In accordance with Duterte's stance on easing the burden for ordinary Filipino citizens, the incoming President is set on implementing a "no school uniform" policy.
Duterte hopes the move will decrease the money parents need to shell out every school year with at least two sets of uniforms per child, excluding uniforms for physical education and scouting. School shoes, too, both rubber shoes and leather, are an additional burden.
While the plan was met with approval from parents, teacher groups questioned the policy citing security concerns.
In a report by Apples Jalandoni aired on ABS-CBN, Benjo Basas of Ang Guro Party List said school uniforms are crucial in maintaining security in schools, especially in the urban areas.
"Kung walang school uniforms, what's the means of identity...to identify the students," Basas said.
Already a DepEd policy
Duterte does not have to create a new policy abolishing school uniforms. The policy is actually an already existing policy of the Department of Education.
Read: Anakbayan: “K to 12 is a human rights violation”
According to a report by Janvic Mateo in The Philippine Star, as early as 2008, former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered then secretary Jesi Lapus to issue 2 department orders abolishing the mandatory requirement of school uniforms in all public schools. The orders also allows students to wear any footwear to school. Below are details of Mateo's report.
“A student’s basic right to go to school, study and learn is of paramount importance and should be respected and promoted at all times. A student’s attire should reflect respect for the school as an institution for learning,” states DepEd Order No. 46, Series 2008.
“A student’s attire should not become a cause for discrimination particularly for students belonging to a lower socio-economic status. Promoting physical hygiene and proper school decorum is part of the teaching- learning process in schools, thus a student’s attire and physical appearance should manifest learnings from this process,” the order also reads.
Next: Youth leaders urge Duterte to scrap K-12, which will eat up 39% of a family's income
Youth leaders urge Duterte to scrap K-12 and other school fees
More than the "no school uniform" policy, youth leaders are appealing to Duterte to scrap K-12 completely, and remove all other fees imposed on public school students.
Critics of the K-12 program have repeatedly said that the new directive will displace hundreds of thousands of students despite the government's voucher program.
According to the Center for Women's Resources (CWR), K-12 will eat up 39% of the already meager earnings of a poor family of five.
With only a handful of public schools actually ready for the K to 12 program, DepEd estimates between 800,000 to a million students of the 1.2 to 1.6 million incoming senior high school students will not be accommodated by the public school system. Students will, therefore, have no choice but to enrol in private schools or drop out completely.
As such, the DepEd has assured parents that a voucher subsidy amounting from PhP 8,750 to PhP 22,500 will be allotted to students who will choose to enrol in private schools. Parents, however, will have to shoulder all other school fees exceeding the voucher amount. There are currently two million 4th year high school students in public schools.
Read: Senior high school to eat up 39% of the daily income of Pinoy families
The Philippine Statistics Authority pegs the amount needed by a family of five to stay out of poverty at PhP 8,778 per month or PhP 292 a day. This means that each family member will have to survive on PhP 58.52 a day.
Meanwhile, the minimum tuition fee of a private high school could easily amount to ₱35,000– a ₱12,500 difference from even the highest voucher subsidy amount that would then have to be shouldered by the parents.
According to CWR, in order to send a child to senior high school, a family of five would have to set aside PhP 123 a day or 39% of their daily income.
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