Luistro says better job opportunities await senior high school grads

Students who will not enroll and graduate from senior high school will have lesser chances of securing a high-paying job compared to graduates of the program, Education Secretary Armin Luistro said Monday.

"They can work, some of them can work, kaya lang pag wala ka kasing high school diploma, o kaya wala kang [National Certificate] 2, ang suweldo mo ang laki ng baba," Luistro told reporters during his visit to Commonwealth High School in Quezon City during the first day of classes for the school year 2016-2017.

"Ang additional two years of free education will allow you to increase your income twice, if not threefold. Kawawa ka naman kung hanggang doon ka na lang." 

Luistro said based on the Department of Education's monitoring, some of those who finished Grade 10 under the K to 12 program did not enroll in senior high school either due to marriage or lack of willingness to study.

Because of this, Luistro urged division supervisors and school principals to follow up on their students and try to convince them to enroll in senior high school. He said they could do this as they still have their school cards.

"Ang aking habilin, ang card na nasa inyo pa. Pakipuntahan bahay-bahay ang mga bata at tanungin nasaan ang bata. Bigyan ng tulong para makapag-enroll sa senior high school," said Luistro, who will be replaced by Leonor Briones on June 30.

Briones agreed to Luistro, saying that students who cannot enroll in senior high school could opt to proceed to the alternative learning systems (ALS).

"For whatever reason di makasama sa program na ito, may iba may doubts na makasama sa program na ito pero nagtatrabaho na. Ang ina-advocate natin ay ALS dahil di sila napasok ng senior high school. Ang ALS is pag-deliver ng knowledge," Briones said.

Meanwhile, Luistro said public schools can still accept late enrollees even if the deadline has already lapsed.

He added that the DepEd will still open its doors to an estimated 30 percent of students who are expected to enroll in the next few days. 

K-12 caters to labor export policy

Incoming Kabataan party-list Rep. Sarah Elago, who is opposed to the K to 12 program, meanwhile said the DepEd seemed to be promoting the government's labor export policy in its program.

Elago said it is already alarming that more than 6,000 Filipinos are leaving the country every day due to lack of job creation. She said the K to 12 would only worsen this problem.

"Nakikita natin dito sa pagpapatupad ng K to 12 na ito ay magsisilbi lamang sa pagpapatuloy na worrying labor export policy ng gobyerno natin," she said.

Elago said the country's education system needs greater fiscal support to promote a nation of professionals instead of semi-skilled laborers.

She then called on DepEd to declare Grade 10 completers as high school graduates and allow them to enroll in college.

"Ang panawagan namin sa DepEd yung mga Grade 10 completers natin, i-declare na as graduates. Hayaan sila na makapag-enroll at makahabol ng enrolment sa kolehiyo. Kung sila ay maga-apply for a job, hindi sila high school drop-out kung hindi high school graduate na," she said. —KBK, GMA News