Instructional Gaps and Transition Barriers: Qualitative Perspective of Senior High School Graduates and Stakeholders in Southern Philippines

This qualitative study investigated the transition experiences of senior high school (SHS) graduates in the Davao Region. Specifically, it explored how well graduates felt prepared to exit from the curriculum, based on perceptions from both graduates and institutional stakeholders. We used thematic analysis of interview and focus group data from across 11 school divisions to find a considerable gap between the "job-ready" promises of the K to 12 reform and the realities faced by graduates. This study showed that graduates face structural barriers, varying levels of instruction, misalignment between TVL and STEM strands, and a series of challenges and obstacles related to documentation before employment. While our study indicated that graduates possessed some level of digital literacy, it also found that graduates suffered from a significant cognitive deficit, including a lack of critical thinking and difficulty with reading comprehension, as perceived by both industry and academic stakeholders. The results of the study suggest that the K to 12 reform does little to support a student's pathway to a specific area of employment; instead, the program acts as a generalist bridge to higher education or the workforce. In addition to the cognitive deficit, the study indicates that limited opportunities for work immersion and the bureaucratic red tape involved in obtaining a job constitute additional barriers to establishing a student's credibility in the workforce. Ultimately, the study implies that the Department of Education should move away from instructional access and toward vertical synchrony and mastery-based apprenticeships to help close the readiness gap.