More on K-12: Solution, Time To Begin

OPEN LETTER TO DEPED SEC. ARMIN LUISTRO

By Dr. Aguido A. Magdadaro, M.D., F. P. C. P.

Mt. Moriah College/ Camotes Visayan Institute

Poro, Cebu

The National Task Force on Senior High School (NTF-SHS) of the Department of Education has required high schools to submit several requirements and letter of intent to open SHS for SY 2016-2017. The requirements include facilities for SHS tracks/strands, such as instructional rooms, laboratory studies, workshop rooms, learner's resources center, equipments and/or instruments, internet facilities, among others, without specifying the items to set up.

As an existing high school since 1947, in the poor island of Camotes we found the requirements onerous and impossible to comply because our current facilities are only good for the present crops of students up to grade 10 or fourth year high school. And we lack funds to build more.

If, indeed, public and private high schools are to begin K-12 program starting SY 2016-2017 time the preparation should have been in place a few years ago. We have not yet even received the formal curriculum offering for K-12. It appears to me that SHS Task Force expect us to device our own curriculum program. The Task Force is requiring us to open K-12 program as if we were intending to open a new school, with so many requirements.

We believe, however, that there is an easy solution to this problem of unpreparedness, as discussed by Dr. Eladio C. Dioko, retired DepEd VII Director in an earlier article.

If government policy is the problem, then the government must provide the solution.

With all resources, that we in private education do not have, government should make fast move to open more TESDA training lab and workshops in every town, district and city immediately.

Private high schools opening K-12 shall be given the option to either build or provide their own facilities for K-12 if they have the money, or to send K-12 students to TESDA if they cannot put up their own lab facilities. Teaching of academic subjects stay.

In the case of Camotes Island, one big TESDA training center can serve the needs of all public and private high schools in the towns of Tudela, Pilar, Poro, and San Francisco. Of course, under state budget.

My family will provide free 5,000 sq. meters of land area at Mt. Moriah College for TESDA to build anytime, and the time to begin is now.