THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers agreed with 44 percent of parents who were dissatisfied with the K to 12 program and said that it needs to be overhauled.

“Filipino families aspire for progress and they want to be alleviated from the dire poverty that they are suffering from. They want and need decent paying jobs with security of tenure that will give them economic security. Education programs like the K to 12 will not give them this,” Vladimer Quetua, the group’s chairperson, said.

He added that the K to 12 program “is bound to fail,”  being a product of a social system and world set-up dominated by foreign capital and socio-economic inequality.

“As it is, it aims to make the Philippines competitive against other underdeveloped countries in producing a steady stream of semi-skilled cheap labor force for foreign capital. These kind of jobs are largely contractual in nature and are the lowest-paying in different industries. In this competition, the one who produces the most skilled at the lowest price wins,” he said.

“Employers who are dissatistifed with K to 12 only mean that they are not happy enough with the training of our K to 12 graduates for what scant wages that they are willing to pay,” Quetua added.

The ACT official called for the overhaul of the education system.

“Education should serve the aspiration of Filipinos for national development. We need a system of education that will develop our agriculture and serve the establishment of national industries. An education that will produce Filipinos with a deep sense of patriotism, imbued with democratic values, scientifically-minded and competently skilled and dedicated to serve the upliftment of our people,” Quetua said.