Management specialist Don Brodeth warned yesterday that higher education institutions, especially privately-owned and managed, are at risk with the implementation of the K plus 12 Basic Education Program of the government.

A consultant for tertiary schools, Brodeth said this in a forum attended by officials and representatives from the Catholic private schools in Dumaguete City and Negros Oriental yesterday.

He said private HEIs should brace for the worst, as they stand to lose around P158 billion in finances and 3.3 million drop in class enrolment in the first five years of the K plus 12 implementation.

The HEIs can bounce back if they are given the option, or decide to adopt and offer the senior high school curriculum, he also said.

Brodeth said HEIs would benefit from offering SHS to students, but there will come a time that the Department of Education will be able to build more classrooms, hire more teachers and also offer SHS at little, or no cost, on the students.

The impact of the K plus 12 program on HEIs is quite severe, he claimed.

The government has projected to address the DepEd deficit on classrooms and teachers by end of this year although other sectors believe this is unattainable, he added.

He said the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Association believes it will take at least five years for the government to be able to address the deficit, but other sectors say this can be achieved in 15 to 16 years.

Doris Ferrer of the Catholic Education Association of the Philippines said in the same workshop that the deficit includes 31,281 classrooms, 32,629 teachers, 62.1 million textbooks and 1.3 million seats.

Another problem private HEIs will face is the expected transfer of their teachers to public schools for higher wages, she said.

But she also said she believes that, since the government already enforced a salary adjustment for its teachers, there will be no additional wage increase in the next four years.

She stressed the need for the K to 12 bill to be passed into law before the 2016 presidential elections to ensure its continuous implementation even after President Benigno Aquino will leave Malacañang.

Brodeth and Ferrer were the resource speakers on “K + 12: Effects, Planning, Framework and Possible Resources” symposium yesterday, hosted by the Colegio de Catherina de Alejandria, and attended by representatives from the St. Paul University-Dumaguete, St. Joseph Seminary College, La Consolacion College, Carmel College, Catherina Cittadini-St. Louis School, Metro Dumaguete College and Holy Cross High School.*JFP

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