If it is just a matter of availability, education is not really that much of a problem in the Philippines. Public school education, both primary and secondary, is both free and compulsory for every child of school age. There are also many private schools in operation in the Philippines for children whose families can afford them. But in as much as public school education is available in the country, poverty still acts as a barrier that prevents Filipino children from attaining it.
Statistics from Jubilee Action, a non-government and non-profit organization based in the United Kingdom, state that out of 100 children in the school age group that attends the first grade of primary school, only 56 are expected to finish primary school and proceed to high school. Of the 56 students who went to high school, only 23 will get to graduate. Of these 23 high school graduates, only 14 will be able to obtain a college degree.
If public education is free and compulsory, how come the numbers indicate a huge dropout rate? That is because in public schools, only tuition fees and books are free. Students still need to shoulder the cost of school uniforms and shoes, the materials they would need for studying, such as notebooks, pens and paper, as well as transportation and food. For a family living below the poverty line and can barely eke out enough money to buy food, the extra cost of sending the children to school can be a real burden. And so, rather than go to school, some children opt to work instead so they can help feed the family and send their younger siblings to school.
But that is not the only reason why the dropout rate in Philippine public schools is heavy. The quality of public schooling in the Philippines itself is inferior. The schools are not equipped adequately to handle the large influx of students. As many as 80 students are packed in a classroom that is manned by overworked and underpaid teachers. Students have to share textbooks. It is hard to maintain an environment that is conducive to learning in such conditions.
The irony is that companies in the Philippines rarely employ people who do not hold a college degree, even for entry-level positions. And so, people who had not had the chance to enter college cannot even hope to get a decent job, except as an unskilled laborer.
Education, or the lack of it, is the great divide in the Philippines. Poverty prevents a person from pursuing education, and the lack of education keeps him or her in poverty.
Thesa is an experienced writer and publicist. She has 12 years experience in writing well-researched articles of various topics, SEO web content, marketing and sales content, press releases, sales scripts, academic essays, E-books and news bits.
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