Students ready protests, signature drive vs 12-year educ program

Militant students are planning to launch protests and a signature drive against the government's plan to extend the basic education curriculum by two years. Radio dzBB's Allan Gatus reported on Wednesday that the League of Filipino Students (LFS) opposes the government's plan to add two more years to the country's 10-year basic education program. The LFS said Education officials should first address the lack of classrooms, textbooks, and teachers. Public school teachers earlier appealed to Education officials not to use trial-and-error in implementing its 12-year basic education program. The Teachers Dignity Coalition (TDC) said the government cannot afford to risk the future of schoolchildren with a half-baked program. On Monday, Education Secretary Armin Luistro announced the plan to heed the call of President Benigno Aquino III for a 12-year basic education program. Luistro said the implementation of the reforms will be gradual and could even go beyond the term of the next administration. He said the DepEd will present the proposal to the public on October 5, World Teachers’ Day. – VVP, GMANews.TV