Changed Court: A Phenomenological Study of the Lived Experiences of Students from Public School to Private Senior High School

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

In accordance with RA 10533, the senior high school voucher program Department of Education Order No. 11, series of 2015, was implemented in the school year 2016-2017 as the first year of the full implementation of the additional two years in the secondary education. With this program, grade 10 graduates from the public high schools can automatically avail the government's subsidy to continue their senior high school education in their chosen private school. With this transition, students may face challenges they need to cope with. This phenomenological study would let everyone understand how students from public high school go through certain changes in their senior high school experiences in private schools.

METHODS

Using a phenomenological research approach, the researcher used unstructured interview through a synchronous-mediated interview through Facebook Messenger. A purposive sampling technique was used in the selection of ten participants who studied in Bagbag National High School from Grade 7 to Grade 10 and who eventually transferred to private schools. The collected data were coded and analyzed according to themes.

RESULTS

The challenges of the students from public to private high schools highlight the following themes: financial burdens of expensive food in the canteen, payment for extracurricular activities, everyday fare, and other school needs; culture shock, new classmates and new school policies. Despite these challenges, the following themes emerged in their coping mechanisms: financial prudence in terms of their school allowance, adjustment to the new environment, and building bridges.

DISCUSSIONS

The themes on the challenges faced by the students from public school to private senior high school indicate that the life in a private school is far different from the life in public school, particularly on the no collection policy ofDepartment of Education (DO 19, S. 2008) unless agreed by the entire PTCA. Also, the students from public school used to travel by foot from their house to school. In addition, transfer students will surely experience culture shock because of the different practices in their new chosen school. Nevertheless, there is a strong possibility that these senior high school students can survive because of their strategies in overcoming those challenges. Their coping mechanisms must be associated with support coming from the school administration through seminars or workshops for transferees for better and faster adjustments as proposed by Lewis (2013).