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By ALLEN B. ESTABILLO

GENERAL SANTOS City– Crimes and other related social problems plaguing local communities could ease in the next few years through the implementation of the K to 12 education program, a regional education official said.Dr.Allan Farnazo, Department of Education (DepEd) Region 12 director, said the initiative mainly provides pupils and students with the opportunity to remain in school for a longer period that will eventually protect them from negative out-of-school influences.He said studies showed that out of 100 potential high school or secondary level students in the country, only 50 or half are in schools. Such situation often leads to the exposure of the out-of-school youths to criminalities, recruitment by lawless elements or groups and get into drug addiction.“When our children are in schools, the chances that they will be influenced and recruited by criminal elements become lesser,” he said. The K to 12 program, which was first implemented by DepEd in 2012, provided an additional two years to the country’s basic education program. It is set for full implementation in 2016.It covers Kindergarten and 12 years of basic education, comprising six years of primary education, four years of junior high school and two years of senior high school.

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“The K to 12 is an effective alternative towards building peaceful and criminality-free communities,” Farnazo said.Owing to this, the official called for more support from local government units (LGUs) in the region as well as local stakeholders in their advocacy to make sure that all school-age children and youths are properly enrolled and attending schools.He said such advocacy is in line with the national government’s efforts to ensure that “no child is left behind” when it comes to education.He said LGUs should not only focus their efforts on law enforcement operations in terms of deterring crimes but on other aspects as well, among them education.South Cotabato Gov. Daisy Avance-Fuentes, chairperson of the Regional Peace and Order Council of Region 12, expressed her support to DepEd-12’s advocacy.She said the statistics showing that only half of every 100 eligible high school students are actually in schools is quite alarming.The official said every LGU in the region should exert efforts to make sure that all school-age children and youths in their areas would be in school.

“We need to start this at the barangay level. Every barangay should look for those who are not enrolled and send them properly to our schools,”she said.-pna

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