DepEd eyes possibility of having K to 12 graduates hired by gov't

The Department of Education (DepEd) is currently in talks with the Civil Service Commission (CSC) on the possibility of having K to 12 graduates hired in the government sector.

This was revealed by Education Secretary Leonor Briones on Tuesday during the department's budget presentation before the House Committee on Appropriations.

"We are now negotiating and discussing with the CSC na i-allow ang graduates ng senior high school, which is equivalent to two years of college, to be admitted in government because they already know this architecture, economics, mathematics… They can do many tasks in government," Briones told lawmakers during the budget briefing.

DepEd presents its proposed budget for 2020 before the House Committee on Appropriations. @gmanews pic.twitter.com/07lL6OZDwJ

— Erwin Colcol (@erwincolcol) September 3, 2019

"Sa vocational naman they are not yet graduates, but they can start working… but we have to validate all these," she added.

The K to 12 program was established by virtue of Republic Act No. 10533 (Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013), adding two more years to the 10-year basic education, with kindergarten, which was institutionalized as part of the basic education system under RA 10157.

Senior high school, the last two years of the K to 12 program, is expected to equip students with the skills needed either for employment, entrepreneurship, skills development or further technical-vocational training, and higher education.

Briones said DepEd has started researching on the career paths that K to 12 graduates took after completing the program.

"But I know, because I have attended many graduation exercises, and I have visited schools all over the country, for example, in tech-voc, very much higher ang level ng hiring than we anticipated because of the in-service training program which is the so-called immersion program," she said.

"Insofar as the fulfillment of the objectives [of K to 12] are concerned, probably we have satisfactory impact. But the important thing, as I said, we are concentrating not just on access but also quality," she added.

At P551 billion, the budget given to DepEd is the biggest chunk of the total P673-billion budget of the education sector under the 2020 National Expenditure Program (NEP).

This, however, is way lower than the P803.13 billion that the DepEd actually proposed for next year.

The 2020 NEP budget for the DepEd includes P8.9 billion which will be allocated for the department's computerization program, P205 million for the administration of personnel benefits, P5 billion for the school-based feeding program, P36 billion for the delivery of basic education facilities, among others. —KG, GMA News