FACT CHECK: No Palace announcement abolishing Grades 11 and 12

Claim: The Office of the President announced the official removal of Grades 11 and 12 from the country’s education system. Rating: FALSE Why we fact-checked this: A Facebook user posted a supposed statement from the Office of the President, purportedly signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. It read: “Inanunsyo na ng DepEd [Department of Education] ang pinal na desisyon na tuluyan nang alisin ang Grade 11 at 12 sa ating sistema. Wala na ang Senior High School, kaya magbabago na ang nakasanayang antas ng pagtatapos ng mga mag-aaral. ” (The DepEd has announced its final decision to completely remove Grades 11 and 12 from our system. Senior High School is being phased out, which means the established level at which students complete their education will change. ) The statement continued, “Ang hakbang na ito ay bahagi ng pagbabago ng DepEd upang ituon ang pokus sa ibang antas ng edukasyon.

” (This step is part of the DepEd’s transformation to shift its focus toward other levels of education. ) The post’s author said in the caption, “Good news nga ito. Kung ito ay nalagdaan na, laking ginhawa sa mga magulang at sa mga bata. Sayang naman kasi ang dalawang taon para sa K-12 na ‘yan; ‘di naman nagagamit talaga. ” (This is indeed good news. If it has already been signed, it will be a huge relief for both parents and children. After all, those two years for K-12 are just a waste — they don’t really get put to any actual use. ) The post garnered 1,100 reactions, 352 comments, and 572 shares as of writing. The facts: There is no official announcement abolishing Grades 11 and 12. The K to 12 program remains in effect as it is mandated by law under the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 . The misleading post sourced the fake announcement from a TikTok video posted by “Department of the…