ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Why the Philippines' education system needs an 'overhaul'

Why the Philippines' education system needs an 'overhaul'

Group says K to 12 'failure' evident in low employment rate among SHS grads

Published Mar 3, 2024 01:53 pm

A group of education workers has reiterated the need to overhaul the country’s education system, with a special focus on the K to 12 Program, especially amidst the low employability rate of its graduates.

viber_image_2023-03-31_15-32-48-650.jpg
Tech-voc students (DepEd file photo)  

“There is no point in continuing a program that not a single study has found to be effective,” said the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) in a statement.

READ: 

https://mb.com.ph/2023/8/10/k-to-12-program-to-continue-dep-ed

ACT Chairperson Vladimer Quetua lamented that the K to 12 program only aims to make the Philippines competitive against underdeveloped countries in producing a steady stream of the semi-skilled labor force for foreign capital.

“These jobs are largely contractual in nature and the lowest paying in different industries,” he added.

ACT issued the statement following the directive of President Marcos, Jr. to integrate skills training into the K to 12 curriculum to increase the employability of Senior High School (SHS) graduates.

In the 2022 Labor Force survey conducted by the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS), it was noted that only a small proportion of SHS graduates (a little over 20 percent) were able to enter the labor force. The majority (more than 70 percent) opted to continue with their education.

READ:

https://mb.com.ph/2023/5/12/dep-ed-creates-a-national-task-force-to-review-shs-program-find-out-why

Wake-up call

For ACT, any reform to the K to 12 curriculum will only “replicate failures as the program is not designed to bolster a genuine national development program and only aims to produce cheap and docile labor force for foreign employers that is bound to be underpaid, contractual or unemployed.”

Citing the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Quetua said that the “starkly low employment rate of our K to 12 graduates and attrition rate of those employed is high.”

He added that the majority of the annual K to 12 graduates only contribute to the huge number of unemployed or are employed temporarily as contract workers who are paid wages below livable levels.

“This should serve as a wake-up call to redesign our education system towards supporting national development and aligning our economic program towards developing local production to create more jobs,” Quetua said.

Moreover, Quetua pointed out that the practicum component for skills development, which would be added to the subjects based on available resources in particular areas and regions, is 'equally disheartening.'

“This only implies that the government has no plans to address the needs, particularly in far-flung areas, and allocate the necessary budget to capacitate schools in implementing the program,” Quetua said.

Given this, ACT reiterated that the whole education system needs to be "overhauled" to serve the aspirations of Filipinos for national development, agricultural advancement, and the establishment of national industries.

RELATED STORIES: 

https://mb.com.ph/2023/6/4/why-senior-high-school-program-is-a-necessary-sacrifice-2

https://mb.com.ph/2023/5/29/unfair-to-say-k-to-12-program-has-failed-pb-ed

Related Tags

k to 12 program SHS graduates k to 12 review DepEd senior high school
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.