Senior high debut marks school opening today

MANILA, Philippines – The government sets a benchmark today with the start of full implementation of the senior high school program, centerpiece of the contentious K to 12 education reform program of the Aquino administration.

Around 25 million students are expected to return to private and public elementary and high schools, including some 1.5 million who will join the first batch of students in Grade 11, which ushers in two additional years in basic education in the country.

The Department of Education (DepEd) dubbed today’s school opening as historic even as critics continue to doubt government preparations for the program.

“There are 11,000 public and private schools that are ready to welcome warmly our first batch of senior high school learners,” Education Secretary Armin Luistro told The STAR yesterday. 

“We celebrate this historic moment in Philippine education and enjoin every citizen to work hand-in-hand with DepEd in ensuring the success of these new programs,” he added.

DepEd assistant secretary Jesus Mateo also expressed readiness for the opening of classes, highlighting preparations made by their central and regional offices and the school divisions to ensure smooth resumption of classes today.

The agency’s help desk for concerns involving the school opening is on full operations to answer inquiries from school officials, teachers and parents.

A dedicated call center was also established for matters concerning senior high school.

Despite continued pronouncements of the government that schools nationwide are ready to implement senior high school, various sectors have warned the people of possible problems, including the perennial classroom congestion, lack of school materials and possible increase in the dropout rate of students.

“The low enrolment in senior high school only shows how great a burden K to 12 is for students and their families,” incoming Kabataan party-list Rep. Sarah Elago said.

“Imagine a minimum wage earner suddenly facing the problem of enrolling his or her child to a private school because of the way K to 12 was set up,” she added.

Elago was referring to enrolment data from DepEd, which showed that only around 550,000 have been encoded to the learner information system as of Thursday night.

Several classrooms allotted for Grade 11 will also not be available with construction still ongoing.

Mateo, however, stressed that contingency measures are in place and construction is technically not delayed in these cases as the buildings are both for Grade 11 and 12, which will be rolled out in June 2017.

DepEd earlier admitted that learner materials may not be delivered in time for the resumption of classes, with the agency stating that digital copies are available to teachers.

Some equipment for technical-vocational tracks are still in the procurement process, for instance in Eastern Visayas that released an invitation to bid for materials for subject specializations amounting to over P117 million only on June 8.

DepEd ready

But despite the perceived problems, Luistro remained unfazed and maintained that the agency is ready for the program.

He said the department estimates the actual enrolment of Grade 11 to be at more than one million in both public and private schools, attributing the low figures to delayed reporting of some of schools.

“I am not worried about the enrolment more than the technical challenges we are facing in our first-ever online enrolment system,” he said.

“On or before June 17, we would be able to present a more solid report on the enrolment statistics for the first cohort of senior high school students,” added the DepEd chief.

Based on data released by the agency, around 1.5 million students completed Grade 10 (former 4th year high school) last March, with the bulk – around 1.2 million – coming from public schools.

More than 1.3 million of the Grade 10 completers took part in the early registration for senior high school, with over 877,000 indicating that they would enroll in one of the almost 6,000 public senior high schools across the country.

Over 437,000 students said they want to pursue senior high school in private schools, including some 200,000 public Grade 10 completers.

DepEd allocated over P12 billion to provide subsidies, through a voucher program, to students who would enroll in non-DepEd schools for senior high school.

Dubbed by Luistro as among the legacies of the Aquino administration, K to 12 is the biggest reform in the Philippine basic education program in several decades.

It involved the institutionalization of kindergarten, as well as the implementation of the additional two years to be known as senior high school.

Senior high school will allow students to choose from specific tracks – academic, technical-vocational-livelihood (TVL), arts and design, and sports.

Based on early registration, over 700,000 students signified their intention to pursue academic track, followed by TVL with over 531,000, arts and design with 6,000, and sports with just over 3,700.

DepEd said over 57,000 programs are being offered by 5,990 public senior high schools and 5,046 private schools, public and private universities and colleges, and technical-vocational institutions.

The government has allotted billions of pesos to DepEd as part of the implementation of K to 12, completing over 51,000 classrooms from 2014 up to present. Another 66,000 are under construction.

While the government has been focused on implementing the program, various groups have tried to stop its rollout, citing problems involving preparations and its effect on thousands of college educators who would lose jobs during the transition phase.

Various petitions sought for the issuance of a temporary restraining order, which was denied by the Supreme Court.

Militant group League of Filipino Students claimed that the program would require parents to shell out at least P100,000 to support a child who will have to finish the mandatory additional two years in basic education.

Incoming DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones expressed support for the program even as she recognized the problems that may arise due to K to 12.

“What can be done by the incoming administration at this time is to monitor closely the implementation of Grade 11 starting June 13. We have been receiving feedback on K to 12 which we will pass on to the present leadership of the Department of Education,” she said.

Briones will join Luistro today at Commonwealth High School in Quezon City to monitor the opening of classes.

The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) will establish police assistance desks in 779 public and private schools in Metro Manila to protect students against criminals during the opening of classes today.

At least 17,000 policemen would be deployed near schools as NCRPO chief Director Joel Pagdilao declared yesterday that, “we are ready for any eventuality.”

“My police commanders were reminded of their jobs, especially in the vicinity of schools for us to prevent criminals from taking advantage of the situation. We would be everywhere come Monday,” said Pagdilao in an interview.

The NCRPO chief said additional policemen would be posted in Chinese schools to prevent kidnapping syndicates from preying on hapless students.

Pagdilao placed the 19,000-strong NCRPO on full alert last Friday to secure the opening of classes.

The uniformed policemen would be fielded in the vicinity of schools starting 4 a.m. today.

Rains for school opening

State weather forecasters have advised the public to brace for possible rain showers in the afternoon and early evening today in most parts of the country.

In its special weather outlook issued for the opening of classes, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said thunderstorms caused by the southwest monsoon might be experienced.

“The whole Luzon including Metro Manila and Visayas will have partly cloudy sky with warm and humid atmosphere, becoming cloudy towards the afternoon and early evening with possible rain showers and thunderstorms,” said PAGASA acting administrator Vicente Malano.

“Over Mindanao, occasional rain showers and thunderstorms will be experienced due to the possible approach of a low pressure area. However, no tropical cyclone development is expected during the outlook period,” he added.

Malano said the southwest monsoon will be the dominant weather system to affect most parts of Luzon. 

“For Visayas and Mindanao, partly cloudy sky becoming cloudy towards the afternoon and early evening with possible rain showers and thunderstorms is expected in the next five days,” he added.

Coastal waters over northern Luzon will be moderate to occasionally rough while the rest of the country will be slight to moderate, added PAGASA. – With Non Alquitran