DAVAO CITY – The progressive Kilusang Mayo Uno labor center condemned today the statement of Commission on Higher Education chairperson Dr. Patricia Licuanan that not all students should go to college, saying that she is only justifying the new basic education system.
Elmer Labog, KMU chairperson said Licuanan’s statement is “an attack on the principle that college education is a right and an attempt to justify cuts in government subsidy to college education and increases in tuition and other fees in colleges and universities.”
“Licuanan wants Filipinos to accept government policies aimed at denying college education to the youth,” said Labog.
Labog said Licuanan “is making a pitch for the K+12 program, which will infuse high school education with such courses, make high school graduates eligible for employment, and deny them college education.” He said the program confines students to technical-vocational jobs.
“It is simply not true that jobs are already available for graduates of technical-vocational courses. That’s an illusion being peddled to try to make Filipinos accept the restructuring of education to tailor-fit the needs of businesses and the denial of college education to the Filipino youth,” Labog said.
KMU said “it’s the quality of jobs available to graduates of technical-vocational courses, and not simply culture, that is responsible for Filipinos’ desire to finish college education.”
“If Filipinos want to finish college, it’s because they want to have a chance to increase their employment options beyond those available to graduates of technical-vocational courses. They want to have a chance to be employed in work that’s not low-paying, contractual, and highly-repressive,” he said.(davaotoday.com)
