The Real Problem with our Educational System

I get really irritated when somebody or anybody says that the reason why Filipino students lag behind their Asian counterparts in terms of education, is because our current educational system is 10 years instead of 12 years as that of everybody else around the world.
Now some people are proposing that we need to copy the rest of the world and make our educational system 12 years, and they are readying a budget of 100 Billion Pesos for this proposal.
This proposal and its reasons is pure ignorance to the real problems of our educational system. This is actually a moronic act.
The proponents of this measure don’t really know the real picture of the current state of education in the country. I have an inkling that these people came from the well-heeled class of people who were educated in elite, high-priced schools in the country or abroad, people who have limited exposure in a public school setting in the Philippines. I suspect that they may have not even set a single foot in a public school in a rural area. They might have spent more time abroad observing the good educational system in the countries where they happen to shop. And now they come back and tell the people that the solutions are these and that.
Ignorance!
In a public school in rural barangays, it has problems. One is the lack of classrooms. One might not imagine, but some classes in the provinces are held under mango trees or under any tree that offers a considerable shade. Students seat and study in makeshift chairs and desks. During rainy days, this class will move to barns or any other structures that offer shelter. And this is not always the case. Most often, these classes are suspended because of lack of shelter, especially during the rainy months. In the most far-flung barangays, teachers often use primitive means and modes of teaching- charcoal as chalk in bare piece of old plywood, to pupils who have never seen an image of a pencil. These pupils have walked just a few kilometers in their bare feet, sporting old T-shirts they have worn for the past 3 days. This teacher often handles a ”multi-grade” class, combining grades 1 and 2 or grades 3 or 4 to accommodate all the children by his lonesome. This teacher often comes to live in that area, and most probably he is not a permanent teacher, receiving a meager income allocated by the municipal government. With his lack of training and resources, he is left in his own devices dozens of kilometers away from the nearest bookstore.
I have even witnessed a class being held on a river with a teacher and his students aboard a banca. But no, these are Korean students on an excursion being taught by their Filipino teacher in Basic English conversation.
If rural schools have its problems, is not as gargantuan as compared to its urban counterpart.
A typical urban high school starts at 7 AM with 70 rowdy teenagers, many still sleepy and many of whom have not had taken their breakfast because of time constraint, or simply their families cannot afford them breakfast, cramped in a 5x7 meter- low-ceilinged-classroom. Amidst the lack of books and chairs, and equally lack of attention in the overcrowded classroom, the teacher goes on with his duties, teaching her students even if the last two rows cannot hear her voice. These students will share substandard, unedited books which is only good for 35 students. They will take turns in a limited time using computers and science laboratory materials, among others. This is the first shift which will end at 12:30 PM. The next shift starts at 1:30 PM with the same number of equally rowdy teenagers crowding in that same room in a steadily rising temperature of the afternoon, as well as the rising temper of the thinning patience of the tired teacher. The class for the day will end at 7 PM. And as darkness prevails, it offers more danger and temptations to the students going home. That same teacher brings home her lesson plans and other quiz papers of his 140 students for her to check. She will do this in her home amidst her own personal and family responsibilities. This teacher typically sleeps at 12:01 at the earliest and wakes up at 5:31 at the latest to prepare herself again for another grueling day.
With this setting, when aptitude tests are given, what do we expect? Do we expect that these 70 students, on the average, will fare better than their Singaporean counterparts? Okay, we will extend them for two years. Another TWO YEARS with the same teacher to student ratio, the same number of classrooms, the same unedited, unreliable books, the same number of overworked, underpaid, undertrained teachers in 12 years, and Voila! We can now be at par with Asian neighbors and the whole world because we have now a 12-YEAR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM?
Yes, a 12-year educational system is a noble idea because everybody else in the world is doing it, but we have to fix first the more basic and pressing problems in our educational system. Build more classrooms with enough desk and chairs. Provide enough and reliable books and other learning materials, so that the teachers will not buy them somewhere using their own meager income without reimbursement (unlike in some government agencies, where some employees will ask reimbursement for even a tissue paper they bought). Hire enough teachers and empower them by allowing them to be equipped with sufficient and continuous trainings and providing them with more incentives. Curb corruption and alleviate poverty so that children can go to school in good health and with descent school supplies and clothing. What we need is to give emphasis on the quality of our educational system and not on quantitative length it may take.

I like the idea of K+12, but considering the possibility of implementation is somewhat an impossible dream.
The very reason why I think this way is timing of the idea. This school year our school has implemented the new curriculum in TLE particularly in Computer. The curriculum includes teaching 1st year students about MS Office application namely Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Next year will be Desktop Publishing, and Photo Editing, for 3rd year will be Programming, Computer Repair and 4th year will be entrepreneurship.
At first glance on the curriculum, I said Wow! Nice curriculum. But I realized, is this possible? Yes! Because we have teachers who can handle this, but how about the facilities? What we have in our school now are 10 computers given by Japan through DTI in 2004, the hardware’s were already obsolete they are starting to breakdown and we have 100 students enrolled in computer subject for the first year alone.
So going back to K+12, if the government cannot resolve the present and real situation of all the schools in the country in terms of facilities alone, why add more years? Why not resolve the present situation first of lack of class rooms, lack of teachers, in fact I have 5 chemistry class and 1 TLE class with a total of 7 hours and 15 minutes of actual classroom teaching and 1 advisory class with 54 student and this is not yet categorized as overload that's why I can’t even avail of provisions of DepED memo #291 s. 2008.
So please!! Resolve first the current problems in our education system before introducing a new system.

If P-noy government eager to implement this K+12 plan in the educational system they should resolve first the lacking of teachers and classrooms in the system. Even K+12 is implemented if the current ratio of teacher to students is 1:50/more and one classroom occupying 2 or more class at the same time the success of teaching and learning process is unattainable….

I just dont understand why they are planning to add 2 more yrs where in fact they can't even provide enough classrooms and teachers in the current 10yr basic education system. duh?