Unesco warns of economic consequences of rising number of out-of-school youths

Countries in Southeast Asia stand to lose billions of dollars in the near future unless urgent measures are taken to enroll millions of out-of-school children in the region.

MANILA, Philippines – A recent report by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) said Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines should take urgent steps to enroll out-of-school youths to avoid the economic consequences of having high numbers of unskilled worforce in the future.

“Enrolling out-of-school children (OOSC) is not only a moral obligation but a productive investment, and that all seven Southeast Asian countries, regardless of the seriousness of their OOSC challenges, suffer a far greater loss from maintaining OOSC than they would from increasing public spending to enroll those children in primary school,” the report said.

Co-published by Unesco Bangkok and Results for Development Institute (R4D), the report said countries in Southeast Asia—specifically Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam—stand to lose billions of dollars in the near future unless urgent measures are taken to enroll millions of out-of-school children in the region.

For the Philippines, in particular, the report estimated the economic cost of out-of-school youth at 0.18 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

The projections are based on foregone earnings from out-of-school children or how much higher the GDP would be in roughly a decade if these children completed primary school education before entering the workforce.

When other factors are considered such as increases in national income due to lower crime rates, better public health, and other effects of schooling, the economic cost of out-of-school youth rises to 0.3 to 7.2 percent for Southeast Asia.

“Given the large and numerous benefits associated with primary education, programs that increase access to education for out-of-school children are critical interventions to promote economic and social development,” the report said.

The report pointed out some of the barriers to implementing universal education in the Philippines included lack of finances, lack of interest, illness/disability,distance from school, and domestic responsibilities.

The report also said that children from the poorest households in the region were “overwhelmingly overrepresented’’ among out-of-school children.

“Given the high share of dropouts among East Asia and the Pacific’s out-of-school children population, any strategy for improving enrollment must focus on reducing unit costs of providing education, improving quality of education, boosting demand for education, and reaching marginalized children,” it said.

The study cited the Philippines’ Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino conditional cash transfer program which has contributed to getting more children attend school.

According to the Unesco Institute for Statistics, there were 1.224 million out-of-school children and 535,896 out-of-school youths in the Philippines in 2013. –Kathleen A. Martin (The Philippine Star)