K to 12 implementation needs still incomplete, lawmaker says

MANILA, Philippines - One of the most vocal supporters of the K to 12 law in the House of Representatives raised alarm over the government’s inability to complete the preparations in time for the program’s full implementation next year.

Valenzuela City Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian said recent reports revealing habitual underspending of public funds by the Aquino administration have diminished public confidence in the government’s capacity to meet the infrastructure, manpower and materials shortages to be addressed before the opening of the 2016-2017 school year.

“We are 10 months away from charging head-on into the largest education reform that the Philippines has experienced in decades, and yet it becomes clearer with each passing day that the government may have been overly optimistic in its public progress reports on the status of K to 12 readiness,” Gatchalian said.

Gatchalian, a member of the House committees on basic education and culture as well as higher and technical education, said President Aquino stated in his last State of the Nation Address, that the government still needs to build an additional 84,728 classrooms – 41,728 this year , followed by 43,000 more  next year – and hire 99,000 teachers by June 2016 to meet the demands of full K to 12 implementation.

The funds to meet these requirements are either already found in the 2015 budget or have been included in the proposed P3-trillion 2016 budget sent to the House for approval.

“The President boasts as if our work is already finished, but in reality we have a long way to go before we can say with confidence that we are ready for K to 12. Considering the rampant pattern of underspending we’ve witnessed under the current administration, the budget allocations for these vital K to 12 needs are mere empty promises if the responsible agencies don’t have the capacity to absorb these funds quickly and convert them into actual classrooms built, teachers hired, and textbooks delivered,” he said.