IN SEPTEMBER 2000, member states of the United Nations (UN), including the Philippines, gathered at the Millennium Summit to affirm commitments towards reducing poverty and the worst forms of human deprivation.
At the summit, participating countries, a total of 192, and 23 international organizations identified eight international development goals that they agreed to achieve by 2015. They called it the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), which embodies specific targets and milestones in eliminating extreme poverty worldwide.
Among these goals is to provide education to everyone -- giving each child access to education and achieve a zero dropout rate in each school.
"This is hard to achieve, but we are doing our best to at least increase participation rate, especially in our secondary schools," according to Virginia Perandos, education supervisor 1 of the Department of Education (DepEd) in Davao del Norte and provincial coordinator of Drop Out Reduction Program (Dorp).
With five years left before the deadline to achieve a zero dropout rate as stipulated in the Millennium Development Goals, Perandos said they have intensified implementation of various programs initiated by DepEd, in partnership with local government units, to raise awareness on the importance of education, "regardless of age and economic status."
"LGUs and DepEd have implemented interventions to save our school children from dropping out," Perandos said, although some of these measures are yet to be proven "that effective."
"But we continue to reach out to those who are at risk of dropping out. We are doing our best to save them and bring them back to school," she said.
Through Dorp, Perandos said they have identified factors or reasons that triggered students from dropping out of school.
Dorp was formulated by DepEd in 2006 to respond to the needs of students who cannot report to class regularly because they are working either as part time of full time or for any other reason.
In Davao del Norte, Dorp implementation focuses on four risk factors that lead to the dropout problem. These are family, individual, community and school concerns or the Fics.
Perandos said, through the program, they use various approaches to reduce, if not totally eradicate the problem of dropouts by addressing such problems that prevent students from completing their elementary and high school education, although this is more prevalent among high school students.
"First we identify students at risk of dropping out (or the so-called Sardo). Then we conduct home visitation," she said.
Through this initiative, teachers and parents, along with the Sardo, interact and discuss the problem why the student wanted to stop schooling.
"There are students na hindi makapasok sa school dahil walang pamasahe, lalo na yong malalayo ang bahay. Others won't go to school because walang laman ang tiyan," she said.
Although she could not provide figures, Perandos also said that unwanted pregnancy among high school students in the province is among the reasons cited.
"We have a student in Sto. Tomas town who wanted to drop out because of her condition, but we discouraged her," she narrated. "We told her that her condition isn't a hindrance. We convinced her to go back to school, and we're successful. She graduated this March," Perandos said.
In Asuncion town, a second year high school student was also impregnated and no longer wants to attend classes.
But Aser M. Samsona, principal of Asuncion National High School, convinced her to pursue her studies.
"We provided her with special modules so she can cope up with her classes while her condition was still delicate," Samsona said. "Ang nangyari, five days after she gave birth, the girl started to attend to her regular classes. Bumalik agad siya sa school." The girl is now on her third year in high school.
Special modules are also provided for Sardos who are working to augment income of their family.
DepEd-Davao Region Regional Director Susana Teresita Estigoy admitted that child labor, which is considered to be caused by poverty, remains the gravest hindrance for the region's school-age children to attend school.
"We attribute these data on how families have to alleviate themselves from poverty by allowing or making their children get involve in income generating activities by form of labor or even prostitution," she said.
To address this, Dorp has come up with special modules to be provided to Sardos who are working, especially in plantations or ricefields.
"They can still work while studying. We provide them with learning modules for their self study to cope up with their classes while they are absent because of work," Perandos said. The content of the modules are similar to the textbooks used by regular students.
"'Yong learning modules are good lang naman during planting and harvest season. These are the times when working students are absent," Perandos added.
Through this program, students together with their parents and the teachers agree on the schedule of classes and the date of examination. This is adjusted depending on the availability of the student considering his/her situation. The teacher or learning facilitator adjusts to the need of the learner where both agree to a common schedule. The student is given a module on what he is supposed to study in school while he/she is absent. When he/she comes back to school, he/she will be tested on how well he/she learned his/her lessons.
The Open High School Program (OHSP) of DepEd has also been intensified under Dorp. Through OHSP, students can complete their high school education even if they find themselves in circumstances that would not allow them to continue going to school under the regular system.
The OHSP is considered formal and structured. Students learn the eight core subjects in English, Science, Mathematics, Filipino, Aralin Panlipunan, Edukasyon sa Pagpapahalaga, and Music and Arts and Physical Education and Health (Mapeh). They graduate by completing the four levels from first year to fourth year.
The grading system is the same with the regular program. Students in the OHSP also graduate with the regular students at the end of the school year. This program was actually started in 1998 with only few schools offering the program.
But through Dorp, more and more high schools nationwide are offering the program as part of the scheme to address the issue on school drop-outs.
DepEd in Davao del Norte also came with another approach to lure poor students not to drop out. With funding assistance from the Provincial Government, through Governor Rodolfo del Rosario, Balay Dalangpan will be set up within the Asuncion National High School campus to provide shelter to students who cannot afford daily transportation fare but who lives far from school.
The Balay Dalangpan will be a two-room dormitory.
"They will stay there during class days and uuwi lang sila during weekends," Samsona said.
Asuncion National High School is the project's pilot area.
"We actually proposed this two years ago, but medyo na-delay ang funding. But with assistance from the provincial government already approved, the project will surely be implemented this academic year," Samsona said.
For a start, Samsona said, 10 girls and 10 boys will be housed at Balay Dalangpan, while a caretaker, who is also a teacher, will serve as their guardian.
An LGU-initiated project that also lures out-of-school youths to return to school is Tagum City's Palengke Eskwelahan where "young laborers, vendors, dispatchers" at the city terminals and public markets are required to attend Friday classes for free.
The program was implemented in 2004, with annual appropriation of P100,000, to cater the educational needs of delivery boys, vegetable cleaners and packers and peddlers in the market and terminal.
"We hired competent teachers to conduct classes. Buhaton ni sa usa sa mga opisina sa palengke ug terminal. We convert that office to a classroom. We are doing that every Friday," City Mayor Rey Uy said.
"After a year, those attending the Palengke Eskwelahan will be allowed to take acceleration exams kung pwede na ba sila mag high school or college," he added.
He said the program was conceptualized because the targeted beneficiaries "are no longer interested to go back to school and already satisfied with their work because they are already earning P200 to P300."
"That's why we provided them with classrooms in their places of work para wala na silay lusot," he said.
In 2008, it posted a high result in Accreditation & Equivalency (A&E) national exams with 18 passers who are now considered as high school graduates.
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