Teachers decry gov’t failure to keep 5.6-M children in school

THE ALLIANCE OF CONCERNED TEACHers (ACT) has assailed what it called the Arroyo administration’s continued failure to provide formal education for a growing number of young Filipinos, highlighted in 2009 by the more than 5.6 million out-of-school children and youth.

The problem, said ACT national chair Antonio Tinio, was “one of the most worrying legacies of the Arroyo administration.”

In an e-mail to the Inquirer, Tinio said, “The Arroyo government’s failure to effectively address poverty has resulted in an unprecedented increase in the number of school dropouts and out-of-school children and youth.”

Tinio said the failure was worrisome because “the Constitution mandates compulsory and free elementary education and high school, envisioning a society in which all Filipinos have attained at least secondary level of education.”

Tinio said ACT would support Project REACH of the Department of Education (DepEd) which aims to bring back to the public school system some 5.6 million out-of-school children and youth nationwide.

Tinio called the project a good first step. “There’s finally some official recognition of the magnitude of the problem of dropouts which has ballooned under the Arroyo administration.”

However, Tinio said, “unless initiatives such as this are carried over into the next administration, we’re doubtful about its actual impact.”

REACH, which is short for “reaching all children,” targets some 2.2 million children aged 6 to 12 years and 3.4 million others aged 13 to 15 years.

“The big challenge is to find them, reach them, keep them in school and make them complete their studies,” according to a Project REACH paper.

The program also aims to reduce the 6 percent and 7.5 percent dropout rates in the elementary and high school levels, respectively.

“Thus, the big challenge of finding and reaching these unschooled and retaining the unsufficiently schooled numbers cannot be taken lightly nor overlooked. They are either on the streets, in high risk but low-paying jobs, or they are sick and with disabilities. Wherever they are or whatever they do, they are prone to all forms of human trafficking, exploitation or getting neglected,” said the project brief.

“The longer they stay in school the higher chances for them to learn, develop skills needed in seeking gainful employment and the capacity to manage their own lives,” the DepEd said.

However, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said the agency was “unlikely” to reach the project’s 5.6-million target during the current school year.

Lapus said that with most public schools “still on a single shift, we can just add more teachers to optimize the utilization rate of classrooms.”

“Resource generation due to higher participation is a better problem to face than a costly high illiteracy rate,” he said.

When the 2009-2010 school year opened in June, DepEd was short 5,047 classrooms and 23,543 teachers despite a P25-billion increase in its annual budget.

Teresita Inciong, DepEd assistant secretary for programs and projects, said the department would “engage all local government units and other sectors to help us identify the subject children through mapping operations in all barangay (villages) nationwide.”

“We expect barangay centers to post how many children of school age are out ofschool, as well as the participation and cohort survival rates of those currently enrolled in our public schools,” said Inciong, who is overseeing the project.

DepEd plans to “absorb these children and youth even later this year. We plan to enroll even those who have no birth certificates. We’re removing the strict document requirements.”

“Better late than never. We’re confident they’ll catch up,” she added. –Jerry E. Esplanada, Philippine Daily Inquirer