Forty-four percent of Filipinos are dissatisfied with the country’s K-12 basic education program, results of a Pulse Asia survey commissioned by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian showed.
According to Pulse Asia, the number of Filipinos dissatisfied with the program increased by 16 percentage points from 28 percent in September 2019.
The recent survey, conducted from June 24 to 27, also saw the satisfaction rate with K-12 drop 11 percentage points from 50 percent in 2019 to 39 percent in June 2020.
Gatchalian, chair of the Senate basic education committee, said the 10-year-old K-12 program should undergo a review.
“Malinaw sa boses ng ating mga kababayan na hindi sila kuntento sa programa ng K to 12. Ito ay dahil hindi natutupad ang mga pangako nito at naging dagdag na pasanin lamang ito sa ating mga magulang at mga mag-aaral,” Gatchalian said in a news release.
Another Gatchalian-commissioned Pulse Asia survey released in December 2019 found additional financial burden as the top reason for dissatisfaction (78 percent).
K-12 was the basic education curriculum implemented in school year 2012-2013 that introduced two years of mandatory senior high school.
Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio, the country’s education chief, has been tasked by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to review the K-12 program.
Only lawmakers in the Senate and the House of Representatives can make amendments to Republic Act 10533, the act that introduced K-12. John Ezekiel J. Hirro