Give K to 12 a chance

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor PATRICK PANGILINAN Busines Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

President Benigno Aquino III finally launched the adoption of the basic education program of the Department of Education that would include Kindergarten, or the K to 12 system Tuesday.

The K to 12 program consists of the upgrading of the basic education curriculum that will ensure a total of 12 years of basic education for the country's schoolchildren before they go on to college or vocational courses that will be their livelihood as they join adult society.

The program took some time to be finalized because of objections from some sectors who claim that the new curriculum would mean longer years of study and, therefore, more expense for parents, before their children could themselves begin to earn both for their families and themselves.

There is, however, much going for the adoption of the K to 12, and one of these is the provision of a more solid educational background to those who complete their basic education. There is no argument over the fact that the educational development of our students has not been very progressive, in the past years, and much has been blamed on the curriculum as well as the seemingly abbreviated period given to their formal training in school.

Furthermore, it has been established that ours is one among the few countries, even in the third world, where students do not undergo the full 12 years believed necessary for them to acquire a fuller and more intensive preparation for college, or any other path in life they may choose. This has even been noted to have affected the chances of our graduates in getting appointed to higher positions in countries where a minimum of 12 years of basic education is required.

Let us therefore give the K to 12 program a chance to further hone our young people in the skills and knowledge they need to acquire if they are to be competitive anywhere in the world, but especially in serving our country later.*