Teachers’ group pushes for K to 12 suspension

CAGAYAN DE ORO – Three years after it was implemented by the Department of Education (DepEd), a teachers’ group has maintained its opposition to the K to 12 curriculum currently being employed to public and private school students as it called for its suspension.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT)Cagayan de Oro chapter said it wanted the K to 12 suspended as it needs to be reviewed since there are issues that the government must address first.

Vivian Jumarito, a Grade 2 teacher at East City Central School in Barangay Lapasan and an ACT member, said the K to 12 has many inadequacies such as error-filled and poor quality textbooks.

Jumarito said the mother tongue-based language being taught from Kindergarten to Grade 2 has to be refined since, for instance, there are Bisayan words that are spoken in Cebu but have different meaning in Cagayan de Oro.

Another area of concern, she said, is the local- ization of mathematical terms that would really be difficult for students to understand.

“Mabuhat man nga binisay-on nato ang Math pero lisod kaayo (We can teach math in Bisaya, but it is going to be difficult),” Jumarito said.

She also feared that Grade 12 graduates would lose interest in going to college as they now have the option to apply for technical jobs abroad, although they would become the labor force in other countries.

“It’s true that the K to 12 program is aligned with the international educational standards, but mo-excel man gihapon ‘ ta kay bright man ang mga Filipinos,” she added.

Gleceria Balangiao, ACT coordinator for Cagayan de Oro, said the students, parents and teachers are not yet ready for the K to 12 program.

Balangiao said this new curriculum would mean additional burden for the mentors who will spend additional hours due to K to 12.

She said the group has also opposed the K to 12 because ACT and the teachers in general were not consulted prior to its implementation.

She said the education department should revert to the old method, but make the subjects “pangmasa” (people-oriented), “makabayan” (nationalistic) and scientific.

Based on data ACT gathered, Balangiao said many teachers might have undergone the series of trainings before teaching the K to 12, but a lot of them are still confused with the new curriculum.

Even the new grading system is confusing, she added. (Jigger J. Jerusalem)