TEACHER and youth groups have urged national agencies on education to extend the K to 12 program transition period to ensure that needed resources will be provided.

In a joint statement, Teacher’s Dignity Coalition and Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan asserted that discontinuing the Senior High School program in State and Local Universities and Colleges, without guaranteeing improved access and quality of the education system, will “lead to economic displacement for our teachers and threaten our learners’ right to accessible and quality education.”

The groups said that national agencies must ensure that public and private schools will have the capacity to absorb all learners affected by the discontinuation of the SHS program in SUCs and LUCs.

They added that the quality of education learners received from SUCs and LUCs should not decline.

“In line with this, the Department of Education must guarantee the performance of schools and rid itself of diploma mills and fly-by-night schools that have sprouted since the inception of the K to 12 program,” the groups said in the joint statement.

Also, SPARK and TDC said that Public High Schools must be able to absorb SHS teachers employed in SUCs and LUCs without loss of compensation and benefits.