EDITORIAL All Knowledge and No Experience Makes Juan

a Dull Worker

Theories could never be tested without application.

On May 11, the Department of Education (DepEd) released Memorandum No. 028, series of 2023, regarding the formation of a Senior High School National Task Force. They are mainly reviewing the current senior high school (SHS) curriculum and its programs and improving the performance of senior high school students as new members of the workforce.

The former goal is a necessity; the latter, a challenge.

The former goal is a must to achieve; Filipino students struggle in Mathematics and Science. The Philippines scored last in a global 2020 assessment measuring the performances of grade 4 and grade 8 students from 58 different countries. Senior high school students should already have much mastery over some form of science and mathematics to enter high-end companies or invent products and devices that can help solve the major issues the Philippines faces, such as climate change or pollution. This is on top of the fact that DepEd has to deal with the massive learning loss brought by the lack of face-to-face classes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This reveals a major hurdle the Task Force has to face: making senior high school students ready for the workforce. As DepEd noted in the memorandum, a study by the Philippine Business for Education found that only 20 percent of the 70 leading companies across all sectors in the Philippines are fine with hiring SHS students. The other companies want job applicants with at least two years of college education.

Unmasking Inequality

by Reona Supeña

When the roots are untied, the solution appears in sight.

As challenges in the senior high school (SHS) program arise, the Department of Education (DepEd) established a national task force to combat these problems. The team is a perfectly-designed solution to monitor and provide thorough attention to the implementation of SHS.

Back when the SHS program was only in discussion in Congress, I heard that SHS students would be able to work immediately after graduating. However, that is not what is happening now. In a 2022 Labor Survey, the Philippine