K to 12LEGAL IMPLICATIONS & TRANSITION

CHALLENGES

Atty. Joseph Noel M. Estrada

K to 12

Launched October 5, 2010

Signed into Law May 15, 2013

IRR approved September 4, 2013

DECLARATION OF POLICY

Article XIV, Section 2(1) of the 1987 Philippine Constitution

The State shall establish, maintain, and support a complete, adequate, and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of the people and society;

SEC. 3. Basic Education. Basic education is intended to meet basic learning needs which provides the foundation on which subsequent learning can be based. It encompasses kindergarten, elementary and secondary education as well as alternative learning systems for out of-school learners and those with special needs.

Culled from Sec. 4(b) of REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9155, “GOVERNANCE OF BASIC EDUCATION, ACT”

ENHANCED BASIC EDUCATION

AT LEAST

one (1) year of kindergarten education

six (6) years of elementary education

six (6) years of secondary education

Secondary education includes:

four (4) years of junior high school, and

two (2) years of senior high school

THREE (3) STAGES IN BASIC EDUCATION

KINDERGARTEN EDUCATION

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

SECONDARY EDUCATION

ENHANCED BASIC EDUCAITON

• R.A. 10157, “Kindergarten Act of 2012” –Institutionalization of Kindergarten Education.

• Elementary Education- compulsory; second stage; fixed at six years (no longer usually 6 or 7); entrants are typically 6 year olds

• Secondary Education- compulsory third stage; Junior HS and Senior HS; 14 and 16 year old entrants respectively

CHANGES INTRODUCED:

• Confirms the institutionalization of mandatory Kinder as part of basic education;

• Fixes Elementary education to 6 years;

• Basic Education now includes junior high school and senior high school; and

• Secondary education is made “compulsory”.

Compulsory Secondary Education?

Art. XIV, Constitution, Section 2. The State shall:

“Establish and maintain, a system of free public education in the elementary and high school levels. Without limiting the natural rights of parents to rear their children, elementary education is compulsory for all children of school age;”

“Compulsory Basic Education. It shall be compulsory for every parent or guardian or other persons having custody of any child to enroll such child in basic education, irrespective of learning delivery modes and systems, until its completion, as provided for by existing laws, rules, and regulations.” (Sec. 7, IRR)

Mandatory

vs.

Compulsory

Elementary Education Act of 1953

SECTION 5.It shall be compulsory for every parent or guardian or other person having custody of any child to enrol such child in a public school, the next school year following the seventh birthday of such child, and such child shall remain in school until the completion of an elementary education SUBJECT TO EXCEPTIONS.

By making secondary education compulsory, it creates an obligation that is legally demandable.

But whose primary obligation is it to provide elementary and secondary education?

•

Primary Obligation of Parents as part of civil obligation to send their children to school.

It is therefore compulsory for parents to keep their children in school as long as the government can provide free public schools, which now includes secondary education.

Compulsoriness “in the nature of moral compulsion”

No Penalty provided.

• Revised Penal Code, Art. 277. Abandonment of minor by person entrusted with his custody; indifference of parents. — The penalty of arresto mayor and a fine xxx

• shall be imposed upon the parents who shall neglect their children by not giving them the education which their station in life require and financial conditions permit.

Implication of Compulsory Secondary Education

• If at all, the implication of a compulsory secondary education in the K to 12 Law would be to ever highlight the government’s duty to provide enough schools and keep students in school; and reduce, if not completely eradicate, student dropouts.

NO TO MOTHER TONGUE!

YES TO MOTHER LANGUAGE!

Mother Language

Kinder and Grades 1-3 teaching materials shall be in native language

Grades 4-6- DepEd shall introduce mother language transition program introducing Filipino and English.

Mother Language – refers to the language/s first learned by the child, which he identifies with, used as a native language, knows best and uses most. Includes sign language of PWDs.

Native Language- traditional speech variety in the region, area, or place.

TRANSITION ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Transition Period

• Section 32. Transition Period. The transition period shall be reckoned from the date of the approval of this IRR until the end of 2021-2022.

• It is humbly submitted, however, that the real transition period should be up to the time when the first batch of Kinder in SY 2012-2013 is expected to finish senior high school, which is after SY 2024-2025.

• Assumptions:• 1.1M Students from public Junior HS in 2016

• .4M Students from private schools

• No college freshmen in SY 2016-2017 and SY 2017-2018

• No college graduate in SY 2021-2022

Assumptions

• Majority of students from public HS will take the tech-voc and livelihood track in SHS, and a few will pursue Higher Education in SY 2018-2019

• Majority of students from private schools will take the academic track in SHS and pursue Higher Education in SY 2018-2019

K-12-16!

I. Enhanced Basic Education System

II. Teacher Education and Training

III. Teacher Qualifications and Hiring

IV. E-GASTPE and Other Financial Arrangements

V. Other Transition Issues

• SEC. 4. Enhanced Basic Education Program. –The enhanced basic education program encompasses at least one (1) year of kindergarten education, six (6) years of elementary education, and six (6) years of secondary education, in that sequence. Secondary education includes four (4) years of junior high school and two (2) years of senior high school education.

Elementary = 6 years

High School

Junior High School= 4 years

Senior high School= 2 years

_____________

• Total 12 years

Can schools adopt a different duration and sequence of basic education?

4-4-4= 12?

7-5=12?

4-2-2-4=12?

• Number of Years and Sequence of Levels Fixed

• PEIs are given flexibility in the content and standards

• Thus, without deviating from the order of sequence and the number of years for each level of basic education, private schools may further designate such levels into lower, middle, and high school programs depending on its systems for monitoring teaching and learning.

K-12 Labor

Transition Issues

Affecting PEIs

Teacher Education and Training

• SEC.7. Teacher Education and Training. – To ensure that the enhanced basic education program meets the demand for quality teachers and school leaders, the DepEd and the CHED, in collaboration with relevant partners in government, academe, industry, and non-governmental organizations, shall conduct teacher education and training programs, as specified:

a) In-service Training on Content and Pedagogy. – Current DepEd teachers shall be retrained to meet the content and performance standards of the new K to 12 curriculum.

The DepEd shall ensure that private education institutions shall be given the opportunity to avail of such training.

b) Training of New Teachers. – New graduates of the current Teacher Education curriculum shall undergo additional training, upon hiring, to upgrade their skills to the content standards of the new curriculum. Furthermore, the CHED in coordination with the DepEd and relevant stakeholders, shall ensure that the Teacher Education curriculum offered in these Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) will meet the necessary quality standards for new teachers.

• “Duly recognized organizations acting as TEIs, in coordination with the DepEd, CHED and other relevant stakeholders, shall ensure that the curriculum of these organizations meet the necessary quality standards for trained teachers.”

• INSET covers the current teachers as part of their continuing professional development.

• Pre-service Training- new graduates referred to are those graduates under the teacher education standards prescribed under CMO 30, Series of 2004 or CMO 52, series of 2007, or earlier versions of the curriculum.

Who gives the INSET and PRE-SET?

1) TEIs

2) Acting TEIs (Also known as D.R.O.A.T.S.)

D.R.O.A.T.S.

The term “duly recognized organizations actingas TEIs” refers to organizations, other thanschools or HEIs, contracted out by the DepEdduring the transition and for a fixed period, toprovide teacher training for purposes ofretooling the graduates of the TeacherEducation curriculum, and only in such areaswhere there is a shortage of trained teachers.(Sec. 12.2 of the IRR)

DROATs’ role in training new teachers might diminish or become irrelevant, once existing TEIs or HEIs have aligned their Teacher Education curriculum with the enhanced basic education curriculum under the K to 12 Law.

Teacher Qualifications & Hiring

Who are qualified to teach?

a) Graduates, with 5 year LET condition

b) Tech-voc graduates

c) Faculty of HEIs

d) Experts

• Who are qualified to teach in K to 12?

1) Graduates of science, mathematics, statistics, engineering, music and other degree courses with shortages in qualified Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) applicants to teach in their specialized subjects in the elementary and secondary education.

• Provided, That they pass the LET within five (5) years after their date of hiring: Provided, further, That if such graduates are willing to teach on part-time basis, the provisions of LET shall no longer be required;

“Qualified LET applicants shall also include graduates admitted by foundations duly recognized for their expertise in the education sector and who satisfactorily complete the requirements set by these organizations”

Foundations as alternative source of qualified teachers

FOUNDATIONS?

• The term “foundations,” as used in this section, refers to non-profit organizations, which are not operating as educational institutions, contracted out by the DepEd for a fixed period, to provide volunteers to teach in basic education in areas where there is a shortage of qualified teachers.

• Volunteers are included in the term “Graduates”.

• 5 year period to pass the LET shall apply to them

• 5 year period to pass the LET; except for Part-Timers

• Sec. 8 (a) pertain to “New Hires”, not Existing Faculty.

• Qualifications of Existing Faculty to teach in Secondary Education are covered by Section 8[c] of RA 10533

• It’s possible where a faculty of HEI transfers to teach in secondary education after his or her employment as faculty is terminated by reason of authorized causes under the Labor

Code. In as much as the said faculty in this circumstance is considered as a “new hire”…

…Should the LET requirement within 5 years be applied to the faculty?

Or should the faculty qualify under Section 8[c]?

Technical Vocational Teachers

• (b) Graduates of technical-vocational courses to teach in their specialized subjects in the secondary education: Provided, That these graduates possess the necessary certification issued by the TESDA:

Tech-Voc Teachers

• No Academic Requirement.

• Certificate from TESDA is required.

• Must undergo INSET for New Teachers.

Tech-Voc Teachers

• Phil. TVET Trainers Qualification and Certification System

• PQF under E.O. 83 must be harmonized with K to 12

Tech-Voc Teachers

• To attain the appropriate National TVET Trainer Certificate (NTTC) Level I or II, the following are required:

• 1) Acquire the NC Level of the qualification appropriate in the training program being handled but not lower than NC II;

• 2) Acquire the Trainers Methodology Certificate (TMC) I or II.

Faculty of HEIs

• (c) Faculty of HEIs be allowed to teach in theirgeneral education or subject specialties inthe secondary education: Provided, That thefaculty must be a holder of a relevantBachelor’s degree, and must havesatisfactorily served as a full-time HEI faculty;

Faculty of HEIs

• No Master’s Degree Requirement?

• Must be read in harmony with minimum academic requirements of CHED for faculty.

Faculty of HEIs

• CHED has the power to administer, supervise, and to a certain extent regulate higher education institutions. The power to prescribe the minimum standards for programs and institutions of higher learning necessarily includes prescribing the minimum academic qualifications of faculty and other academic personnel.

• Must be a full-time faculty.

• Part-time faculty may teach:– if he/she falls under Sec. 8 (a) but subject to LET

requirement within a period of 5 years; or

– He/she qualifies as an expert under DepEdguidelines.

• (d) The DepED and private educationinstitutions may hire practitioners, withexpertise in the specialized learning areasoffered by the Basic Education Curriculum, toteach in the secondary level; Provided, Thatthey teach on part-time basis only. For thispurpose, the DepED, in coordination with theappropriate government agencies, shalldetermine the necessary qualificationstandards in hiring these experts.

• DOLE-DECS-CHED-TESDA Order No. 1, Series of 1996 (Joint Order of 1996) provides for the definition of full-time and part time academic personnel. It reads:

– Full-time academic personnel are those meeting all the following requirements:

• 1. Who possess at least the minimum academic qualifications prescribed by the Department of Education, Culture and Sports for Basic Education, the Commission on Higher Education for Tertiary Education and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority for Technical and Vocational Education under their respective Manual of Regulations governing said personnel;

• 2. Who are paid monthly or hourly based on the normal or regular teaching loads as provided for in the policies, rules and standards of the agency concerned;

• 3. Whose regular working day of not more than eight (8) hours a day is devoted to the school;

• 4. Who have no other remunerative occupation elsewhere requiring regular hours of work that will conflict with the working hours in the school and;

• 5. Who are not teaching full-time in any other educational institution.

• All teaching or academic personnel whodo not meet the foregoing qualifications areconsidered part time and are therefore noteligible for regularization regardless of thenumber of years served in the educationalinstitution.”

Other Labor Implications

• If a faculty is allowed to teach in the Secondary Education Program, will the academic status change?

• Yes if the Faculty teaches Secondary Education Program in another Educational Institution, he/she is considered a part-time.

• What is the status of the faculty who teaches at the secondary education of the same educational institution?

• He/She is considered Part-time under the definition provided in the Joint Order of 1996.

“3. Whose regular working day of not more than eight (8) hours a day is devoted to the school”

• -SHOULD BE VIEWED IN THE LIGHT OF K TO 12.

• “SCHOOL” should be taken to mean educational institution.

• Faculty who will teach in the Secondary Education of the same educational institution should be allowed to keep his/her full-time status BUT ONLY DURING THE TRANSITION PERIOD.

But keeping the same Academic Rank and Rate:

• Not automatic.

• Must be subject to institutional policy on academic ranking

LABOR CODE

ART. 100. PROHIBITION AGAINST ELIMINATION OR DIMINUTION OF BENEFITS.

Diminution in Pay?

• Change of Assignment/New curriculum

• De-Loading of Full-time Faculty

Tests to Apply

Inherent Management Prerogative?

Proprietary Right of the School?

Vs.

Entitlements enforceable/demandable obligation against the school?

Exodus of faculty to other industries or to public schools will likely cause many

private HEIs to close.

LET IT BE KNOWN:

HEIs need to keep their qualified faculty because it would cost them more to lay

them off.

What happens to those who don’t qualify?

OPTIONS FOR THE SCHOOL

I. PROBATIONARY AND PART-TIME FACULTY:

Non-Renewal Of Contracts

OPTIONS FOR THE SCHOOLS

II. FOR TENURED FACULTY:

1. RE-CLASSIFY TO ADMINISTRATIVE OR ACADEMIC SUPPORT POSITIONS

2. Assign Faculty to do research for 2 years

3. Payroll employment for 2 years

4. Floating Status

5. Offer Redundancy or Retrenchment Programs

6. Sabbatical Leave

7. Apply Retirement Plan or Offer Early Retirement Package

8. Offer Voluntary Redundancy Program

IMPLICATIONS TO RETAINED FACULTY

1. Pay rates: Public vs. Private; annualized vs. per unit; lower academic rank

2. Teaching Load

3. Diminution of Pay?

• Section 31. Labor and Management Rights. In the implementation of the Act, including the transition period, the rights of labor xxx as well as the prerogatives of management, shall be respected. The DOLE, DepEd, CHED and TESDA shall promulgate xxx joint administrative issuance, within sixty (60) days from the effectivity of this IRR xxx.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND ARRANGEMENTS

E-GASTPE

• SEC. 10. Expansion of E-GASTPE Beneficiaries. — The benefits accorded by Republic Act No. 8545, or the “Expanded Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education Act”, shall be extended to qualified students enrolled under the enhanced basic education.

• Section 22. Criteria for Assistance to Qualified Students. The programs of assistance shall be made available primarily to graduates of the junior high school program in public schools,Xxx.

• The programs of assistance may also bemade available to students who completedjunior high schools in private educationalinstitutions, whether these students are E-GASTPE beneficiaries or not, subject tocompliance with the qualifications andguidelines to be determined by the DepEd.

• Priority is with graduates from public HS who will enter SHS.

• Extension of Benefits to current E-GASTPE beneficiaries is NOT automatic.

• The K to 12 Law mandates that the benefits of E-GASTPE be extended to qualified students enrolled under the enhanced basic education precisely because the law extended secondary education to two more

years of Senior High School. Clearly, “qualified students” refer to existing beneficiaries who have previously qualified for assistance under the E-GASTPE in basic education.

• It is humbly submitted that existing E-GASTPE beneficiaries who will continue with Senior

High School Program shall automatically continue to receive the assistance under the E-GASTPE, subject to the beneficiaries’ compliance with guidelines to be determined by DepEd.

Participating Schools

• Section 24. Private educational institutions and non-DepEd public schools and other potential providers of basic learning needs that may be authorized to offer senior high school are eligible to participate in programs of assistance as may be applicable, under the E-GASTPE program and other financial arrangements formulated by the DepEd and DBM

• It should be therefore understood that these E-GASTPE and other financial arrangements may be entered only by the DepEd with private providers and NOT with public institutions such as State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs). As government educational institutions, SUCs and LCUs have their respective budgets.

• Can DepEd enter into other arrangements with existing SUCs and LCUs in the delivery of SHS?

• Yes, as long as the involvement of SUCs ad LCUs does not contribute to the negative financial impact to private educational institutions.

Section 12. Transitory Provision

To manage the initial implementation of the enhanced basic education program and mitigate the expected multi-year low enrolment turnout for HEIs and Technical Vocational Institutions (TVIs) starting School Year20 16-2017, the DepED shall engage in partnerships with HEIs and TVIs for the utilization of the latter’s human and physical resources. Xxx.

Adopt A School Program under R.A.8252

Other Transition Challenges & Issues

• Section 15. Issuance and Revocation of Permits and/or Recognition of Private Senior High Schools. Xxx Private educational institutions may only offer senior high school when so authorized by the DepEd. The DepEdshall prescribe the guidelines on the issuance and revocation of permits and/or recognition of senior high schools.

• Notwithstanding the apparent lack of legal mandate or compulsion to offer the Senior High School Program, a deep sense of social and moral responsibility will be enough reason for the school to offer it. And besides, it would be awkward for a school to present itself as a High School without the senior high school program from which students will finish or graduate secondary education.

• In as much as the K to 12 Law fixes the secondary education to six years, which includes a Senior High School, all existing private schools with basic education must eventually be able to offer Senior High School.

College Readiness

• SEC. 12. Transitory Provisions. — The DepED, the CHED and the TESDA shall formulate the appropriate strategies and mechanisms needed to ensure smooth transition from the existing ten (10) years basic education cycle to the enhanced basic education (K to 12) cycle. The strategies may cover xxx bridging models linking grade 10 competencies and the entry requirements of new tertiary curricula, xxx.

• The New General Education Curriculum (GEC) is a total of 36 units broken down as follows:

24 units of core courses

9 units of and elective courses

3 units of Life and Works of Rizal (Mandated by Law )

Will College years be shortened?

Technical Panels decide.

Decision is discipline based not across the board.

• Lack of College graduates and professionals in SY 2021-2022.

• Committee to discuss mitigation plans of other implications of SHS to industry and workforce.

• Section 18. Repealing Clause. — Pertinent provisions of Batas Pambansa Blg. 232 or the “Education Act of 1982″, Republic Act No. 9155 or the “Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001″, Republic Act No. 9258, Republic Act No. 7836, and all other laws, decrees, executive orders and rules and regulations contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

• these specific statutes, as well as all other laws, decrees, executive orders and rules and regulations, are repealed or modified only insofar as their provisions are contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of the K to 12 Law. Succinctly put, those prior laws are still good laws as long as these are not in conflict or do not run counter to the K to 12 Law.

“Change will not come if we wait forsome other person or some othertime. We are the ones we've beenwaiting for. We are the change thatwe seek.”

-Barack Obama

“If you are not ready today, you will be even less so tomorrow.”

-Ovid

Unofficial Survey:

Why do we need

K-12?

Tourism Sec. Jimenez:

“IT’S MORE FUN in the Philippines.”

“Sa K to 12 , may choice ka.”

“Those who authored

the K to 12 Law

should all commit

harakiri”.

“Wala pa akong

experience dyan.

Aaralin ko pa.”

“I will explain

at the proper time.”

“We need K to 12

to accelerate

disbursements.

It is not pork.”

•

“Kiko is not involved in

K to 12. I will give 10M to anyone who can prove he is. And I will leave him”.

“We need to catch up with the rest of the world.”

-Sec. Br. Armin Luistro, FSC

“We need to catch up with the rest of the world.”

-Tito Sen

QUESTIONS?

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EMAIL jnmestrada@geattorneys.com

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