OVER 20 million public school students are due to return to school today. Their summer break is over but summer is not. Their hot and overcrowded classrooms will not provide a good learning environment.
More petitions challenging the legality and constitutionality of Republic Acts 10157 and 10533 were presented to the Supreme Court (SC) last week. RA 10157 deals with the enforcement of compulsory kindergarten education and RA 10533 is better known as the K-12 law.
Armin Luistro, Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd), expressed confidence that the government could defend the K-12 law in court.
We shall see.
It is now more than two months since the SC ordered education and labor officials to respond, within 10 days, to an earlier petition. It seems that the government officials needed more time to produce an adequate response. I am not surprised. There was much loose talk from DepEd and others which purported to justify K-12 and perhaps the relevant officials realize that their arguments may not be so persuasive to our 15 High Court Justices.
Meanwhile, Secretary Luistro gave his K to 12 Basic Education Program Midterm Report of May 5. He confirmed the sustained support from the government for the basic education sector. The annual budget for education has grown from P174.75 billion in 2010 to P364.66 billion in 2015. The average spending per public school student has also risen substantially, from P8,815 per student in 2010 to P17,282 per students in 2015.
Many are surprised and disappointed that, despite the favorable treatment received by the education sector, there remains a chronic lack of classrooms without which it is impossible to provide quality education.
It is highly questionable, therefore, whether extending high school from four years to six years, compulsorily, is appropriate when we lack the facilities to adequately teach the additional students.
Secretary Luistro believes that there will be approximately 1.2 million to 1.6 million students enrolling in Grade 11 in June 2016. Of these, he estimates that between 0.8 million to 1.1 million will remain in the public school system. He also estimates that 0.4 million to 0.5 million will transfer to private high schools and those higher education institutes (HEIs) which will offer Grade 11.
The passport which facilitates this transfer to the private sector, according to Luistro, is a voucher valued at P20,000. It will not be as simple as this. Firstly, the government does not have a good reputation for paying promptly when vouchers are presented for redemption. Secondly, Luistro forgets that private schools are private. They do not have to accept any applicant. Even if a private school does decide to accept a voucher-based applicant, what about the large difference between the value of the voucher and the fees charged by the private sector institution? Who pays? The parents? Many will not be able to manage. Furthermore, there is the question of whether it is appropriate to expect parents to pay for compulsory education. I am surprised that elected representatives, Senators and Congressmen, do not seem to be addressing this vexed question. In fact I am surprised at how inarticulate the legislative branch of government is when it comes to the education of our children.
Why is this? After all, they "passed" the relevant Act so they should have some idea as to how it is supposed to be implemented. Not so, it seems. They have largely forfeited the authority that is given them by the Constitution and have allowed unelected civil servants in the Executive Branch to usurp their authority.
Senators seem to think their work is done when they give Luistro a hard time for not providing the comfort rooms necessary for a civilized education system.
Shame!