Skip to main content
Offer ‘excess’ classrooms for K to 12 use—study

Amid the apprehension of some sectors and leaders over the viability of the K to 12, state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) released a timely policy note offering possible solutions to some of the challenges cited by the reform program’s critics.

Dr. Rosario G. Manasan, a PIDS senior research fellow, recommends that higher education institutes (HEI) offer their “excess capacity”, referring to the available classrooms and the teachers who will be underutilized when HEIs receive no enrollees in school year (SY) 2016/2017.

Dr. Manasan stated this recommendation in her policy note titled “K to 12 reform: Implications of adding Grades 11 and 12 on the higher education subsector”, which assesses the effect of the demands of the K to 12 program on the supply capacities of secondary schools and higher education institutes.

The Senior High School Absorptive Capacity Study, conducted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), found that to accommodate all the students who are expected to enter public senior high school (SHS), the Department of Education (DepEd) must be able to build 27,000 new classrooms by SY 2016/2017, and 23,812 additional classrooms by SY 2017/2018.  DepEd would also need to hire more teachers—46,000 by 2016 and 38,700 by the following school year.

These exact demands have caused critics to be wary that the program will only create newer problems, as well as exacerbate the same old and unaddressed issues such as inadequate infrastructure, underpaid teacher salaries, and underfunded school materials.

But the government has remained steadfast that the reform program is long overdue, and that the K to 12 shift is essential to increasing the competitiveness of the Philippine education system.

Dr. Manasan’s recommendations are an addition to the government’s response through the education cluster and coordinating agencies, including the Commission on Higher Education and the Department of Labor and Employment, to explore comprehensive and supplementary action, including schools applying to open secondary high schools.  

Though Dr. Manasan admits there are logistical concerns, such as uneven geographic distribution of available spaces, she still considers the scenario a “win-win” scenario.

“If all the available places in HEIs arising from the missing cohorts were made available to the SHS program, the total classroom requirement for the SHS program in public schools would drop by 57 percent from 26,955 with pure DepEd provision to 11,572 in SY 2016/2017.”

Furthermore, HEIs and the DepEd can use the opportunity to gauge the real demand for SHS facilities and adjust the infrastructure budget, and HEIs will not have to retrench faculty members during the transition period.


To make these possible, the country’s leaders need to create a policy environment that will make it easy for the HEIs to cooperate, and consider mechanisms and programs like education service contracting, concession arrangements, and credit windows for classroom construction. (PIDS)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Empanada festival: A celebration of good taste and good life

By Dominic B. dela Cruz & Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporters BATAC CITY—If there is one thing Batac is truly proud of, it would be its famous empanada-making business that has nurtured its people over the years. Embracing a century-old culture and culinary tradition, Batac’s empanada claims to be the best and tastiest in the country with its distinctive Ilokano taste courtesy of its local ingredients: fresh grated papaya, mongo, chopped longganisa, and egg. The crispy orange wrapper and is made of rice flour that is deep-fried. The celebration of this city’s famous traditional fast food attracting locals and tourists elsewhere comes with the City Charter Day of Batac every 23 rd  of June. Every year, the City Government of Batac led by Mayor Jeffrey Jubal Nalupta commemorate the city’s charter day celebration to further promote its famous One-Town, One Product, the Batac empanada. Empanada City The Batac empanada festival has already become an annua

PIDS expert says income tax cuts justified; warns gov’t of revenue loss

Proposals to amend the personal income tax schedule appear to be well-justified. However, these proposals should include measures that will allow government to recover the revenue loss from lower income taxes. Dr. Rosario Manasan, senior research fellow of state think-tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), said at a seminar sponsored by the Philippine Senate, that government should look for new revenue measures to compensate for the projected revenue loss that will arise as a result of the implementation of any of the various proposals to restructure the personal income tax. Currently, there are several income tax reform proposals pending in both houses of Congress. All of them, according to Dr. Manasan, have the same objective of addressing the phenomenon of bracket creep, which results from “non-indexation to inflation of personal income tax brackets”. Simply put, bracket creep occurs when employees’ income increases over time as a result of inflation. Th

PGIN honors Ilocano heroes of past, present through Heroes Walk

SPO1 Allan Lampitoc Franco of Banna, Ilocos Norte and PO2 Jovalyn D. Lozano of Adams, Ilocos Norte receive a resolution of commendation, a certificate of college scholarship grant to their family members and a P20,000 cash incentive each from the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte represented by Governor Imee R. Marcos and Vice Governor Angelo M. Barba in recognition of their bravery and heroic acts in the Mamasapano clash in Maguindanao on January 25. Mr. Franco and Mr. Lozano were recognized on March 10 in time for the unveiling of the second batch of Ilocano heroes at the Heroes Walk located along the Sirib Mile in Laoag City.  (Lei Adriano) By Jennifer T. Pambid PGIN-CMO In honor of the heroes who brought freedom, fame and glory to the province as well as to the country in the past century, the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte (PGIN) through the Education Department and Sirib Youth Office launched the second batch of Ilocano Heroes Walk on March 10, 2015.