Senator Win Gatchalian is calling for a review of the senior high school program to ensure the smooth transition of K-12 graduates to college and the labor market.
Gatchalian on Monday urged the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education and Skills Development Authority to work closely and collaborate with each other on the review of the senior high school program.
The lawmaker’s Batang Magaling Act or Senate Bill No. 2022 seeks to strengthen the collaboration among DepEd, local government units, academic stakeholders and education partners to address the “mismatching” of K-12 graduates and the demands of the labor market.
“We can embed into the bill a mechanism for the three agencies to review the senior high school curriculum. We can make the review more cohesive and make meetings more frequent, so there is some output that will guide and educate us policymakers,” Gatchalian said.
The senator lamented the difficulties encountered by senior high school graduates who are experiencing a “rough” transition to college.
Citing a DepEd tracer study, Gatchalian said most senior high school graduates are experiencing the non-crediting of subjects as they pursue higher education.
To address this concern, some higher education institutions have implemented bridging programs, which entails additional costs for students and their families.
Gatchalian flagged this bridging program as unfair “because not all universities and colleges are offering similar programs.”
The DepEd study further revealed that while around 80 percent of senior high school students pursue higher education, they are still “not college- ready.” Gatchalian said this outcome is the opposite of what K-12 promised, which was to make graduates employable and college-ready.
He also lamented that not all courses offered by the DepEd have counterpart accreditation from TESDA.
“This is a dead end for learners who took the Technical-Vocational-Livelihood track but do not have certification, which could have boosted their chances of being employed,” he stressed.