Biz group: Continue, but review, K-12

The Duterte administration should continue – but review – the implementation of the K-12 system, the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) said on Monday.

PBEd, a private sector-led organization advocating for quality education in the country, said a review of the K-12 program is necessary to ensure that investments in the education system will translate into a stronger Filipino workforce.

“We definitely need to continue implementing it. Just because we’re reviewing it does not mean that we need to stop. Just because we’re trying to monitor its implementation does not mean that we need to stop,” PBEd executive director Love Basillote said.

“We’re finally in tune with the rest of the world. We were one of the last three countries with a K-10 system and we’re talking about global competitiveness. We can’t go back to K-10. It’s not an option, I think, if we really are to sustain the growth that we’ve been experiencing,” she added.

The review of the K-12 system will improve the workforce development in the country, according to Basillote, as she cited this as a possible solution to the reported rise in joblessness despite various initiatives by the government.

“It would be good to participate in international testing to see where we stand. We definitely need to address resources, gaps,” she said.

“We saw that we are increasing the budget allocation (in education), but how are we spending that budget? Does that actually reach the schools that need them the most? Are we building enough classrooms? Are we opening up the programs that are really needed in that community?” she added.

The PBEd chief said the government should come up with a workforce development plan that would address problems in joblessness, particularly the reported jobs-skills mismatch in the country.

“Workforce development is an interconnected set of solutions that aligns education and training to national competitive needs,” Basillote said.

“It is an intentional approach that brings together multiple sectors to ensure that the workforce is equipped with skills that are relevant to the economy. The objective, in the end, is to enable people to get the right jobs,” she added.

The K-12 system, whose implementation started in the previous administration, reformed the basic education system in the country by adding a two-year senior high school program. The first batch of senior high school students graduated earlier this year.