The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Negros joined a nationally coordinated protest action yesterday opposing the implementation of the Kindergarten to Year 12 (K + 12) basic education program of the Department of Education.

Bayan secretary general, Christian Tuayon, said they held a picket protest yesterday at the DepEd Office in Negros Occidental participated in by some parents and school children who are against the additional school year on basic education.

He said they are starting a signature campaign at the national level pushing for a temporary restraining order in the Supreme Court against the implementation of the K + 12 program which is only a DepEd Order and not a legislated law.

Tuayon said there are other perennial issues the government and DepEd have to address like the lack of teachers, school supplies and classrooms.

He said the additional school year is not a solution to the unemployment problem but will become an added burden to parents who cannot afford to send their children to school.

It is good for those who can afford but how about the drivers, and other low-income earners? He asked.

Tuayon also asked the government what assurance it can give that skilled students can immediately find work. Government should create job opportunities because every year there is an increase in unemployment rate, he said, claiming farther that the government has no plans to create job opportunities.

Dep Ed Secretary Armin Luistro had said the K + 12 program is also designed to help students adjust to the fast-changing demands of society by providing graduates with essential skills for local or global employment or for college education.

Education officials have noted deficiencies in competencies in core subjects of English, Math and Science among Filipino high school graduates.

Reports said Myanmar and the Philippines are the only countries in the world with a 10-year basic education curriculum.*CGS

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