CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

The objective of the study is identify the profile, and describe the socio-economic

profile, and aspiration and outlook in life of the out of school youths in Brgy. Matatalaib,

Tarlac City as the researchers find out the reasons and barriers that hinder them to attend

formal school. This study aims to encourage the OSYs to participate with the programs

headed by the barangay in order to achieve their aspirations and develop their lifestyle and

to proposed recommendations that will enhance these programs. The researchers gathered

a collection of related literature and studies conducted locally and internationally and

mapped out their connectivity to the study.

Related Literature

Education leads to accelerated human development, poverty reduction and

sustainable economic growth (Letseka and Maile, 2008). It is the key to a person’s

development, not only socially within a community or society, or economically in terms of

the labour market and business, but also as it prepares individuals for higher education

(Arends and Perry, 2003). However, dropping out from school continues to be a worldwide

phenomenon.

In 2016, 263 million children, adolescents and youth were out of school,

representing nearly one-fifth of the global population of this age group. Historically, the

girls and young women were likely to be excluded from education nevertheless, based on

global reports, the male and female out-of-school rates for the lower secondary and upper

secondary school-age populations are now nearly identical. Accordingly, the countries
with highest out-of-school rates are the poorest countries in the world. (United Nations

Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, 2018)

The article “Dropping Out of High School: Prevalence, Risk Factors, and

Remediation Strategies” in 2012 described that student dropout rates are a major social and

economic problem in the United States. However, the authors ended the article by

mentioning some actions that can improve graduation rates in United States. First thing

that should be done to keep students from dropping out is the need to know which students

are most at risk. Also, identifying which high schools have a high dropout rates.

Afterwards, an effective intervention program should be implemented. Many intervention

programs have been developed, but it must be identified which of them would have the

best effect on dropout rates. Example of this intervention program mentioned in the article

is the “What Works Clearinghouse at the Institute for Education Sciences (IES)” that

evaluates educational interventions, and it has evaluated 28 dropout prevention programs.

According to the article of Doll, Eslami, and Walters in 2013, a student is pushed

out when an unfavorable situations within the school environment lead to consequences,

basically resulting in dropout. These include tests, attendance and discipline policies and

even consequences of poor behavior. However, students can be pulled out when factors

inside the student divert them from completing school. These occur when factors such as

financial worries, out-of-school employment, family needs, or even family changes, such

as marriage or childbirth, pull students away from school. Illnesses can be include as

reasons why students do not complete school. Lastly is the factor called falling out of

school which occurs when a student does not show significant academic progress in school

work and becomes apathetic or lacking of interest in completing school.

 The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) cited in the article written by Burrus and

Roberts in 2012 is a theory in Psychology that manifest a person’s behavior as a

psychosocial factor that predict drop out. This theory states that intentions are the best

predictor of behavior and intentions are being predicted by attitudes, meaning a person’s

evaluation of his or her own behavior or of others’ behaviors, subjective norms, which

refers to the social pressure one feels to perform the behavior; and perceived control,

meaning a person’s perception of his or her own capability to perform the behavior. This

theory was used by Davis, Ajzen, Saunders, and Williams in 2002. They conducted their

study as the inner city high school sophomores completed a short questionnaire that

assessed each of the components of the TPB. They predicted whether the students would

graduate from high school three years later. Results revealed that the participants’

responses as sophomores significantly predicted whether they eventually graduated or

dropped out.

In 2016, the Philippines has 3.8 million out-of-school children and youth or about

10 percent of the 39 million Filipinos with age range six to 24 years old. This statistical

report is from Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS). Accordingly, the most common

reasons among out of school children and youth for not attending school in the Philippines

were marriage or family matters, high cost of education or financial concerns, and lack of

personal interest (Sunstar, 2016). Although, the 1987 Philippine Constitution declares that

education, particularly basic education, is a right of every Filipino (Maligalig, Rodriguez,

Martinez Jr., and Cuevas, 2010).

Dropping out from school is such a heavy decision to make, and there must be

compelling reasons for the households to take children away from school. Culturally,
Filipino households put high value on education. But often poverty outweighs this valued

priority and the opportunities of working children to continue their school become a huge

risk because of the temptation to earn better income when children become employed “full

time” acceptable to their family or household members. (Fernandez and Abocejo, 2014).

But with a poor family’s severely limited resources, education tends to be less prioritized

over more basic needs such as food and shelter. Hence, the chances of the family to move

out of poverty are unlikely. It is therefore, important that the poor be given equitable access

to education (Maligalig, Rodriguez, Martinez Jr., and Cuevas, 2010).

Meanwhile, just like anybody else in the society, out of school youth also aspires

to achieve something in life, even there are those with aspirations that are not available

within their circumstances (Byun, Meece, Irvin, & Hutchins, 2012). Still, they expressed

their aspirations and they are never hopeless in their desire to bring positive transformation

into their life. (Machica Jr., 2017).

Aspiration can be defined as a strong desire to achieve something high or great

(Merriam-Webster Dictionary). But to out of school youths, aspiration means having

patience and trust. Patience, for being able to wait for the right opportunity and not losing

hope and trust, for never being doubtful of the capacity of someone particularly the parents

to handle concerns in the family amidst socio-economic crisis. (Machica Jr., 2017).

The editorial article of Naafs and Skelton (2017) frame how young people in Asia

are reworking rapidly changing socio-economic, cultural conditions and constraining

political structures to create possible successful futures and achieve their aspirations. Their

article entitled, “Youthful futures? Aspirations, education and employment in Asia”

mentioned that in large parts of Asia, the spread of formal education, combined with rapid
urbanization, consumerism, and shifts in the region’s volatile economies and labour

markets, have sparked young people’s imaginations about what they consider possible and

desirable livelihoods and lifestyles. Participation in secondary and tertiary education not

only extends youth as a life phase, but often also carries with it social status. Additionally,

schooling often changes young people’s expectations about the kinds of jobs they value

and their idea of themselves as educated persons. While many Asian youth have the

possibility of aspiring towards very different futures than their parents could have imagined

at the same age, the routes into such futures can be more risky, demanding and insecure.

Aspirations among the youth differ. Their educational aspiration could either be to

finish basic education, take up technical course, or pursue college education. They also

have other personal aspirations. In the Philippines, the youth aspire to be literate while out-

of-school, help their parents perform chores either in the household or in the farm, or do

extra jobs to earn a living for the family (Fernandez &Abocejo, 2014).

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory cited from the study “Aspirations of the Out-

of-School Youth: Barangay Napara-an, Salcedo, Eastern Samar Perspective” (2017), can

be used in identifying the aspiration of a person. This includes the priorities set by every

person, considers human needs in ascending hierarchy based on importance starting from

physiological or basic physical needs, then security and safety needs, belonging and social

needs, esteem and status needs, and self-actualization and fulfillment needs (Lorenzana,

2003). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in essence reflects the prioritization of the goals of a

person. Thus, the theory presupposes that out of school youths have a goal or aspiration

which is basically their need or priority. Their decision as regards schooling shall be

influenced by the level of priority set for education. For those who consider education as
top priority will always make it to the finish line amidst varied challenges (Machica Jr.,

2017).

Out of school youth may be interested in finishing formal schooling yet poverty

force them to leave out school (Tafere, 2014). Nonetheless, the non-formal education

programs under the government cater basic literacy, livelihood skills development or

enhancement of competencies, and certification and equivalency program implementation.

The purpose of non-formal education through Technical Education and Skills

Development Authority (TESDA) is to assist its needy clients develop and enhance literacy

and skills acquisition via hands-on exposure through the offering of courses for 6 to 10

months. Graduates of non-formal education are expected to be employable and competitive

in the labor arena (Philippines Institute for Development Studies, 2009).

Education is investment of both the family and the government to capacitate the

human resources. Through education, the youth learn cognitive skills, competencies, and

knowledge, and can provide output of great economic value upon their participation in the

work place (Fernandez & Abocejo, 2014). Whereas, according to human capital theory,

more educational attainment leads to increased benefits such as better health and more

earned income (Sweetland, 1996 cited in Roberts, McFalls, Brown, and Msilanga, 2015).

From the reviewed literatures, most of the aspirations of the out of school youth is

connected with education. Thus, it can be concluded that the education plays a significant

role in shaping the aspiration of youths. As the researchers conduct the study, it will reveal

whether the OSYs in Brgy. Matatalaib, Tarlac City have the same aspirations with those

subjects of these mentioned literatures.

Related Studies

Foreign

The study of Hart (2016) explored the complex roles of aspirations in relation to

human development using the capability approach. The study concluded that aspirations

are vital to human development and yet their complexity presents a number of challenges.

There are challenges related to the development and protection of the freedom to aspire,

the challenge of supporting the transformation of aspirations into capabilities, the dilemmas

related to the judgment of feasibility and the roles of aspiring in relation to both capability

and functioning.

According to the study of Ratana-Ubol, Vayachuta, and Soopanyo (2016), they

assessed the situations of the out-of-school children and youth as well as the problems and

causes of the problems in Thailand through conducting a qualitative research consists of

literature review and in-depth interview. They found that out-of-school children and youth

do need to develop many areas in their lives, including their education and life and job

skills. After conducting literature reviews and in-depth interview, they found that the main

problems of the out-of-school children and youth include low quality of life, lack of life

and social skills and the likeliness to be engaged in illegal and risky activities. They also

found that poverty, low achievement in school, and risky behaviors like teen pregnancy,

violent behavior, drug problems, and crimes are the causes of students why they are leaving

the school. In addition, their study showed that the OSCY want to improve their

educational opportunities, and job skills which are related to their future career. With this,

they recommended that the answer may lie in Lifelong Education, which is based on
flexibility and variety, with positive aspects from both the formal, non-formal and informal

education. This should open up new possibilities for the out-of-school children and youth

and lead them towards a better quality of life.

The study of Brown, Roberts, McFalls, and Msilanga (2015) used semi-structured

qualitative interviews and focus group discussions to complete their study entitled, “Spirit

of Inquiry of Out-of-School Youth in Rural Southern Tanzania: How Formal Schooling

Shapes Receptivity of New Information to Improve Their Livelihoods”. Findings of the

study showed that schooling is beneficial despite the low quality of education in Tanzanian

public schools because it teaches students how to be engaged citizens through not being

afraid to ask questions and willing to communicate openly. By being more willing to

participate in a dialogue, more opportunities are provided to gain new information. The

study recommended that since the majority of Tanzanian students, and particularly those

from rural areas, will be unable to study in higher education institutions, educational

programs for youth in school and for school dropouts are more effective which center on

methods for learning new information that are applicable to their intended occupation

within their community and which also prepare them for participating in the workforce.

The study of Emmanuel, William, and Frank (2015) is conducted to understand the

reasons why some children are out of school and how this is going to affect them in future

using the Cross-sectional design because the data collection will be based on questionnaire.

The study found that school dropout affects the youth and the society adversely. It is

evident from the study that school dropout shakes the economic well-being of the youth

and as well trembles the society. Like for example, those individuals who are dropped out

of school have problems securing employment. In addition, school dropouts engage in

crime and other social vices such as armed robbery, prostitution and many others. The

findings of the study also revealed that as most of the school dropouts engaging in social

vices, the greater their number increases in prison hence forming the majority in prison.

Also, school dropout destroys the bright future of the young people who used to be brilliant

students. The outcomes of the study are important since they demonstrate how crucial it is

as an individual and/or a society to get rid of school dropout. As a necessity in the lives of

the youth in Ghana, education should be seen as a key factor for development. The study

recommended that free and compulsory education can also help to minimize school

dropout. If not up to tertiary institutions, education must be free from the basic to the senior

high school and this must come along with compulsion whereby parents and the entire

community members would be obliged to compel children to go to school. And also, well

trained and competent teachers as well as responsible parenting can help minimize school

dropout.

The study of Tafere (2014) presented the educational aspirations and the challenges

being faced by children living in poor communities in Ethiopia. Using the Young Lives

survey, a childhood study, purposefully sampled children from relatively poorer

households and qualitative longitudinal data, Tafere found that children hold high

educational aspirations and make much effort to achieve their ambitions. Children in higher

grades at school maintained their high aspirations. They have demonstrated their agency in

their capacity to aspire high and work hard to attain their ambitions. The results also suggest

that poverty has an impact on potential achievements. Despite making every effort to attain

their aspirations, some children have failed to do so, or have modified their stated desires.

The findings contest at least two widely held assumptions. First, that poor people have low
levels of aspiration and do not make any effort because they believe in fate rather than hard

work, and therefore policies should aim to raise their aspirations. Second, poor children,

mainly in Africa, have unrealistic aspirations, thus, they should be reoriented. The paper

argues that interventions should not be on the raising or reorientation of aspirations, but on

helping young people to achieve what they have aspired to. The raising of aspirations is

less relevant for young people motivated by the fast expansion of schooling in their country

and spurred on by poverty, who do not lack aspirations. Reorientation hinders children’s

capacity for aspirations and achievements, and is thus detrimental to the national effort for

poverty reduction, which could be enhanced by people with high levels of education.

Addressing the structural impediments to achievement would be more helpful because

achievements inspire the generation to come.

The study of Yerevan (2012) aimed to study the aspirations, expectations and

values of the young people of Armenia using quantitative semi structured face-to-face

interviews to 1,204 respondents with age ranges from 16 to 30 years old. The study showed

that majority of youth have aspirations of receiving a vocational education. The results of

the survey also revealed a considerable number of young people who made a rational

choice in terms of the motives underlying the selection of an educational institution. The

rationality being said can be of at least two kinds, first, the conditioned by a focus on the

educational content, and second, the conditioned by attempts to facilitate the learning

process. When it comes to employment, the study of Yerevan found that employment is

currently the most prevalent issue for Armenian youth as it mostly determines their

aspirations. Among major issues existent in the Armenian labor market, the young people

surveyed mentioned not only the lack of vacancies, but also the essential role played by
non-formal connections and the low level of protection of employee rights. The

conclusions on young people’s aspirations for employment show that for upcoming three

years 10.5% of young people plan to start their own business, 9.3% of survey participants

intend to find any job they can and 7.6% aim to find a job by profession abroad. 2.6% are

eager to start their own business abroad. 30.1% of survey participants mentioned that they

had no employment-related plans. At the same time, 73.3% of those surveyed are not

currently involved in any income-generating activity or in volunteering. As the results of

the survey show, 62.9% of those who did not have jobs were not looking for employment.

Females and young people aged 16-18 prevailed in this category. It is interesting to note

that those who were currently employed but were also looking for new jobs constituted

35.2%.

The study of Dube (2011) is an investigation into the pathways of out-of-school

youth and their reentrance into the Education Training and Development (ETD) system or

the labour market. It employs a qualitative research methodology using interviews to elicit

the experiences of dropouts and school managers. The participants were young people and

three school principals who were selected through snowballing from a township south of

Durban. Dube found out that the lack of finance was a major obstacle to dropping into the

school system. Many of the participants were openly saddened by their experience of being

unable to re-join the formal education system due to their financial constraints. Some of

the participants also felt unwelcome and unwanted within the class environment, which

caused them to be astonished about their decision to return to secondary schooling in the

first place. Some spoke not only about unwelcome experiences with their classmates but

also about some teachers’ negative attitudes towards them. The female participants were
the main victims of the negative teacher behaviours. They experienced verbal abuse from

their teachers, a situation that occurred mainly in the classroom. The participants also

showed a clear signs of low self-esteem and fear of failure based on their responses. In

terms of employment, the study of Dube found that the participants had mixed experiences

in trying to enter the job market. Accordingly, the options in the job market were limited,

not because of the few opportunities offered in the area but because of the requirements to

enter the job market. Post-secondary and tertiary qualification was a key requirement to

access jobs, but many had no such academic credentials. Meanwhile, some participants

gain access to the job market by becoming entrepreneurs. Two of the six participants had

their own business. But for those who undertook this pursuit, their entrepreneurial

experiences were of mixed fortune. Lastly, the study showed that the youth also valued

schooling for its development of personal awareness, but it seems that this awareness was

not appreciated for its own sake but rather it was for being in a better position to survive

socially.

The study of Benjamin, Turok, Kintrea, and St. Clair (2009) aimed to better

understand the relationship between children’s aspirations in relation to education and

employment, and the context in which they are formed. In particular, their study seeks to

explore how parental circumstances and attitudes, the school as an institution, and the

opportunity structures of the neighborhood come together to shape aspirations in deprived

urban areas. The study carried out two rounds of surveys of young people in three

secondary schools at age 12/13 and 14/15, and surveys of their parents where possible. The

surveys were designed to produce primarily quantitative data, with certain questions

allowing open or qualitative responses. The qualitative data was analyzed thematically
using the software programme nVivo while the quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS

to assess the relative importance of different influences on aspirations and to generate

robust multivariate statistical relationships between the key variables. Their study found

that school is very supportive of young people having high aspirations and these aspirations

contribute to one’s academic success. The school and its staff appear to be very keen to

promote a belief in the young people that they can be high achievers. Their study, “Shaping

Educational Attitudes and Aspirations: The Influence of Parents, Place and Poverty” also

showed that the current occupational aspirations of the participants are higher than the than

the availability of those jobs in the UK labour market. Also, the families, and particularly

parents, were important to consider when looking at the aspirations of adolescents. They

are also an important source of occupational ideas for young people. Many cited family

members as giving them ideas for their preferred job; either there was someone in the

family who already had that job. Also, one of the findings of this study is that the television

and the internet both played roles in the formation of young peoples’ aspirations. Some of

the participants had taken ideas from television in deciding what they wanted to do when

older, and just over half mentioned the internet.

The study of Akerman and Gutman (2008) focused mainly on the individual

determinants of educational and occupational aspirations of young people and their parents

in London by using quantitative, qualitative, and longitudinal approach. The study

concluded that having high aspirations is an important mechanism in achieving good

educational and occupational outcomes. However, it should be needed to consider the

nuances that exist from the crossover of different aspects of identity including gender,

social class, ethnicity, religion, immigration, disability status, and sexual orientation that
create individual unique experiences. Further, the existence of an aspiration-attainment gap

for some groups suggests that, alone, raising aspirations may not be sufficient to improve

outcomes. The research suggests that the later teenage years may also be a crucial time, in

which interventions to help young people realize their aspirations may be particularly

effective. There are a number of key players in supporting aspirations, particularly parents,

whose early influence can be crucial. Also, schools may have a key role to play through

expanding children’s own horizons and school staff need to be aware of the role they play

in cultivating children’s aspirations through assessment and messages about academic

performance.

The study of Cornelious, Lockett, and Gray (2008) used a descriptive and causal-

comparative research design to identify the contributing factors to secondary school

dropouts among 80 students enrolled in the Career Academic Placement (CAP) program

in the Jackson Public School District. The JPSD Questionnaire was utilized for the study.

The JPSD questionnaire used in this study was developed by the researcher to examine the

factors that contribute to the dropout epidemic in secondary schools in the JPSD. Data were

analyzed to answer the research question posed in the study. Differences in the students’

responses were examined using a Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis analysis of

variance (ANOVA). Their study found that the most compelling school factors that

influenced the students’ decision to drop out of school were the students’ feeling that they

were left behind or failing course work followed by of success in the subject area test, and

the top personal factor that influence the students to leave school early was related to family

problems such as having a baby tending them to stay at home to care for the baby or a

family member, in case their parents decided to divorce. Also, long working hours also
influence them to leave the school early. Moreover, their study found that students who

drop out are more likely to end up with a greater degree of unemployment, they are more

likely to rely on government assistance, they are more prevalent among the crime statistics,

and they are more likely to become wards of the Departments of Correction. But for those

dropouts who are fortunate enough to find jobs, the majority of them cannot afford

adequate health insurance and pension plans. As a result, they are unable to afford

necessary health care and cannot afford to live healthy lives like their more gainfully

employed counterparts. In addition, they are unable to make financial contributions or pay

taxes, which create additional burdens on the revenue system of many local governments.

According to Lim and Rumberger (2008), a better understanding of why students

drop out is needed to address the dropout crisis. To better understand the underlying causes

behind students’ decisions for dropping out, their study reviewed the past 25 years of

research on dropouts in California using the 203 published studies that analyzed a variety

of national, state, and local data to identify statistically significant predictors of high school

dropout and graduation. First, their paper reviewed the theoretical literature on student

dropout and graduation, and used it to develop a conceptual framework for reviewing the

research literature. Then, they reviewed the empirical literature by providing a capsule

summary of all the major predictors of high school dropout and graduation. Finally, their

study entitled, “Why Students Drop Out of School: A Review of 25 Years of Research”

identified the two types of factors that predict whether students drop out or graduate from

high school: factors associated with individual characteristics of students, and factors

associated with the institutional characteristics of their families, schools, and communities.
Local

The study of Machica Jr. (2017) used qualitative research to gather essential

information in the completion of his study entitled, “Aspirations of the Out-of-School

Youth: Barangay Napara-an, Salcedo, Eastern Samar Perspective”. Data were gathered

through personal interview to eight participants who were not enrolled in the Alternative

Learning System (ALS) Program were selected through the assistance of ALS personnel.

The study showed that no one from the out of school youth expressed eagerness and

courage to fulfill their educational aspiration by themselves rather, they were waiting for

their parents to get them to proceed with their aspirations. Through this information, this

study can conclude that the OSYs of Barangay Naparaan lacks personal disposition and

conviction. They failed to make personal resolutions to achieve what they want to become.

They have not fully understood that the cause of their difficult socio-economic status quo

is because of the lack of willingness to transform for the better. Thus, the fulfillment of

their aspiration has to be initiated not by somebody else but by themselves. After analyzing

these findings, Machica Jr. stated that the transformation of the mindset of the out of school

youths to become a person with high self-motivation in order to attain their aspirations in

life. Meanwhile, the study recommends the following; First is the need for an intervention

from a public or private entity, to transform the mindset of the OSY and the parents to

become a person with high self-motivation and with high personal conviction to attain self-

help and self-responsibility to achieve self-abundance, or an intervention to transform the

existing rural human capital and available material and economic resources into socio-

economic abundance; secondly, considering that the OSY came from an impoverish family

as evidenced by the inventory of very scanty economic resources in the family and very
low monthly income which is far below the food and poverty threshold, the Chairman of

the Committee on Education of the study area or barangay must play active role for the

welfare of the OSY; lastly, Alternative Learning System (ALS) and Technical Education

and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) were identified by out of school youth as their

next learning destination, therefore they must provide them with life-long education and

employment opportunities in order for the out of school youth to fulfill their simple

aspiration in life because they identified those as their next learning destination.

The study of Abocejo and Fernandez (2014) examined if the school attendance is

being affected by working children relates to poverty incidence. It employed data mining

technique in generating the secondary data from the Philippines’ Bureau of Labor and

Employment Statistics (BLES) and National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB)

covering the period 2008-2012. It found that there was no significant correlation between

working children and children not attending school attendance. This could be due to the

fact that, while there were many who dropped out from school, there were still those who

continued studying and working at the same time. It is concluded that dropping out from

school by working children takes effect when the income is not enough. In the light of the

findings and conclusion of the study, the authors recommend programs and policies, which

government and policy makers owe to consider, ensure a balance of providing working

children education and work opportunities without sacrificing one for the other especially

those at the elementary school level. The government, through the Department of

Education (DepEd) should construct and provide schools in propinquity to poor

communities thereby eliminate transportation costs for children whose parents cannot
afford such costs. As discussed, walking long distances due to the inability to pay

transportation is one contributory factor for children to dropout from school.

The study of Maligalig, Rodriguez, Martinez, Jr., and Cuevas (2010) identifies key

determinants of individual, school, and quality of education outcomes and examines related

policies, strategies, and project interventions to recommend reforms or possible

reorientation. Two sets of data were used including the data on school resources and

outputs from the administrative reporting systems of the Department of Education and the

2002, 2004, and 2007 Annual Poverty Indicator Surveys. Their study showed that children

of families in the lower-income deciles and with less educated household heads are

vulnerable and less likely to attend school. Given that basic education is provided free, but

other costs of schooling could be bearing down on the households such as transportation,

food, and school supplies. The government, therefore, needs to address this problem by

helping those families that lack necessary funds to send their children to school. Moreover,

females have better odds of attending school than males. Working children, especially

males, are less likely to attend secondary school. Also, results showed that older children

at the secondary level are less likely to attend school and the probable reason for this may

be the greater capability of older children to earn money. Nonetheless, their study found

that DepEd has been implementing many programs to counter the declining trends of key

indicators of education outcomes. These programs vary in complexity, from alternative

approaches to formal education, to augmentation of basic needs of vulnerable families.

However, it also appeared that DepEd has many programs and policies whose effectiveness

has not been adequately evaluated before and after their implementation. They

recommended that comprehensive and impartial evaluation of all government programs

must assess objectively in terms of effectiveness and coverage are its various dropout

prevention programs that involve different intervention activities in both elementary and

secondary education levels. These specific interventions need to be assessed in terms of

actual contribution, as well as possible duplications, in arresting dropout cases. Children

who are already in school should be, at all costs, encouraged to stay in school. A particular

attention should be focused on children who are working, which are prevalent among

secondary education-aged children. A two-track intervention approach may be explored.

First, flexibility in school attendance and design and delivery of lessons must be adopted.

Second, the children must be constantly engaged in counseling for consistent drilling down

of the importance of further education in both individual and societal terms.

According to Balachander (2003) on his study entitled, “Out-Of-School Children

and Youth in the Philippines: Issues and Opportunities”, using the information and written

comments from government agencies including the Department of Social Welfare and

Development, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, the Department

of Education, the Department of Labor and Employment, the Department of Interior and

Local Government, the National Youth Commission, the National Statistics Office and the

National Economic Development Authority, UNICEF office in Manila, concluded that the

Philippines is faced with the problem of a large and rapidly growing out of school children

and youth population. The reason behind these drop outs is mainly because of family

poverty and parents play a crucial role in the decision to stop attending school. Meanwhile,

many of them would like to return to school or participate in alternative learning systems.

This study also concluded that out of school children and youths need to develop life skills

and require parental support. Existing public programs reach a very small proportion of
OSCY, and are mostly palliative, short-term measures, with little coordination among or

within agencies. Private sector programs are more client-oriented, but much greater

networking, information sharing, and resource mobilization are required to scale up.