STUDENTS, parents, teachers and various groups launched on Friday a petition against the government’s K-to-12 program with parents complaining that they are not sure to enroll their kids in June because of the absence of tuition vouchers for all prospective Grade 11 entrants.
“The Department of Education is useless because it has failed to properly implement the K-12 senior high school,” said parent Obeth Montes, convenor of the Parents’ Movement Against K-12, as protesters angrily banged the gates of the DepEd main offices in Pasig City.
The groups complained that the DepEd failed to inform people that the tuition vouchers are not for everyone aside from the lack of facilities for the program.
“It’s also very difficul to get vouchers because there is so much red tape. The vouchers do not cover the entire tuition because families still have to spend a lot for other expenses,” Montes said.
Incoming Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas urged the incoming administration of Rodrigo Duterte and designated Education Secretary Peter Laurel to act decisively on the mounting difficulties that parents face in getting their children enrolled.
“The Duterte government should strive to be different from the insensitive stonewalling that families encountered in Aquino and Secretary Armin Luistro. The best Mayor Digong can do is to stop the implementation of K-12, and the least he can do for the moment is to allow all Grade 11 enrollees to be listed in all the available schools whether vouchers are available or not,” Brosas said.
At the same time, parents also formed the Stop K to 12 Multi-Sectoral Alliance launched on Friday to urge Duterte to abolish the K to 12 program.
“Across sectors, we stand firm and united in our demand to stop the K to 12 program. Today, we wish to show President Duterte that there is a growing number of youth and students, teachers, parents, and other parts of our society who are looking forward to his actions against the anti-people K to 12 policy,” said League of Filipino Students secretary-general and Stop K to 12 Alliance convener Aries Gupit said.
Gupit hoped that Duterte will be able to firm up with his stand against K to 12 and reminded the presumptive president that people have high expectations in the change that is promised by his new administration.
Gupit said that one of these expectations is that he will stand by his anti-K to 12 pronouncements that he released during the election campaign period.
“We ask President Duterte to announce his plans of actions against K to 12 as soon as possible since we only have three weeks before classes start. His declaration, even if it is before his inauguration, will greatly alleviate the anxieties of the people and provide perspective,” Gupit added.
He suggested that Duterte must grant all grade 10 completers their high-school-graduate status.
“By allowing the students who finished grade 10 last March to graduate high school, it will effectively stop K to 12. With this, forcing the students to undergo additional two years in high school will come to an end,” said Gupit.
He noted that with the domination of private schools in senior high, 700,000 up to 1 million students are forced to enroll in private schools with high matriculation costing from P22,500 to more than P100,000 or they will drop out of schooling.
Gupit said that if the students weren’t able to continue to senior high because of financial constraints and other issues, then they are not considered high school graduate. He pointed out that in this case, they cannot move forward to college and pursue their dreams.
The youth leader also noted that because they are considered high school drop-outs, they will have a difficulty in looking for a job, suffer wages that might be lower than the minimum, and undergo contractualization of labor.
