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Pro, anti K to 12 groups

launch own movements


By: Jessica Tabilin, Vincent Cabreza - @inquirerdotnet
Inquirer Northern Luzon / 05:57 AM July 28, 2015

BAGUIO CITY, PhilippinesTwo groups, one supportive of the K to 12 basic


education program and the other critical of President Aquinos education policy
launched separate movements here last week, hoping to sustain their campaigns beyond
the end of Aquinos term in 2016.

Members of Akbayan Youth gathered at Teachers Camp last Friday to organize the
Malayang Edukasyon Movement (MEM) and cement what they perceive to be the
positive changes that will be created by the K to 12 reform.

The following day, the University of the Philippines Baguio and groups led by Alliance
of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Rep. Antonio Tinio launched the Rise for Education
Alliance.
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The alliance, its organizers said, will be a venue for discussions on why the changes the
Aquino administration has made to the education system are being dictated by world
events, instead of the countrys needs.

Though the two groups had differing views, they were similar in at least one concern
that the K to 12 educational reforms could be used as a platform for companies to
generate manpower for the Asian job market.

Curriculum development

In a news conference here last week, Akbayan chair Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel said
MEM advocates for the development of a curriculum that will pursue subjects like math
and science from a Filipino perspective, and retains subjects like the humanities to help
students make lifelong choices.
She said the three-day MEM conference was a venue for the youth to suggest ways to
extend to the college level and the technical vocational program many of the benefits
from the enhanced grade school, middle school and senior high school programs after
2016.

Akbayan Youth chair Rafaela David said the MEM was examining the possibility of
making state college education free by 2020, much like public grade schools and high
schools are free as mandated by the Constitution.

David said the governments education budget, touted as the highest sectoral state
allocation, was not being spent efficiently. She said this could be realigned to subsidize
students who find a college education too expensive.

Baraquel, who is a director of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth),


described the K to 12 enhanced basic education program as an essential reform to
upgrade the standards of basic education.
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She said the gains of K to 12 had to continue so they will benefit students by the time
they sign up for college or the technical vocational programs.

The Rise for Education Alliance also offered itself as a venue for discussing the
rationale and impact of education reform under the Aquino administration.

Crisis and transition

I believe we are in a period of crisis, a period of transition, because of changes dictated


by forces outside the country such as this years Asean (Association of Southeast Asian
Nations) integration and globalization, and domestic issues involving the school system
[such as classroom shortages and low teacher salaries] that have long been a problem of
many developing countries, said Raymundo Rovillos, UP Baguio chancellor and a
convenor of the movement.

My attitude here is to be open to debate and conversation, to have a critical position


about what is happening [while keeping in mind] the call for social justice and
equality, he said.
He said UP submitted to the changes introduced by the government as a consequence of
Republic Act No. 10533, or the K to 12 Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013.

But like many universities, Rovillos said, UP is struggling with the problems created by
K to 12, such as job security of tenured professors who used to teach general education
subjects that would be offered to senior high school students next year.

All colleges and universities also face low to zero enrolment from 2016 to 2018
because of the requirement that potential college freshmen in 2016 undergo the two-
year senior high school program, Tinio said.

Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/708443/pro-anti-k-to-12-groups-launch-own-


movements#ixzz4twAI253G
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