DepEd: No plan to repeal K-12

There is no plan to repeal the K-12 education reform program that added two years to basic education in the country, the Department of Education (DepEd) said early this week.

Sentiments and questions on social media pertaining to the supposed plan to scrap the program are based on misinformation and lack of critical discernment, the DepEd said in a statement.

The claims circulated online came after news that the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is planning to review its K-12 transition program.

“(It) was misconstrued to mean the implementation of the entire K-12 program. These two are not one and the same,” the DepEd said.

CHED chairman J. Prospero De Vera III had earlier said they are planning to review its K-12 transition program, which was implemented to provide support to higher education institutions and their employees who may be affected by the changes in the basic education sector.

De Vera has clarified that the review will only cover the transition program and not the actual K-12 program as it is being primarily implemented by the DepEd.

The agency also noted that the K-12 program is mandated by law and could not be arbitrarily halted.

“As with any law, the implementation, amendment, expansion or repeal of the K-12 program is within the ambit of the legislative branch comprised of the Senate of the Philippines and the House of Representatives,” it said.

The DepEd also stood by its position that the program is a necessity and halting it “might prove detrimental to the accelerating and increasing demands on education.”

“The challenges still abound but the support of the national and local government, and of stakeholders in the private sector and the community, has been overwhelming that it silences doubts and strengthens the resolve to move forward with change today,” it said.