OSG told: Explain bridge program’s legality

By MERCEDES E. RULLAN
TODAY Reporter


The Court of Appeals (C.A.) has asked the Office of the Solicitor General to justify the legality of the Department of Education’s (DepEd) bridge program, it was learned Thursday.


“Without necessarily giving due course to the instant petition, respondent, through the Office of the Solicitor General, is hereby required to file a comment, not a motion to dismiss, within 10 days from receipt hereof,” said C.A .17th Division in a resolution dated May 25.


The resolution was signed by C.A. Associate Justices Danilo Pine, Martin Villarama Jr. and Arcangelita Lontoc.


Earlier the Advocates and Adherents of Social Justice for School Teachers and Allied Workers (AASJS) assailed the legality of the bridge program supposedly to address the learning gaps of high-school students as shown by their low performance in the National Diagnostic Tests.


In his seven-page petition filed before the C.A. in April, AASJS president lawyer Samson Alcantara said Education Secretary Edilberto de Jesus committed a grave abuse of discretion when he ordered the implementation of the bridge program starting this school year.


Alcantara argued that the program is a waste of taxpayers’ money, saying the funds allotted for the program should instead be used to improve elementary education.


“This is an admission on the part of [de Jesus] that students have been allowed to graduate from public elementary schools though with deficiencies in English, science and mathematics,” Alcantara said.


“The bridge program perpetuates a deficient elementary school system,” he added.


Reports said some 700,000, or half of the estimated 1.4 million elementary graduates all over the country, failed in the recently conducted High School Readiness Test (HSRT), or the Presecondary Bridge Program.


Under the program, elementary-school graduates who fail in the HSRT would have to stay for an additional one year of remedial classes in English, science and mathematics, meaning they would have to stay for a total of five years in high school.


Alcantara said the remedial program is also “unreasonable and unbearable” since it imposes additional burdens on the students’ parents and additional work load on teachers.


The program is a combination of “modular, self-paced and guided learning and face-to-face, whole-class interaction” that would last for two hours.


Alcantara pointed out that teachers assigned to the program will also have to spend time and money attending the required training sessions.


In addition, the parents of students who would be required to undergo the bridge program would have to spend additional money for the transportation, food and other needs of their children, according to Alcantara.


“Indeed, these are additional financial burdens that parents may not be able to shoulder,” he said.


He added that students who flunk the HSRT might also be forced to transfer to private schools that have higher tuition.


“Education in public school is less expensive. But access thereto has been restricted by respondent through the introduction of a program which is unnecessary, unreasonable, discriminatory and oppressive,” Alcantara said.


He also said that the students required to attend the program would also bear the stigma, “throughout their lives,” of being considered intellectually deficient and belonging to the group of students who did not do well academically.


Meanwhile, the DepEd yesterday said that it is ready to defend the bridge program that the department intends to implement this coming school year.


Undersecretary Jose Luis Martin Gascon said that the DepEd is preparing all the needed documents as asked by the Court of Appeals.


He also belittled the one-million signature campaign of the League of Filipino Students. With C. Mocon

I think that Philippine educational system should first concentrate on the building of adequate facilites than by the "Bridge Program "


In my case, In college we have a standard class size of between 50- 60 plus students and in some cases got up to 88 students!

That is pretty high student -teacher ratio in college ! To think that Far eastern University is a Private University.

The average would be 30 -40 per class!

for me this is not a very good idea...

Yes, Most public and even private school does not have adequate facilities for their students!