The government must spend over P30 billion a year until 2020 to meet the public classroom and staffing needs under the K to 12 Program, according to a study released by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).
In a policy note, titled "K to 12 reform: Implications of adding Grades 11 and 12 on the higher education subsector,” PIDS senior research fellow Rosario G. Manasan said the government must add some 23,812 classrooms and 38,708 teachers for school year (SY) 2017 to 2018 period.
"The budgetary support needed for the SHS [senior high school]program is estimated to be equal to P27 billion in SY 2015-2016, P37 billion in SY 2016-2017, P28 billion in SY 2017-2018, and an average of P33 billion over the SY 2018 [to] 2020 period,” Manasan said.
"Allowing HEIs [higher education institutions] to offer the SHS program, at least in the interim, is a win-win solution,” she added.
Allowing higher education institutions to offer the SHS will enable the Department of Education (DepEd) to construct classrooms on a staggered basis.
The author also stated that it would prevent private HEIs from retrenching faculty members who will have no students in the 2016 to 2019 period.
She also said the current HEI faculty has the teaching expertise to lecture on higher-level subjects required in the new SHS curriculum.
Manasan added that this will ensure that the resources of state universities and colleges are put to optimum use instead of being underutilized.
"Note that the K to 12 law allows HEI faculty to teach in the SHS program even if they have not passed the Licensure Examination for Teachers,” she said.
Manasan said if the DepEd does not adopt these recommendations, it needs the additional funds to build another 27,000 classrooms in 2016 to 2017, and 23,812 for 2017 to 2018.
This is despite having around 10,000 classrooms in private junior high schools to be available for the SHS program in SY 2016-2017. Despite this, the K to 12 Program will still cause a shortfall of 9,000 classrooms.
The study also stated the DepEd has to hire close to 46,000 new teachers in 2016 and some 38,700 more for the SHS program in SY 2017 to 2018.
"In SY 2017-2018, these numbers would have increased to 1.5 million places in public and private HEIs, equivalent to 37,433 classrooms,” the study stated.
Manasan said, however, the DepEd can get some reprieve in terms of spending at least for additional classrooms. She said public and private HEIs can provide 21,600 classrooms in SY 2016 to 2017 for use of the SHS program.
If all the available places in HEIs were made available to the SHS program, the total classroom requirement for the SHS program in public schools would drop by 57 percent to 11,572 in SY 2016-2017 from 26,955 with pure DepEd provision.
Manasan said if only 50 percent of the available places in HEIs are made available for the SHS program in the public sector, then the total classroom requirement in public SHS would drop by 35 percent to 17,454 in SY 2016 to 2017.//
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