest of foreign capital and businesses. In its stead, Kabataan said, the government should reorient the education system to serve the needs of the nation and of the people.

Solution

Palatino said it is the financiers of the K+12 program who would benefit from this project and not the poor Filipino families.

President Benigno S. Aquino, in his State of the Nation Address, announced his plan of venturing into public-private partnership projects in order to address the needs of the education sector, which Kabataan Partylist deems as an excuse to “further decrease and gradually pull out state subsidy for education.”

“If privatization (of education) is the Aquino administration’s answer (to its declining quality), could it still guarantee free access to basic education, especially to our less fortunate students?” the youth group said in a statement.

Instead of adding two more years to basic education, the government must aim to increase the budget for education to reach the standard of six percent of the GDP, as prescribed by UNESCO. With sufficient budget for education, the youth group said, public schools and state universities and college do not have to impose unjust tuition and other fee increases in all levels.

Kabataan Partylist also urged DepEd to promote a nationalist curriculum, to uphold the democratic rights of the students, improve teachers’ welfare, and work for the betterment of science, research and technology development.

“It must also promote transparency and prosecute corruption cases in education programs and review existing policies and institutions of education.” (Bulatlat.com)