ADVOCACY groups Teachers Dignity Coalition (TDC) and Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan (Spark) welcomed the pronouncements of different stakeholders on the issue of the stoppage of the senior high school (SHS) program at state and local universities and colleges or SUCs and LUCs.
“It is our ardent wish that we all work together to avoid exacerbating the education crisis that has already beset us by mechanically shutting down the program without ample consideration of its impacts on teachers and learners alike,” TDC and Spark said in a joint statement issued on January 14.
Given the Department of Education’s (DepEd) outstanding classroom backlog of about 165,000, the groups asserted that accepting displaced SHS students will be the main concern. The situation could lead to congestion in public-school classes, thus adding on to the burdens of teachers, according to the groups.
TDC and Spark suggested to DepEd to consider the affected students’ geographic distribution to prevent enrolling them in schools miles away from their residences, which will result to additional costs to their families.
“Yet, another default response of the DepEd to the perennial problem of congestion is to encourage the students to transfer to private schools where they can avail of vouchers to subsidize their schooling under the [Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education or ‘GASTPE’] program,” they said.
Amid GASTPE’s ample budget hike in the 2024 national appropriation to support transferees, they noted that the Education Department “must first rid itself of diploma mills and ‘fly-by-night schools’” that have contributed to the declining quality of education in the country, and have served as a “milking cow” of sorts for unscrupulous individuals.
Based on reports they cited, these illegal businesses charge exorbitant school fees, including pricey field trips, uniforms, and superfluous expenses that do not contribute to the holistic development of students.
“The prevalence of these schools is a challenge not only endured by students and their parents, but also by our teachers and the general taxpaying public as well,” the groups said. “We call on the DepEd to release the audit of…schools that have accessed ‘GASTPE’ and their evaluation of these questionable schools. Our hardworking taxpayers deserve better if we truly aspire for a well-informed and intelligent society.”