Dr. Jun Ynares, M.D. By Dr. Jun Ynares, M.D.   I join the many who have extended their congratulations recently to the Department of Education (DepEd). The outpouring of congratulatory messages has to do with the graduation of the first official batch of students who have completed the once-controversial K to 12 Program. History has been made. Our children who are part of the Senior High School graduating class of 2018 are part of that history. DepEd and other stakeholders helped make this chapter in the history of our educational system possible. I recall that I wrote about this program some four years ago in this column. The piece was titled “Making Lifelong Learners.” Here are some excerpts from that piece written in August of 2014: “I have heard some objections to the K to 12 Program. The usual objection has been to the fact that a “senior high school” has been added to the original 10-year program, 11 years if you add kindergarten. “The “senior high school” component is the additional Grades 11 and 12. The idea of two more years before one graduates from basic education has been difficult to accept for many. “Education is one of the pillars of the community life of a city. As head of our city, therefore, I am interested in the K to 12 Program. I am as much a stakeholder in its successful implementation as parents, students, school administrators, and teachers. At the end of the day, we all have a stake here. “I took a special interest in the “senior high school” aspect of the program. I know that I have as much responsibility for explaining the value of the two additional years as the officials of DepEd. To be able to do so, I tried to understand both the rationale and the features of these two additional years. “I got some help in this endeavor from a fellow Antipoleño, Archie Inlong, one of the country’s leading trainers in the field of public speaking and communication. “While having coffee at my office one afternoon, I found out from Archie that he is helping the DepEd raise a corps of communication champions who are trained and equipped to talk about the K to 12 Program before stakeholders. “I got some interesting insights from Archie regarding that program. Here are two of these insights. “First, it is a step towards creating lifelong learners. “Second, it helps our children learn and develop the ability to make wise choices. “Senior High School has four tracks: academic, arts and design, sports, and science and technology. The senior high school student does not take all four tracks. He or she chooses one. “The choice has to be wise. One selects a track that responds to two things: The student’s gifts and abilities, and the student’s aspiration in life. “So, here, the program teaches the student to look at the options and to make a wise choice. “Such a choice of a track will prepare the student to harness his gifts and abilities for eventual employment or business endeavor after senior high school. “I am glad to know that the DepEd has made the business and industrial sectors also stakeholders in this program. They are the sectors that will tap the potentials of the senior high school graduates of these four tracks. “Ability to make choices. That’s an important life-skill. “The other interesting feature is that senior high school encourages life-long learning. The program helps students understand that the learning process does not depend on the presence of teachers alone. Teachers are important to learning, but learning does not have to end when the teachers are no longer around. “This means our young people need to learn how to learn. “Learning is a lifelong process. It does not end on graduation day, whether from senior high or from college. “To become a lifelong learner, one needs a set of attitude and skills. “That’s where K to 12’s senior high school component comes in. “Two additional years to help one make wise decisions in life and to become a lifelong learner. “That makes those two additional years a very wise investment.” I have attended several Senior High School graduation ceremonies during the past few weeks. Based on what I have seen and heard from our graduates and their parents, I feel that more are now convinced that the additional two years have been a very wise investment in raising up lifelong learners. Congratulations to our first official batch Senior High School graduates. Congratulations, DepEd!   * For feedback, please email it to [email protected] or send it to #4 Horse Shoe Drive, Beverly Hills Subdivision, Bgy. Beverly Hills, Antipolo City, Rizal.