Assure no students will be displaced when SHS discontinued, CHED, DepEd told
SEN. Francis Escudero on Wednesday called on the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Department of Education (DepEd) to coordinate and ensure no senior high school (SHS) students will be displaced with the discontinuation of the senior high school (SHS) program in state universities (SUCs) and local universities and colleges (LUCs).
The legislator said that while the discontinuation of the SHS programs in SUCs and LUCs has legal basis and is aligned with the mandate of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), it is also important that no students will be left behind because of this latest development.
“Bagama’t legal ang hakbangin ng CHED, mahalaga pa rin na matiyak natin ang kapakanan ng ating mga estudyante sa senior high school,” Escudero pointed out, noting that the SUCs and LUCs were only allowed to accommodate SHS during the transition period to the K-12 program.
Escudero, who chairs the Committee on Higher, Technical and Vocational Education, also said the DepEd should closely monitor through its regional offices if there are students in danger of being displaced once the SUCs/LUCs should no longer offer the SHS program.
CHED Chairman Prospero de Vera III confirmed that a memorandum dated Dec. 18, 2023 has been issued, stating the “discontinuance” of the SHS in SUCs/LUCs in line with CHED’s previous directives through CMO Nos. 32 and 33 series of 2015 and 2016.
In directing the HEIs to discontinue the SHS program, he said “there is no longer a legal basis to fund the same.”
De Vera stated that he was obliged to release the memorandum after discovering that “a number” of SUCs and LUCs were still accepting more senior high enrollees as of last year, which is two years after the transition period.
