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PART I: SITUATION OF THE FILIPINO YOUTH
In its 1998 report on the state of world population, the United Nations Population Fund noted that while the number of people aged 60 and above stood at nearly 600M, young people between the ages of 15-24 numbered 1.05B. Making up 20% of the world population, 85% of these youth lived in developing countries. Globally, Asia had the largest share of adolescents (aged 10-19) and other young age groups, with 60% of the world population. (UNFPA, 1998)
Needless to say, poor societies especially face increasing pressures to provide for the developmental needs of young people. Ironically, for such a large group in such an important phase of their lives, the youth are remarkably absent from the development policies in most societies, both as participants and as beneficiaries of development programs. (Auer, no date)
So much has already been said about the important role of youth as a strong human resource base that can further enhance and sustain a country’s level of development. But, to fulfill this role, the youth must also be able to explore their full potentials and develop themselves individually. They must be able to enjoy their inalienable rights to survival, development, protection and participation.
Education
1. Demands of Technology
As the world economy becomes increasingly dependent on advanced information and communications technologies to create new production systems and generate wealth, developing countries like the Philippines are pressured to produce technically competent personnel in order to compete in the global arena. Gone are the days when all the country could boast of is a vast pool of cheap and low-skilled labor to attract foreign investment, if only because emerging economies like Vietnam, Cambodia and others can provide even cheaper sources of low-skilled labor. But going up the “hierarchy of labor quality” cannot be achieved, much less sustained without the provision of and access to high quality education and training. Philippine education is challenged to provide young people with marketable knowledge and skills in the information age.
However, it is apparent that the country is finding it difficult to face this challenge. According to the participants of the Regional Youth Summits Philippine education cannot cope with the demands of technology. Youth from various sectors in Region 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10 and NCR cited the problem of a technologically inept education sector during the regional consultations. For the detailed responses of the participants, refer to Annex G.
2. Access to Education
Over the past years, various government policies had been enacted to ensure that every Filipino is provided with equitable access, high quality and relevant education. But despite these initiatives, many young Filipinos among the poor and from rural areas do not have access to basic education; for example, in SY 1999-2000, only 65.44% of high school-age youth managed to enroll (versus government target of 67.82%). Too, the drop-out rate for the same school year was at 13.02%, below the national target of 10.08%. (NEDA, April 2001)
Results of the Regional Youth Summits also show that government policies have not been enough to cushion the impact of the inaccessibility of education in the country. Several regional participants articulated that the drop-out rate in schools in Region 6, 8, 10, 12 and CAR have been increasing lately.
DECS data for SY 1999-2000 show that 12.6M children were enrolled in elementary school (93% in public schools), and 5.1M in high school (76% in public schools). However, secondary enrolment remained heavily concentrated in NCR, Region 3 and 4, which accounted for 40% of total secondary enrolment. In addition, provinces with high poverty incidence and low life expectancy rates, particularly in Muslim Mindanao, also registered a significant decline in basic enrolment ratio. (NSO, 2000)
The 1999 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey also shows that:
ð of the 5.2M families with children aged 13-16, 3.1M (58.9%) had members currently enrolled in high school, but only 842,751 of such families came from the lowest 40% – a decline of 11 percentage points from 1998 figures
ð of the 2M families with children in tertiary school, 259,831 (12.8%) had members in tertiary school who received scholarship from government or the private sector – an increase of 3.2% from 1998 – but only 29,345 beneficiary-families belonged to the lowest 40%.
Generally, most tertiary schools are concentrated in NCR, Region 3 and 4, and the more affluent regions of the country. Since most of these schools are privately owned and charge high tuition fees, it is hardly surprising that only the well-off and well-prepared students are accepted. (ESCAP, 2000)
The participants of the Regional Youth Summits agree to the foregoing statement that says education in our country is expensive. The table below illustrates what sector of the youth complained of the high price of education, and what regions are affected.
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