Dropout rate up to 6% in 2010 – ILO

MANILA, Philippines – The dropout rate for elementary students is rising from an average of 5.99 percent in 2007 to 6.28 percent in 2010, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO).

An ILO report showed that the most cited reasons for children dropping out of school are a loss of interest in education and not enough money in the household to support their education.

The ILO report highlighted conditions of child laborers through a personal testimony of a former child laborer and an overview of the child labor situation in Quezon Province, Masbate, Northern Samar and Bukidnon.

It showed details of current initiatives to help child laborers and their families that are part of the “Towards a Child Labour Free Philippines” project funded by the United States Department of Labor.

These include initiatives designed to help seasonal pupils, child laborers in sugar farms and agriculture and children from indigenous and tribal groups – who often have to walk 10 kilometers or more every day to go to school.

The ILO’s 2010 Global Report on Child Labor found that while child labor continues to decline, it is doing so at a much slower pace than before.

The report also warned that the global economic crisis could further brake progress toward the goal of eliminating the worst forms of child labor by 2016.

Last year, the Philippine government issued a progress report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which found that poverty and education are two of the key areas where not enough progress is being made.

The progress report warned that the country was unlikely to achieve universal access to elementary education (MDG2) if factors such as child labor were not tackled. (EHL)