VICE President-elect and incoming Education Secretary Sara Duterte-Carpio said she will look into the implementation of the K-to-12 program and the possible full implementation of the face-to-face (F2F) classes among all basic education learners.
Duterte-Carpio told the media in an ambush interview on Saturday afternoon, June 18, that these are some of the priority agendas she will be addressing at the start of the administration of Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. at 12 noon on June 30.
"Unang-una, yung effect ng [Covid-19] pandemic sa ating mga learners and sa sobrang tagal nila na hindi nag face-to-face classes, pangalawa (First is we will look into the effect of the pandemic to our learners and the prolonged delay of the F2F classes, second) the question on sending them all back to school, full-on face-to-face classes, and then number three, thorough discussion on the K-to-12 program," the outgoing Davao City Mayor said.
The proposed full implementation of the F2F classes had been pushed to August this year due to continuing relaxed Covid-19 situation in the country, but this is being opposed by some health experts due to the recent detection of the Omicron subvariant BA.5.
The K to 12 program, implemented under the administration of the late President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, is also being questioned by some teachers and parents for how it is effective as a learning system for students.
According to the Philippine Gazette, K-12 is a program that covers kindergarten and 12 years of basic education to provide sufficient time for mastery of concepts and skills, develop lifelong learners, and prepare graduates for tertiary education, middle-level skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship.
Meanwhile, the mayor said she said her team is set to have a face-to-face meeting with outgoing Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Leonor Briones to work on with the transition.
Duterte-Carpio, the first official appointee of Marcos, accepted the position as next DepEd secretary on May 11, two days after the 2022 elections.
In a statement, she accepted the task as Education Secretary as she is pushing to produce "skilled learners" in the country.
"It was decided that I would work on producing skilled learners with the mindset to realize their full potential as individuals. Our country needs a future generation of patriotic Filipinos that advocate peace and discipline in their respective communities," Duterte-Carpio said in a statement on May 12.
In addition, the daughter of Outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte is also in coordination, through her transition team, with the office of Outgoing Vice President Leni Robredo during the transition phase between the two new administrations.
Duterte-Carpio earlier announced that Robredo declined her attendance in her oathtaking on Sunday, June 19 as she is also attending the Naga Charter Day, which also happened on the same weekend.
Meanwhile, the incoming vice president scheduled her oath-taking at an earlier date to be able to attend the inauguration of Marcos, Jr., which is on June 30 at the National Museum. RGL