93% of Grade 10 students transitioned to Grade 11, says DepEd

Nearly 100 percent of all students in Grade 10 chose to transition to Grade 11 for school year 2017 to 2018, Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones noted on Thursday.

Briones told reporters at the DepEd Complex in Pasig that 1,481,103 (93.3 percent) of the 1,587,416 students who completed Grade 10 (JHS) in S.Y. 2016 to 2017 enrolled to Grade 11 (SHS) for S.Y. 2017 to 2018.

She noted that this was impressive since prior to the implementation of the K to 12 program that introduced Junior and Senior High School to the curriculum, less than 50 percent of fourth year high school graduates transitioned to college.

More students choosing academic track

Of the 1,252,357 learners anticipated to be part of the first batch of SHS graduates, 61.13 percent (765,588 learners) chose the academic track.

Briones said this may be due to students choosing further education over the promise of employment directly after graduating SHS.

"'Pag tiisin nila yung two more years, yung chances ng bata, to get a really good—hindi lang yung job na temporary, kung senior high school ka, talagang napakataas ang chances. Tsaka bawi yung two years of waiting," she explained.

"'Yun ang gusto ng magulang, pero ano ang gusto ng bata? Makatapos pa rin," Briones continued.

Some of the 38.32 percent (479,866) learners who chose the technical-vocational-livelihood (TVL) track have plans to return to school after saving up.

"Kaya marami sa kanila, nagtapos ng TVL, mismo nakakausap ko, magtatrabaho sila kasi gusto nila na ma-finance nila ang pag-aaral nila," Briones said.

DepEd reported that some TVL learners started work even before graduation because of the work experience and skills they earned while completing their courses.

Among these competencies include their TVL training, the work immersion program that mandated exposure in industries related to their tracks and specializations, and the National Certification some have earned from TESDA.

The addition of the four academic tracks available to SHS learners, Briones said, opened up more choices to learners and parents for their future than the traditional academic model.

"Human development is expanding the range of your choices. Kung isang choice lang, de-kahon lahat. Parang yung buhay mo, naka-latag na. Pero ito, at high school level, binibigyan na natin ng choice yung mga bata," she said.

"Whatever they choose, that will be accepted. And sometimes, they do change their minds, because those are young people. Still, accommodations will be made for those who change their mind, or if the parents change their minds."

Straight to government service

Briones reported that several Cabinet members during her presentation on DepEd's K-12 achievements expressed openness to allowing new SHS graduates to work for their departments even without college or university degrees.

"Right now, pwede silang makuha kagad but not on a permanent status. What we are aiming for is they will have the opportunity also to compete for plantilla items," she said.

"Kasi ngayon, nandyan pa yung ruling na 'yan, but as I said, the rest of the members of the Cabinet have expressed interest because there are many jobs which do not necessarily need a degree in economics or in law, for certain tasks to be completed."

Much like the private sector, this has prompted the government to revisit its hiring policies and civil service regulations to allow the entry of SHS graduates, said Undersecretary Jesus Mateo.

"They will be reviewing now yung mga qualification standards for entry-level positions that will allow K-12 graduates to be hired by government... Just like the private sector, they will be revisiting hiring policies," he said.

Better equipment for S.Y. 2017-2018

Apart from completing additional buildings and classrooms to allow more public schools to offer SHS, Briones said more facilities have to be built to encourage more learners to take the art and design track and sports track.

Mateo said 75,000 teaching items, on average, have been created from kindergarten to senior year to increase the number of openings for teachers.

"Di 'to pwede sa mga matataong lugar like in those areas in Commonwealth, o sa Caloocan, yung matatao, 'di pepwede 'to because of the buildable space," he said.

"We are closely working with the DPWH [Department of Public Works and Highways] to complete most of these multi-story buildings," Mateo added, pertaining to new buildings made for JHS and SHS.

Among these, 198 are standalone SHS; 5,925 are JHS with SHS; 353 offer elementary, JHS, and SHS; and 242 are State or Local Universities and Colleges (SUCs/LUCs).

Financial subsidies amounting to P21,567,932,976 were supplemented by DepEd to public schools for S.Y. 2017 to 2018.

Some 1,207,416 beneficiaries of the SHS voucher program enrolled in private schools, SUCs, and LUCs received P20,692,903,776 in vouchers.

The TVL learners, who number 54,604 and who took their specialization subjects in private institutions through the Joint Delivery Voucher Program for TVL, were given aid of up to P875,029,100.

DepEd provided free or highly subsidized education to 2,733,460 learners—1,481,103 in Grade 11 and 1,252,357 in Grade 12—in the last school year. — BM, GMA News