MORE Filipinos have started to embrace the controversial K to 12 Basic Education Program of the Department of Education (DepEd), according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

The survey conducted from August 24 to 27 showed the growing acceptability of the key features of the reform program compared to previous survey results in March.

According to SWS, 72 percent of Filipino adults believe that K to 12 will give students sufficient knowledge and preparation for work and college compared to those who finished 10 years of basic education, garnering a net rating of +48, up from +35 in March.

The percentage of Filipinos who believe that more students will be encouraged to finish Senior High School (SHS) under the new program because it is equivalent to two years of college showed a ten-point increase with 69 percent, a significant increase from 59 percent in March, with a net rating of +41.

The results also showed that 68 percent of Filipinos believe that more students will finish SHS even with the additional cost and number of years because graduates will be better prepared for work, higher education, and business.

K to 12 prescribes an enhanced basic education program that covers one year of kindergarten education, six years of elementary education, and six years of secondary education consisting of four years of Junior High School and two years Senior High School. K-to-12 graduates will be equipped with middle-level skills, readiness for higher education, and readiness for livelihood, may it be employment or entrepreneurship.

The survey also revealed that 72 percent of the respondents believe that DepEd will be able to improve the quality of teachers, while seven out of 10 said that DepEd will be able to address classroom shortages.

Overall, the DepEd’s public satisfaction rating increased by 12 points while awareness of Education Secretary Armin Luistro was at a record high of 90 percent.