ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF THE STUDENTS WHO ARE 4PS

BENEFICIARIES

A Research Proposal
Presented to
the Faculty of the Graduate School
Leyte Normal University
Tacloban City

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements in FD 501 (Basic Research)

By

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 CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM

INTRODUCTION
As the famous quotation of Dr. Jose Rizal says, “children are the hopes of our

country”, it is just right to support and provide children their needs to help them become

the best of what they can be in the future. But how can the children help the country

when they themselves cannot afford to have quality education? Filipinos have deep

regard when it comes to education (Philippine EFA 2015). But the right to education here

in the Philippines has been hindered by poverty. Filipino families who are deprived from

their basic needs tends to let their children stop from school and instead help them find a

job to make a living.

According to the 1987 constitution, “The State shall protect and promote the right

of all citizens to quality education at all levels and shall take appropriate steps to make

education accessible to all”. And with this as the ground, the Philippine government

initiated a version of CCT or conditional cash transfer that is called Pantawid Pamilyang

Pilipino Program or 4ps. The aim of this program is to eradicate extreme poverty in the

Philippines by investing in health and education particularly in children from 0-18 years

of age (Montilla et.al, 2015).

The beneficiaries of this program are required to undergo trainings on responsible

parenthood (Family Development Session), have pregnant women and their children

undergo check-ups, and parents are required to send their children to public school to

avail the cash grant (Montilla et.al, 2015). 4Ps has two components and that is health and

education. Under the health component, each family-beneficiary receives a total of PHP

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6,000 annually for their health and nutrition expenses. On the other hand, under the

education component, the program provides a total of PHP 3,000 per child (with a

maximum of three children per household) for a school year and that is for their

educational expenses. And to avail the said cast grant, children aged 3-5 years old must

be enrolled in day care program or pre-school and attend at least 85% of the required

schools days. While children aged 6-18 years old must be enrolled in school and attend at

least 85% of the required school days. Indeed, this program is a great help for the poor

families and for their children to get a chance to quality education (Reyes et.el, 2015).

Provided all this financial assistance to support the education of children, this

study was undertaken to assess whether 4Ps has helped the student to perform well in

school.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This study primarily focuses on the performance of the pupils who are 4Ps

beneficiaries in a public school. Specifically this study answers the following questions:

1. What is the academic performance of the students who are 4Ps beneficiaries?

2. Is there a significant relationship between school attendance and academic

performance of the 4Ps student-recipients?

3. Is there a significant difference in the academic performance of the male and

female 4Ps student-recipients?

HYPOTHESIS

HO: There is no significant relationship between school attendance and academic

performance of the 4Ps student-recipients.

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 HO: There is no significant difference in the academic performance of the male

and female 4Ps student-recipient.

FRAMEWOK OF THE STUDY

This study was anchored on the theory of Social Reconstructionism by Theodore

Brameld, who believes that students are critical element in bringing about social change.

Children should be not be deprive with education. Education has been the foundation of

all the skilled and professionals who contributes to the society. According to George

Counts, the social issues of the 1930’s involve racial discrimination, poverty, and

unemployment which are similar to present issues. And this is where the government had

initiated the conditional cash transfer to eradicate poverty and help children to have the

right to education.

Selective Material Gratification, refers to beneficiaries feeling gratified by

receiving cash transfer (Perova, 2010). The cash grant that the beneficiaries will be

receiving will help them in their expenses such as health and education. In this case, the

beneficiaries will feel more gratified towards the government. This will serve as an

incentive to reciprocate the benefits that they receive by participating in civic activities

(Verba et al., 1995). And that, children will no longer be working for their family, but

instead they will be sent to school. And children are expected to do well in school

especially with their academic performance since they are provided with the things they

need in their studies.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The researcher believed that the result of this study will help the following assess

the 4Ps program and its effect to the performance of the pupils.

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 The Department of Social Welfare and Development. The researcher believes

that the result of this study will be of great importance to the department since they are

the ones monitoring the 4Ps program. May this study serve as the basis in the

modification of the conditions in giving cash grants. Condition must not only focus on

the attendance of the pupils all throughout the school year but rather, the performance of

the pupils in school. The department should implement a maintaining grade for pupils

under the program, so that parents will have a hands-on monitoring on the performance

of their children in school. And with that as the basis, pupils will do well in school.

The Administrators. The result of the study would be the basis of constructing

and implementing new and innovative teaching aids to help teachers fully supervise and

assess the pupils to achieve their full potential, since children are financially supported in

their studies by the government.

The Teachers. The result of this study may help the teacher in constructing and

developing new teaching strategies to help the pupils in their performance and be mindful

that even if pupils are provided and supported by government, they still need equal

guidance to perform well in school. The factors affecting the performance of the pupils

may also help the teacher as their basis in making daily lessons.

The Parents. The result of this study will inform the parents that their guidance is

a big impact on the performance of the pupils in school.

The Students. May the result of this research helps the student in understanding

that coming to school daily may be a guarantee that they will also have good academic

performance. And may the result give them the overview of how the government is

supporting their studies and that they must do their part by studying well.

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SCOPE AND LIMITATION

This study was an attempt to find out the performance of the students who are 4Ps

beneficiaries enrolled in Grade 7 of Kauswagan National High School.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

To facilitate the understanding of the terms used, the following are defined:

Academic Performance. It is the outcome of education- the extent to which a student,

teacher or institution has achieved their educational goals. It is measured by the final

grade earned in the course.

CCT or Conditional Cash Transfer. This is a program that transfer cash, generally to

poor households, on the condition that those households make prespecified investments

in the human capital of their children. Health and nutrition conditions generally require

periodic check-ups, growth monitoring, and vaccinations for children less than 5 years of

age; perinatal care for mothers and attendance by mothers at periodic health information

talks. Education conditions usually include school enrolment, attendance on 80–85

percent of school days, and occasionally some measure of performance (Fiszbein et.al).

Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program. Refer to the national poverty reduction strategy

that provides conditional cash transfer to extremely poor households to improve their

health, nutrition and education particularly of children aged 0-18.

Selective Material Gratification. Refers to beneficiaries feeling gratified by receiving

cash transfers (Perova, 2010).

Social Reconstructionism. An educational theory that advocates change, improvement

and the reforming of the school and society. Believes that students are the critical element

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in bringing about social change. According to Paulo Freire, a person must learn to

overcome oppression and to not be a victim. Rather than “teaching as banking” Freire

thought that teaching and learning was the way for a child to invent and reinvent the

world.

4Ps Beneficiaries. Refer to poor households with pregnant women and/or with children

0-18 year old selected by the Department of Social Welfare and Development to be a part

of the program through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction

(NHTSPR).

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 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter presents the related literature and studies regarding the legal basis of

the implementation of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4ps. This will also

present the impact of 4ps on the performance and school attendance of the students who

are beneficiaries of this program.

Education plays a very important role in every Filipino, since it is believed that

through education, one can achieve successful life. And education has always been

strongly viewed as a pillar of national development and a primary avenue for social and

economic mobility (Philippine EFA 2015). A clear evidence of the value placed on

education is the proportion of the national government budget going to the sector.

According to the Article XIV, Sec. 5, paragraph 5 of the Philippine Constitution the

Department of Education (DepEd), the country’s biggest bureaucracy, is given the

highest budget allocation among government agencies each year as required by the 1987

Philippine Constitution. The right of every Filipino to quality basic education is further

emphasized in Republic Act 9155 or the Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001.

Along with Republic Act 6655 or the Free Secondary Education Act, these laws reaffirm

the policy of the State to protect and promote the rights of all Filipinos by providing

children free and compulsory education in the elementary and high school level. This

pertains to six years of free tuition fees for children aged 6 to 11, and free four years of

secondary schooling for those aged 12 to 15.

With this as the ground, the government initiated the so called Pantawid

Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps in which one of the aims is to achieve universal

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primary education. As stated in the Explanatory Note of Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago

on the Constitution, Article 2, Section 9, of Fifteenth Congress of the Republic of the

Philippines, first Regular Session, Senate S. No. 92, The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino

Program (4Ps) is more than a welfare program; it addresses structural inequities in

society and promotes human capital development of the poor, thus, breaking the

intergenerational cycle of poverty. The conditions attached to the grants require parents

to undergo trainings on responsible parenthood, have their children undergo health check-

ups and ensure school attendance. The program ensures that there is sufficient resource

for the health, nutrition and education of children aged 0-14 year old.

In addition to the note of Sen. Santiago, an initial study on the pilot areas of the

program shows promising results. In Esperanza and Sibagat, Agusan del Sur for example,

two of the pilot areas of the 4Ps elementary school enrollment has increased by fifteen

percent (15%). Children covered by 4Ps have higher attendance compared to the general

population of children in school. Given the far reaching effects of this program in

empowering the poor to cross over from their lives of poverty to a better future, there is a

need to ensure the sustainability of this Program from one administration to another. The

passage of this bill is earnestly sough.

Because of the success of the study, it was realized that the program has helped

children in their studies, thus they implement the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program

last 2008. As stated again from the above Explanatory Note of Sen. Miriam Defensor

Santiago, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) shall refer to the national

poverty reduction strategy that provides conditional cash transfer to extremely poor

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households to improve their health, nutrition and education particularly of children aged

0-15.

The program has strict compliance when it comes to the school attendance of the

students who are beneficiaries because it is their basis in giving the cash transfer. It is

therefore expected for the beneficiaries to attend school regularly or at least 85% of the

school days. There are studies that shows how the 4Ps program affects the school

attendance and the performance of the student.

A research was conducted by Montilla, et. al. entitled “ Pantawid Pamilyang

Pilipino Program (4Ps): Assistance to Pupils Education” in Diogenes R. Cabarles

Elementary School and the finding was that 4Ps has significant impact on pupils’

education based on its beneficiary conditionalities, is able and motivated to attend classes

because of adequate school supplies, satisfied meals, parasitic free stomach and

supportive and active parents.

Another study was also conducted by Brian O. dela Torre of Balamban

Elementary School, and in his paper entitled “Financing Education through the Pantawid

Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps)”, it was revealed that 4Ps contributed greatly to the

school’s performance indicators. This study also raised the awareness of the school

personnel and the recipients of the program’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and

threats. Furthermore, the study concludes that 4Ps certainly helped its recipients and the

school with 4Ps enrolees. It is therefore recommended that the program be continued but

improved to ensure the attainment of its objectives.

As cited by Reyes and Tabunga (2012), in the long-run, the 4Ps’ goal is to

achieve improvements in human capital. The 4Ps is seen to have great potential in

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increasing educational attainment and improving nutrition and health outcomes based on

the experience of other countries who have implemented the CCT. One of the problems

in the educational system that the 4Ps is expected to impact is increasing dropout rates.

The CCT programs in other countries have been successful in achieving higher enrolment

rates.

And this program does not only achieve higher enrolment and attendance but also

produces students who have good academic performance. A study was conducted by

Agbon et.al (2013) in Cebu City, and according to one of the respondents, “Every year in

Tejero, we have a recognition day for children who are beneficiaries of the 4Ps. In the past,

they have not been part of the honors’ list because they did not have the resources to buy

materials for their experiments and other school requirements. From just being part of the

regular class, they are now in the science class. We have the recognition day to remind

everyone that these children are beneficiaries of the 4Ps.”

On the other side, a report about conditional cash transfer was conducted by

Fiszbein 2009, that a number of education programs have been shown to increase school

enrollment (in some cases dramatically so) without improvements in learning outcomes.

The result of the evaluations conducted present particular challenges for CCTs. The

results from these evaluations present particular challenges for CCTs. Conditional cash

transfers frequently are targeted geographically. Because they work in especially poor

areas, the quality of the supply of education (and health) services is low. In addition,

CCTs use proxy means to identify poor households. The evaluations discussed above

generally suggest that raising the achievement of these disadvantaged students is

particularly difficult— even when they have been brought into school.

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 Given all these legal bases and study about how cash transfer or the Pantawid

Pamilyang Pilipino Program affects the school attendance, enrolment and educational

attainment of the beneficiaries, these study would like to know whether the program has

also improved the academic performance of the student beneficiaries.

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 CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

To further understand this study, this chapter contains the following details:

Research Design

This study used the descriptive-correlational method of research. Descriptive in

way that it describes the academic performance of the 4Ps student-recipients and

correlational because it will determine the relationship between school attendance,

gender, and the academic performance.

Research Locale

This study will be conducted at Kauswagan National High School, Palo Leyte

under Area 1 of Leyte Division. The population of the school is composed of 86 students

and 5 teachers and there are 45 student-recipients of 4Ps.

Respondents of the Study

The respondents of this study are the Grade 7 Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino

Program (4Ps) student-recipients of Kauswagan National High School for school year

2015-2016. There are 25 students enrolled in Grade 7 and 11 are 4Ps recipients.

Research Instrument

The researcher uses the Form 138 (Report Card), and the School Form 5 (Report

on Promotion and Level of Proficiency) of the student-recipients to identify the academic

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performance of the students, number of school days attended, and gender. The SPSS were

also used to compute the correlation coefficient of the variables being tested.

Research Procedure

This study utilized the interview method. The researcher interviewed the teacher-

adviser of Grade 7 regarding the list of names of the 4Ps student recipients and their

attendance in school for the school year 2015-2016. The researcher used the Form 138

(Report Card) and School Form 5 (Report of Promotion and Level of Proficiency) as the

basis of the identification of the school attendance and the academic performance of the

4Ps student-recipients.

Statistical Treatment

This study uses the correlation coefficient to describe the direction and strength of

linear correlation between school attendance and academic performance. Pearson’s

Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient was used to test the null hypothesis.

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 CHAPTER 4

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS, INTERPRETATION OF DATA

Introduction

This chapter presents, analyse, and interprets data from the interview and the

documents gathered. The answers to all the research questions of the study based on the

data gathered by the researcher are presented following the order of the problems in

Chapter 1.

Table 1. General Average of the 4Ps student-recipients

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

90
88
86 88.468
84 87.062
82 85.37 85.28
80 82.25
78 81.03 81.75
76 79.34 78.5
74 76.03 76.96
72
70
68
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Table 1 provides descriptive information about the academic performance of the

4Ps student-recipients. The highest general average is 88.468 and the lowest is 76.96. The

mean percentage grade is 82.00. And according to the proficiency level, 4 out of 11 of the

students or 36.36% falls on the Proficiency Level, and 2 out of 11 students or 18.18%

falls on the Approaching Proficiency Level, and the last 5 out of 11 students, or the

45.45% of the 4Ps student-recipients fall under Developing Proficiency.

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Table 2. The general average and the number of absences of the 4Ps student recipient.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE VS ABSENCES

100 88.468 87.062 85.37 85.28 82.25 81.75 81.03 79.34 78.5 76.96 76.03
80
58
60

40 30
20
9 9 13
20 8 6 8 8
2
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

GPA Absences

Table 3. Correlation of the general average and number of school attended by 4Ps

student-recipients.

Correlations

GRADES NUMBER OF SCHOOL

DAYS ATTENDED

Pearson Correlation 1 .709*

GRADES Sig. (2-tailed) .015

N 11 11
Pearson Correlation .709* 1

ATTENDANCE Sig. (2-tailed) .015

N 11 11

*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

Table 2 shows two different variables, the GPA (General Average) and Absences of 4Ps

student-recipients while table 3, shows the correlations of the two variables. The

researcher used the Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient to know the

relationship of between school attendance and academic performance. Pearson’s r is

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0.709, hence the correlation is positive and the strength of linear correlation is high. Also,

the associated ρ-value is 0.015 which is less than ɑ= 0.025, hence the null hypothesis is

rejected. It was found out, from the data presented, that there is significant relationship

(negatively correlated) between school attendance and academic performance. Student

who have lesser absences tend to have higher grades and students who acquired many

absences tend to have lower grades.

Table 4. Gender and the general average of the 4Ps student-recipients

MALE VS FEMALE
90
88
88.468
86 87.062
84 85.37 85.28
82
80 81.75 82.25
81.03
78 79.34
78.5
76
76.96
74 76.03
72
70
68
1 2 3 4 5 6

MALE FEMALE

Table 5. Correlation of male and female 4pS student-recipients.

Correlations

FEMALE MALE

Pearson Correlation 1 .933*

FEMALE Sig. (2-tailed) .021

N 6 5
Pearson Correlation .933* 1

MALE Sig. (2-tailed) .021

N 5 5
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

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 Table 4 shows the difference between the academic performances of the male and

female 4Ps student-recipient while table 5 shows the correlation of male and female

academic performance. Again, the researcher used the Pearson’s product-moment

correlation coefficient to describe the difference of two variables which is the academic

performance of male and female student-recipients. Using the SPSS, correlation analysis

was made. Pearson’s r is 0.933 and it is positive, on the other hand, the ρ-value is 0.21

(two-tailed) and is less than 0.025, hence the null hypothesis is rejected. Finding revealed

that gender has significant difference in the academic performance. Female 4Ps student-

recipients tend to have higher grades that male 4Ps student-recipients do.

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 CHAPTER 5

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATION

This chapter presents the summary of the findings in the study, the conclusion

derived from these finding and the recommendations made.

Summary

This study was conducted to know the academic performance of the 4Ps student-

recipients and the effects of school attendance and gender in the academic performance.

Specifically, this study sought to answer the specified questions in Chapter 1. And based

on the problems, the following hypotheses were formed:

HO: There is no significant relationship between school attendance and academic

performance of the 4Ps student-recipients.

HO: There is no significant difference in the academic performance of the male

and female 4Ps student-recipient.

This study used the pearson’s product-moment coefficient to know the

relationship of the variables being tested. And the result of the statistical analysis using

Pearson’s coefficient shows that the null hypothesis being presented must be rejected.

Thus, there is a significant relationship between school attendance and academic

performance of the 4Ps student-recipients. Although the relationship of the variables is

negative correlated. Meaning, when absences is smaller, academic performance is higher.

Conclusion

Based on the cited findings presented in Chapter 4, it was found out that school

attendance plays important role in achieving good academic performance. Lesser

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absences committed by the 4Ps student-recipient, the higher academic performance

they’ll get than those who commit absences often. It was also shown in this research that

gender affects the academic performance of the students. Females have higher academic

performance than that of the male 4Ps student-recipients.

Recommendation

Based on the findings and conclusions of this study, it is recommended that

the government may continue to support the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program in

order to eradicate poverty and help children to have quality education. The Department of

Social Welfare and Development or the DSWD shall not only impose strict compliance

of the school attendance but also impose strict monitoring in the academic performance

of the 4Ps student-recipients so that not only students will be motivated to learn but also

the parents can monitor the academic performance of their children. The researcher also

hopes that this study may be used as a basis of further study with larger population so that

the 4Ps student-recipients will be well represented.

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 REFERENCES

Agbon, A.B. et al. (2013). Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps): Examining Gaps

and Enhancing Strategies in Cebu City, Philippines*

Dela Torre, Brian O., (2016). Financing Education through the Pantawid Pamilyang

Pilipino Program (4Ps)

Montilla et.al., (2015). Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps): Assistance to Pupil’s

Education

Philippine Education For All 2015: Implementation and Challenges

Reyes, C.M. & Tabunga, A.D. (2012). Conditional Cash Transfer Program in the

Philippines: Is It Reaching the Extremely Poor?

Reyes, C.M. et al. (2015). Promoting Inclusive Growth through the 4Ps

Santiago, M.D.(2010). Explanatory note, Fifteenth Congress of the Republic of the

Philippines

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uses_and_gratifications_theory

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