No rush for additional 2 years in basic education – Abad

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – Budget Secretary Florencio Abad yesterday said there is no rush to implement the proposed additional two years in the 10-year basic education curriculum.

“That is something that cannot be immediately implemented, it has to be studied well,” Abad said.

He said the move to implement the proposed 12 years basic education curriculum goes hand in hand with the need “to create the necessary environment to make the increase of two years meaningful.”

“You cannot increase to 12 years and still have serious gaps in classrooms, teachers, or your teachers are not trained well, or in textbooks, and textbook quality,” Abad said. “So these are the things that have to come together. It will not be right away, it will be done in stages. You do this in one year, and you do the next one after next year. It’s a process.”

Abad, who was Education secretary during the Arroyo administration but resigned in 2005 at the height of the “Hello, Garci” controversy, acknowledged the need to add two years to basic education.

“Insofar as the need is concerned, there is certainly a need for us to extend the basic education cycle, because aside from Mongolia we are the only country in the world that still operates within the 10-year basic education cycle. The problem there is we are not in a position to complete all the academic requirements in a period of 10 years so there is a need to do it in 12 years,” he said.

The 12-year basic education cycle is being followed in First World countries.

Malacañang said on Monday that the government would shoulder the expenses for the proposed additional two years to basic education.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the objective is to make high school students ready for employment when they graduate to prevent them from being jobless should they not be able to pursue college.

The Department of Education is also studying the possibility of adding two years to the secondary level.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro said the draft curriculum would be announced on Oct. 5.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) has opposed the extension of the basic education curriculum, saying it would be burdensome to families and to teachers who would shoulder the heavier workload, possibly without salary increase.

ACT secretary-general France Castro said that instead of increasing the number of years in basic education, the government should address the shortfalls in the education system like the decrease in education budget, shortage of supplies and equipment, high dropout rate, and increase in tuition and miscellaneous fees. –Danny Dangcalan (The Philippine Star)