MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said Tuesday that the government itself is defeating the purpose of the K to 12 law as it continues to lump together senior high school students with graduates of the old high school curriculum in its job hiring process.
At a joint Senate hearing led by the basic education committee, which Gatchalian chairs, the lawmaker questioned a representative from the Civil Service Commission (CSC) over the qualifications it requires in entry-level government positions, which accepts both graduates of senior high school and the 10-year high school curriculum.
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“Government is the one that is not accepting senior high school students. And this is actually the most unfair practice being done by the government. Because government mandated senior high school, they promised them employment, but (they are) not even hiring senior high students,” Gatchalian said.
“Government itself is the greatest violator of the K to 12 law,” Gatchalian added.
Gatchalian was referring to the qualifications listed in a 2019 memorandum circular of the CSC that enumerates government positions open to senior high school graduates.
All of the government positions listed are classified as administrative aide jobs with salary grades ranging from SG 5 to SG 6, which in 2023 amounts to around P16,543 or P17,553.
Gatchalian questioned the CSC official during the hearing and pointed out the asterisk at the bottom of each table in the document that states: "This includes Graduates of High School under the old and new Curriculum (Senior High School).”
“So both senior high school and the 10-year-old curriculum are lumped together? Correct, attorney? That’s my interpretation here,” Gatchalian said in a mix of English and Filipino, to which the official did not reply.
Ten years late
Gatchalian also asked the CSC representative whether the commission plans to "correct" their list of qualifications for job applicants, to which she replied: “We have yet to hear from the proper office since they set the qualifications. Once we hear from them, we will submit an official answer.”
But the response prompted Gatchalian to criticize the CSC for acting ten years too late since the K to 12 law took effect in 2013.
“If I'm a senior high school graduate and I apply for government, I am equated to a ten-year high school graduate. So what's the point or value for me?” Gatchalian said.
The senator also asked: “How do you expect our private corporations to hire senior high school students when the government itself does not hire senior high school students?"
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Senior high graduates’ job prospects
The hearing follows findings from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) that those who graduated under the K to 12 program found scant employment opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CHR report also pointed out that while Republic Act 10533 or the K to 12 law requires the government to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the program, as well as release a midterm report by the end of School Year 2014-2015, it has received no such report from the Department of Education.
Vice President – and concurrently education secretary – Sara Duterte said in the first Basic Education Report that the department has finished its review of the K to 10 (Kinder to Grade 10) curriculum and that it is currently conducting its review of grades 11 and 12.
So far, however, the department found in its tracer study of senior high school graduates that only around 10% of senior high school graduates landed a job, while 83% continued on to higher education.