As skeptic as I was about the Kinder to Grade 12 (K to 12) program as just a waste of money and time since it does not really add to the skills of students to prepare them either for college or employment, I am now a firm admirer of the result of the program.
You see, based on the experience of my grandson – who finished kinder at a pricey (P120,000 tuition paid for a year) private school that turned out to be unregistered with the Department of Education, hence, colorum – he could not be issued by the DepEd any LRN (Learners Reference Number), which is his student number from Kinder to college.
Without an LRN, a student can’t be upgraded to the next level hence, my grandson was being asked to return to senior kinder (at 7 years old and soon turning 8), to which I rejected outright considering its impact on my grandson (imagine he had already established friendships in Grade 1 and then you demote him one grade level).
I told DepEd that I am willing to apply my grandson to a PEPT (Philippine Educational Placement Test) designed by DepEd to evaluate the students prior to entering the school system. Independent homeschoolers need PEPT for them to enroll in a college or university.
One option given to me was for my grandson to go back to Kinder (senior kinder) and then take PEPT so that the LRN to be given him would qualify him to skip Grade 1 and go straight to Grade 2.
Of course, I objected to this.
My counter option is for my grandson to stay in Grade 1 and take the PEPT for the LRN to be issued. And the DepEd presented a compromise which is for the “school” where he finished Kinder to issue a certificate that he indeed finished Kinder and was qualified for Grade 1. From there DepEd would validate and then inform me and the current school of my grandson about its post- validation decision for the issuance of LRN.
Such big hassle really, but I am willing to walk the mile for the sake of my grandson. But how about other parents who have enrolled their kids to such schools– not knowing they are not registered with DepEd– and when they enroll the kids to higher grades would be refused because of lack of LRN?
I was informed that since the K-to-12 law (RA 10533) was signed by the late President Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III in 2013, the DepEd was suddenly busy running after “schools” that were not previously registered with it and could not issue LRNs.
The law, in effect, served to flush out from the educational system such colorum schools– which usually charge exorbitant tuition fees (like that my daughter paid for my grandson’s tuition) and who employ mostly “teachers” that have not been licensed by the Professional Regulations Commission.
For all the times I had criticized the K to 12 program, I am now relenting– in this aspect alone– as I see how it is successfully going after colorum schools victimizing busy parents who have no time counter checking their legitimacy.
Still my criticism of K to 12 about failing to provide skills needed for college or increase the chance for employment stands.
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