Implementing SHS helped lower teenage pregnancy rate — Gatchalian

Metro Manila, Philippines - Amid new calls to scrap the mandatory Senior High School (SHS) level under the K to 12 program, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said the additional two years of education had other beneficial effects such as a lower rate of teenage pregnancy.

In an interview on Saturday, June 21, Gatchalian said he understood the parents’ complaints about the burden of two more years of tuition and school expenses due to the implementation of the K to 12 program.

“‘Pag kausap ko yung mga magulang natin, yan talaga ang kanilang hinaing na nagdagdag tayong dalawang taon na dumagdag ‘yung gastos nila,” he said.

[Translation: When I talk to the parents, they really complain that we added two years to their expenses.]

Gatchalian, who leads the Senate’s Basic Education committee, said he also understood President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s frustration over the SHS program.

However, the senator said data still show that the curriculum had other benefits such as higher employment roles given to SHS graduates and lower teenage pregnancy rates.

“‘Yung trabaho na nakukuha ng senior high school natin, mas mataas na uri kumpara sa junior high school. Mas mataas ‘yung kanilang nakukuhang sweldo kumpara sa junior high school,” he said.

“Yung mga nabubuntis in teenage pregnancies, ang laki ng binaba. Dahil nga ‘yung mga bata nag-aaral ngayon, kasi mandato na nga mag-aaral sila. ‘Yung teenage pregnancies natin, malaking ibinaba nung nagkaroon tayo ng senior high school,” Gatchalian added.

[Translation: The jobs that our senior high school graduates get are of a higher class compared to junior high school. Their salary is higher…The number of teenage pregnancies is reduced. Because the children are studying now, they are mandated to study. Our teenage pregnancies were greatly reduced when we implemented senior high school.]

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, 2023 data show that teenage pregnancy among Filipino women aged 15 to 19 years declined from 8.6 percent in 2017 to 5.4 percent in 2022.

The first batch of SHS students entered grade 11 in 2016. This batch would have graduated with a four-year bachelor’s degree in college in 2022.

“Ibig sabihin ‘yung bata, nakapagtapos ng pag-aaral bago sila na nabubutis o bago sila ikinakasal. So may mga kabutihan na dapat nating pag-aaralan mabuti,” he said.

[Translation: It means the child finished school before they got pregnant or before they got married. So there are benefits that we should study carefully.]

The Department of Education said a revised SHS curriculum may be fully carried out by school year 2027 to 2028 — with the pilot run spanning two years. 

The new curriculum underwent pilot implementation in over 800 schools beginning SY 2025-2026, which opened on June 16.