THE EFFECTS OF POVERTY ON EDUCATION IN THE PHILIPPINES

INTRODUCTION

Poverty reduces a child’s readiness for school because it leads to poor physical

health and motor skills, diminishes a child’s ability to concentrate and remember

information, and reduces attentiveness, curiosity and motivation. Robert Chambers, a

leading researcher on poverty and development in a recent paper (2006), There is a

ambiguity as to how the term ‘poverty’ used. It depends partly on different disciplinary

traditions, but also on different world views and ideologies. The effects of poverty on

children is complex and range of diverse challenges for children and their families.

Many Children are forced to disengage or drop-out from school because of poverty. In a

government survey recently, it was noted that out of 100 students who enroll in

elementary school, only 58 reach high school.

This lingering problem of poverty in the Philippines and its effect on education is

main reason which the national government’s CCT or Conditional Cash Transfer

scheme tries to address. As the CCT provides P1,400 per month to 3.7 million families,

a requisite and condition is that their school-age children must have a school

attendance record of at least 80%. Such a requirement is seen to increase retention

rate, and subsequently means they have to stay in school. But many marginalized

Filipino families are not enrolled in the CCT program. As a result, they cannot even

afford the transportation and miscellaneous expenses like food allowances necessary to

send their children to school,ultimately making education beyond the reach of many

supposedly students.
 In 2013, 19.2% of survey respondents said, “insufficient family income” was their

main reason for absence from school. While some areas of the Philippines benefit from

excellent education facilities and teaching, others – particularly rural areas – do not.

A most feasible solution on hand is to harness the full potential of the K to 12

program and make the six years in secondary school work able and implementable. In

doing so, the willing to study student can make sufficient progress to gain admission to

tertiary education during his fourth year high school, and soon after find employment

and alleviate themselves from poverty that gravely affects education in the country.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The research study will be beneficial to the following:

Students. For them to be able to know the effect of poverty to their education

and also to develop their perception to which a student will strive harder to achieve their

goals/dreams in life.

Teachers. For them to understand why student are having difficulty in attending

school. To help students to feel better and motivate them in their learnings.

School Principal. It will be beneficial to the school principal for they can help in

providing programs and activities.

Future Researchers. This research study will be beneficial for those who will try

to work on the same topic. It will reduce the difficulty they may encountered in trying to

find ideas related to their study and the development of their knowledge about the topic.

This will be used as a source material and guide as long as they attempt to follow it.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE DEPENDENT VARIABLE

POVERTY EDUCATION

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The researcher are interested about the Effects of Poverty on Education in the

Philippines. The researcher is determined to answer the following questions:

1. What is Poverty?

2. How Poverty affects the Academic Performance of the Student?

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter includes the ideas, finished studies, generalizations or conclusions,

methodologies, and other data that are related to the present study. The materials are

included in these chapter help in familiarizing information that are relevant and similar to

the present study.

 RELATED LITERATURE

POVERTY

Poverty Alleviation or poverty reduction in a set of measure, both economic and

humanitarian that are intended to permanently lift people out of poverty. “Poverty

reduction has been largely as a result of overall economic growth (wikipedia).

“Poverty is like heat; you cannot see it; so to know poverty; you have to go

through it. (Narayan 2000) This Brief focuses on different perceptions of poverty; how it

is perceived by poor people themselves, people who are not poor, and by development

practitioners. In order to have a more complete picture of poverty, it is important to take

into account subjective perceptions as well as objective measures.

RELATED STUDIES

LOCAL

The study was conducted by Nichola Mae Meron (2014) Kids with really poor

parents are so desperate to go to school that they’re willing to travel far and go through

dangerous conditions to get there, like swim under a bridge, or climb onto an open-top

school bus that’s already so packed. But some kids just can’t afford to make those strips.

And getting to school is only the first hurdle. You pay for your books, paper, pens – the

schools don’t provide that for you – nothing’s free.

FOREIGN

According to Paediatr Child Health (2007) Over the past decade, the

unfortunatereality is that the income gap has widened between Canadian families.
Educational outcomes are one of the key areas influenced by family incomes. Children

from low income families often start school already behind their peers who come from

more affluent families, as shown in measures of school readiness. The incidence, depth,

duration and timing of poverty all influence a child’s educational attainment, along with

community characteristics and social networks. However, both Canadian and

International interventions have shown that the effects of poverty can be reduced using

sustainable interventions. Paediatricians and family doctors have many opportunities to

influence readiness for school and educational success in primary care settings.

RESEARCH DESIGN

The study will use the descriptive quantitative research design because it seeks to

describe the current status of an identified variable. The independent variable is the

poverty and the dependent variable is the education.

RESPONDENT/SAMPLE

In this study, to provide evidence that could support the research, the researchers

have selected the Junior high school students of Grade 10 Basic Education Curriculum

as their respondents to answer the survey questionnaires which is prepared by the

researchers. The type of sampling that will be used is systematic random sampling in

which sample members from a larger population are selected according to a random

starting point but with a fixed, periodic interval.

RESEARCH INSTRUMENT

The study will use the survey questionnaire method to collect the data on the profile of

the selected respondents from the Basic Education Curriculum. It contains series of
questions aimed to answer the research questions that the respondents should

independently answer.

DATA GATHERING PROCEDURE

The researchers made a letter for the approval to conduct the study at Cagayan De Oro

National High School to school principal of Junior High School Department. Before

conducting the survey, the researchers ask permission to the teacher to allow them to

conduct the study and the researchers discuss the study to the participants. Copies of the

approved questionnaire were distributed in order to gather the relevant data. The

instruments were retrieved after they were finished answering.

RESULT

Research shows that the stress of low socioeconomic status can lead to

adolescent psychological problems, the likes of which include anxiety, depression, and

behavioral issues (Wadsworth, 2008). Moreover, students coping with poverty face deep

humiliation and embarrassment when their appearance, clothing, and personal hygiene,

are not the same as their peers (Beegle, 2003). A side effect of this psychological damage

is extreme low self-esteem and self-efficacy. This can lead to frustration, angst and

insecurity when it comes to the educational arena, which can then lead to behaviors that

are misinterpreted as apathy. Teachers habitually give up on children because of this

misperceived unwillingness to learn. Studies show that education is the most successful

solution to breaking the cycle of generational poverty (Beegle,2003); impoverished

children must overcome ostensibly insurmountable odds when already debilitated by their

environmental upbringing and unjust social bias.

CONCLUSION

We, the youth of this country, have enormous power to change this situation.

Initiatives like forming groups and spreading awareness in rural areas, educating the

illiterate in one's own localities, creating charitable programmes for poverty can be the

measures which we can take against poverty. Reducing poverty and achieving sustained

development must be done in conjunction with a healthy planet. It is recognized that

environmental sustainability is part of global economic and social well- being.

Unfortunately exploitation of natural resources such as forests, land, water, and fisheries-

often by the powerful few-have caused alarming changes in our natural world in recent

decades, often harming the most vulnerable people in the world who depend on natural

resources for their livelihood.

The Indian society is longing for change. Every day we get up to see the same

things around us - the news of increasing crime rate, caste wars over trivial matters and

ignorant politicians. Our reaction to all this is merely contempt, which more or less says

that nothing will change in our country. Instead of waiting for someone else to bring about

a change, we, as younger generations of India, should wake LIp and unite to change the

way everything works. And all this can happen only when Indians change their mindsets.

With this change, India will not only develop economically but also socially, politically and

culturally. So let us come together and awaken ourselves to a new world, a world where

all can walk with their heads held high.

LIST OF RESOURCES

https://www.childfund.org/Content/NewsDetail/2147489206/
https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/5678.pdf

https://bold.expert/inequality-is-todays-greatest-challenge-to-fostering-

learning/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhLGql7HY5gIVA7eWCh06PwsSEAAYAiAAEgI6AfD_BwE

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2528798/

https://www.truevolunteer.org/how-poverty-affects-education-in-the-philippines/

https://www.shareweb.ch/site/Poverty-

Wellbeing/resources/Documents/Briefing%20Note%202%20-

%20Perceptions%20of%20Poverty.pdf

http://www.rmkec.ac.in/mdg/links/std/link2.html

https://www.utm.edu/departments/ncate/documents/RubricExample--

COUN716ResearchPaperonPoverty.pdf