Pandemic exacerbates challenges in K to 12 program as DepEd’s subsidies fall short Economic difficulties arising from the pandemic have seen Grade 11 and 12 students from private schools flocking to public schools struggling to implement the K to 12 Basic Education Program. Over a hundred private schools offering senior high school education have closed because of low enrollment. BY CRISTINA CHI AND JAN CUYCO March 14, 2021 | 09:00:00 AM
When Rizal High School in the country’s capital region opened the new term in October, the unprecedented increase in senior high school (SHS) enrollees – Grades 11 and 12 – made Assistant Principal Junie Serot worry.
The public high school in Pasig City is one of the country’s biggest. Because of the pandemic, the number of senior high enrollees exceeded the school’s holding capacity by more than a thousand students. At least 177 of th