SENATE Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III has called for a thorough review of the proposal to abolish the Senior High School (SHS) component of the K-12 education program in the Philippines.

In response to increasing discussions on scrapping SHS, Pimentel emphasized the need for careful consideration, pointing out that major adjustments have already been made across the education system to accommodate the program.

“Let’s study this thoroughly because it’s not easy to undo. Everyone has already adjusted,” Pimentel said in an interview with DWIZ.

He acknowledged that SHS was originally intended to make students employable immediately after graduation, especially for those not pursuing college.

“That was the promise—that upon graduating from SHS, students should already be employable. If they’re no longer interested in college, they should be able to work. But so far, we’re not seeing that,” he said, noting that most companies remain hesitant to hire SHS graduates.

Despite these concerns, Pimentel said he remains open to the idea of removing SHS, but stressed that reversing the policy should be studied carefully.

“We’re open to the concept, but the entire system has adjusted. We must also study the impact of reversing the policy,” he explained.

The K-12 program, which added two years of SHS to the basic education cycle, was implemented in 2012 to enhance the global competitiveness of Filipino graduates.

Recently, critics have renewed calls to reevaluate its effectiveness, particularly in light of ongoing employment challenges for SHS graduates.