Wednesday, May 21, 2008 Editorial: What it takes to stay in school
IT'S enrolment time again, and soon school opening. How many more will no longer be enrolling, we wonder?
Time and again, the Department of Education (DepEd) notes the decline in number of students as the year level increases, and every school year it seems that the number of dropouts just keep on growing. And thus we look deeper into what's keeping the children out.
There's the obvious reason of poverty. Even while DepEd will constantly announce that collection of fees upon enrollment is prohibited, the children and their parents know the truth. Thus, if they do not have the spare P300-plus for high school, then they will just have to forego enrolment. There is also the problem of money for projects, trips, even uniforms, and food. It's difficult to stay in school with an empty stomach.
But we also know that several of our elders had to sacrifice a lot just to go to school, walking long distances, going without meals, and working at night, just to get that diploma. It was the norm then, to sacrifice everything just to be in school. Now, such story is reserved for the truly persevering. It's no longer the norm. What could have changed in the equation?
And so we tinker on further into the family economics and see, beyond money, the crucial role of making a decision, consequently great sacrifice, to stay in school and see a not so promising picture.
The decision to stay in school, whether by parents or by sheer determination of a child, will depend a lot on the opportunities that await schooled children.
This goes beyond huge investments in education by government. Free schooling is not enough, even free quality schooling. For as long as there are no opportunities that await those who stay in school, no child will be willing to go without a meal just to listen to teachers.
Without the promise of a much better life when one stays in school, the prospect of sitting in wait along city streets to scrounge for scraps from hauler trucks to feed an empty stomach will always be more enticing.
After all, the decision to stay in school is primarily driven by a desire not to have more knowledge but to have better prospects in life.
Without an economy that promises decent livelihood for the learned population, there can never be enough impetus to keep these children in school.
