OFWs face additional costs with K+12 program

by Jomel Anthony Gutierrez, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau LONDON - Filipino parents in the United Kingdom, who are sending their children to school in the Philippines, are not all keen on the Department of Education’s (DepEd) new K+12 education program. Some of them are criticizing the additional costs that they need to pay for their children’s extended years in school. The government will implement the K+12 education program starting in June. The High School level will now consist of Grades 11 to 12 for 2016 to 2017 and 2017 to 2018 academic school years. And 2 years will be added to Kindergarten before a child can be qualified to start Grade I. Jailie Enguio, a care assistant in London with a daughter who is now a grade 5 pupil in Manila, asserted that it is not necessary to add years in the country’s educational system to improve the quality of education. “We really don’t need to change the length of study in our schools,” she said. "What we need to upgrade is the qualifications of the teachers and the quality of education in the Philippines,” she added. She also emphasized that this new education program will add more costs for people like herself who send money back home to finance their children’s education. “It’s a disadvantage for us parents who are OFWs because it’s additional tuition fee,” she said. She is instead calling the Department of Education to focus more on adding rooms in the public schools and limit the number of students per class. “The ratio of students to teachers should be minimized. For example, for one teacher, there should only be 30 students so everyone will be given attention,” she suggested. For Elaine Bautista who has children in Grade 2 and Grade 5 in Iligan City, the additional years would result in widening the scope of study of Filipino students. “More years in the school could provide a more comprehensive type of education in the country,” she said. “Additional years could also make our students more competitive, “ she added. But she also did not discount the fact that as an OFW in the UK, this is another financial burden for parents like her who are working abroad. “As a parent who is working so hard here, money-wise, this new program has a disadvantage for us because we need to spend more than the usual,” she said. Tom Valencia, a care home cook based in London, who has two school children in Cavite, approves of the timing of the government in implementing the K-12 education program. “I’m in favor of the new program because now it’s the right time to upgrade the quality of education in our country,” he said. “Additional years will help our children on deciding properly what profession they really want to pursue in the future,” he added. Despite the varying opinions of UK-based Filipino parents on K-12, they all shared the same sentiments on what the government should focus on in improving the quality of education in the country. Many of them are asking the government to organize more training for teachers and increase their salaries too. Others are also requesting to provide more facilities and up-to-date materials in the classroom that will surely help every Filipino student in acquiring knowledge and proper education.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more