The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said K-12 graduates are having a hard time getting jobs as most local companies still prefer to hire college graduates or college undergraduates.
Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma made the remarks following a recent Social Weather Stations survey which showed that at least 50 percent of Filipinos were dissatisfied with the K-12 program.
In a television interview, the Labor chief said K-12 graduates were being hired at lower-level positions or positions with low pay.
He said the type of jobs available for senior high school graduates are mostly entry-level positions such as clerical support staff, crafts and trade workers, machine operators, and sales and services workers.
Laguesma urged both the private and government sectors to hire senior high graduates.
The Department of Education already began pilot testing the revised curriculum – the K-10 or Matatag curriculum – in a bid to address basic education woes.
Five Metro Manila schools joined the pilot run for the revised K-10 curriculum along with 35 other public elementary and high schools around the country.
Education Undersecretary Michael Poa said teachers who participated in the pilot run were adequately prepared after they completed their training under the new curriculum for kindergarten to grade 10 learners.
The Matatag curriculum is expected to decongest the present K-12 curriculum by reducing the number of competencies and focusing more on the development of foundational skills, such as literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional skills of kindergarten to Grade 3 learners.
Beginning SY 2024-2025, the phased implementation of the Matatag K-10 curriculum will be applied to Kindergarten, Grades 1, 4, and 7; to Grades 2, 5, and 8 in SY 2025-2026; to Grades 3, 6, and 9 in SY 2026-2027; and to Grade 10 in SY 2027-2028.