Senator Grace Poe said the government should not abandon students-learners who will be affected by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) memo stopping state universities and colleges (SUCs) and local universities and colleges (LUCs) from accepting senior high school (SHS) students.
The CHED earlier announced its decision to halt the SHS programs in the said universities and colleges.
Poe said the affected students should not be forced to drop out of college and that education authorities should sit down and firm up a plan for a seamless transition for SHS students affected by the discontinuation of the program.
“There should be an assessment to know if public schools nationwide have the facilities and personnel to accept the expected influx of students,” she said.
Furthermore. the SHS program should hold its promise of employability and more competitive graduates.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said he supports the CHED’s memo. He noted that the accommodation given by SUCs to SHS students earlier was part of a transition program following the implementation of K-12.
“So it is just right to phase out the SHS program in SUCs and LUCs. But they need to make an inventory of those who will be affected,” Pimentel said.
Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said the move to discontinue the offering of SHS programs in SUCs and LUCs is in line with the mandate of higher education institutions.
Villanueva said, however, that there should be coordination between the Department of Education (DepEd) and CHED regarding affected students.
DepEd Education Assistant Secretary Francis Bringas meanwhile said the CHED’s decision “is anchored in a law.”
Bringas cited Republic Act (RA) 10533 or the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013.
“That’s the K to 12 Basic Education law, it’s in the IRR, Section 32 states that the SUCs and LUCs will offer the SHS program during the five-year transition period,” Bringas, quoted by reports, said.
“That’s because during the time we transitioned— when we opened Grade 11 in 2016 there were no incoming freshmen in the tertiary. Therefore, they had facilities and teachers that would not be used. So it was best to utilize them so the teachers would not lose their jobs,” the official added.
Bringas explained that the recent memorandum of CHED is only a reiteration of a previous memorandum in 2015 and 2016.
“I would presume that since 2016, the LUCs and SUCs were already aware that they would offer the SHS program only until 2021. So since we reached 2022, 2023, we have seemingly extended the offer of the SHS in the state and local universities.”