SEN. Sherwin Gatchalian yesterday said the country’s senior high school program should be strengthened, not abolished, to better prepare students once they opt to find jobs even if they have not finished college.
Gatchalian made the pitch amid a proposed measure Sen. Jinggoy Estrada filed seeking to abolish the senior high school program to rationalize the country’s basic education system since it failed to deliver its promised benefits.
“It is important to strengthen our senior high school program so that students are taught to better prepare them for college. We must teach subjects on critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication. These subjects are important in case a student opts to find a job (instead of going to college first),” Gatchalian said in an interview with radio dzBB.
He added that the courses can also be a basis to shorten college education from four to three years.
Gatchalian earlier filed a bill entitled Three-year College Education, which seeks to authorize the Commission on Higher Education to allow flexibility for degree programs to be finished in three academic years.
In filing the bill, Gatchalian said that there are too many subjects in high school and senior high school that are also taken up in college.
He said these repetitive subjects take away time from the students and entail additional expenses for their parents.
Removing these subjects allows students more time to focus on their major subjects. Their parents can also save on tuition fees for their children’s college education.
Gatchalian also said that scrapping the senior high school program runs counter to education standards around the world, where 99.5 percent of countries worldwide have more than 10 years in their basic education system.
“Here in Asia, eight of the 10 ASEAN countries have a K to 12 basic education system.
He noted that almost all countries worldwide have 11, 12, or 13 years of basic education. There is another country that has 14 years.
“It is important that we are aligned with most countries.
Since most have more than 10 years in their basic education system, removing the SHS curriculum would be a step backwards for the Philippines,” he said.
He added that in some parts of Europe, the three-year college program is already being implemented and this is also being proposed in the US.
“US universities have seen that college education can be shortened so that individuals can immediately be employed. Children nowadays graduate from college at the age of 22 or 23. But if they finish at 21, they can be of help to the country,” he added.
Gatchalian said the senior high school program is “not perfect” as it failed on its promise of sure employment to its graduates, but at least, it has better prepared students for college
“In fairness, I think the senior high school program helped the college readiness of students because we saw that there are many students who went on to college. It is not perfect because the promise of employment and entrepreneurship has not been met after graduation. There is a need to improve on this aspect,” he added.
