Luistro: K to 12 is Aquino government's legacy

MANILA, Philippines - Education Secretary Armin Luistro believes that the K to 12 program will be the legacy and defining program of the Aquino administration.

“I will have no doubt… the first fruits that we are seeing now are only the tip of the iceberg in a positive sense,” Luistro told reporters on the sidelines of a media forum in Manila on Monday.

“Look at the history of other countries. Reform in education (always has a positive impact) on the economy,” he said.

Luistro admitted that it would take time before the full outcome of the government’s flagship education reform program – which has been challenged before the Supreme Court (SC) – is realized.

“The full flowering and harvest will only come after the next generation,” said Luistro. “It’s important that we’re able to see that far.”

The secretary reiterated his belief that the SC will not stop the implementation of the program, which he said is already in its “last two minutes” if it were to be compared to a basketball game.

Luistro, along with Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Commissioner Maria Cynthia Rose Banzon Bautista, faced off with critics of the program during the Tapatan sa Aristocrat media forum on Monday.

Rene Luis Tadle, convenor of the Coalition for K to 12 Suspension, raised numerous labor issues that hound the implementation of the additional two-year senior high school program.

“Congressional hearings have revealed the alarming lack of preparation on the part of concerned agencies,” Tadle said.

“Neither the implementing rules and regulations nor the tertiary education transition fund being proposed by CHED ensures full protection of labor,” Tadle added.

CHED estimates a worst-case scenario showing 56,000 teaching personnel and 14,000 non-teaching personnel getting affected by the K to 12 program.

But Bautista was quick to clarify that this is unlikely to happen, considering the creation of 14,000 plantilla positions in state universities and colleges, and the assurance of private universities that they would not retrench a lot of faculty members despite the expected low turnout of college students starting 2016.

Luistro said DepEd will prioritize displaced college teachers who would apply for teaching positions in senior high school.

Around 30,000 positions will have to be filled by DepEd by 2016.