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Republic of the Philippines

Eulogio “Amang”Rodriguez
Institute of Science and Technology
Nagtahan, Sampaloc, Manila

WRITTEN REPORT ON THE PRESENTATION ABOUT STUDENT PROBLEMS

As Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in MAS 101 (Theories and Practices of Modern
School Administration)

Submitted by:

ERIC P. VALERIANO
Student

Submitted to:

DR. EDITHA V. PILLO

Professor

February 7, 2022
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INTRODUCTION
Being an administrator, one of the most important things that you must focus are the
problems that the students are encountering, which affects on their studies. There are many
different problems that the students are encountering during the pre-pandemic period (which
affects still on the pandemic period) and during the pandemic period.

STUDENT PROBLEMS DURING THE PRE-PANDEMIC PERIOD

a. Poverty
According to the definition from Investopedia, Poverty is defined as a state or
condition in which a person or community lacks the financial resources and essentials
for a minimum standard of living. According to figures from the Department of
Education and the National Statistical Coordination Board in the Philippines, 1 in 6
Filipino kids will not attend school, and only 7 out of 10 kids will complete elementary
school.
Of those seven children, only four will complete high school education, and of
those 4, just one will proceed onto the university. Parents of children living in poverty
often struggle to provide them with enough quality food and medical coverage.
Children living in poverty often come to school without having had enough sleep and
without having had breakfast. They often experience family violence, abuse,
secondhand smoke, neglect, and inadequate clothing.

b. Homelessness
The Philippines is one of the fastest-growing economies in Southeast Asia, yet
it is facing a homeless crisis. There are approximately 4.5 million homeless people,
including children, in the Philippines, which has a population of 106 million people.
Homelessness in the Philippines is caused by a variety of reasons, including lost jobs,
insufficient income or lack of a stable job, domestic violence, and loss of home due to
a natural disaster. The government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are
working to address this issue.
Like many children living in poverty, homeless children move frequently, and
are exposed to drugs, violence, crime, and more. Transportation might be an issue for
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some homeless children, and they miss a great deal of school. When they can attend
school, they may be teased about their clothes and the fact they fall asleep in class.
They may have difficulty making friends or fear participating in an activity in front of the
class. Although many homeless children are with their families, older homeless
children may be runaways or may have been kicked out of their homes. Many have
been abused sexually and/or physically.

c. Child Abuse and Neglect

They may have difficulty making friends or fear participating in an activity in front
of the class. Although many homeless children are with their families, older homeless
children may be runaways or may have been kicked out of their homes. Many have been
abused sexually and/or physically.
The different types of abuse and neglect are the following:
a. Physical abuse - all forms of physical violence.
b. Emotional or psychological abuse - an adult regularly berates the child, acts
in a dismissive and hostile manner towards the child or intentionally scares
the child.
c. Physical neglect - the child does not receive the care and nurturing that it
needs.
d. Emotional or psychological neglect - continuous lack of positive attention for
the child. Ignoring the child’s need for love, warmth, and security. This
category also covers cases in which children are witnesses to violence
between their parents or caregivers.
e. Sexual abuse - sexual contact which an adult forces upon a child.

d. Bullying
Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that
involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the
potential to be repeated, over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may
have serious, lasting problems. Bullying includes actions such as making threats,
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spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone

from a group on purpose.
Bullying is extremely hard on children. Their grades can suffer, as can their
physical and mental health. Many children who are bullied on a regular basis become
afraid to go to school, finding any excuse they can to stay home. Some children have
committed or attempted to commit suicide when bullying became too overwhelming.
Bullying is also detrimental to the bullies, whose low self-esteem benefits in some way
from the harm they cause others. Bullies generally do not see the consequences or
comprehend the effects of their actions.

e. Violence
School violence is any activity that can create a disturbance in educational
system. It is not just school shootings, it includes verbal and physical altercations. It
is also bullying through electronic means or social media, threats, weapon use, or
gang activity.
Violence has a high impact on schools where the incident takes place. Students
who engage in violent behavior tend to be bored, frustrated, and angry, feel
alienated, and have low self-esteem. Increased instability in families and blatant
violence depicted in the media and music are believed to contribute violence in
schools.

f. Teenage Pregnancy
Early pregnancy is one of the pressing issues Filipino youths are facing
today. The Philippines has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates among the
ASEAN member states despite the decrease of total live births of teenage mothers
(aged 10-19) in 2016 (203,085) to 183,000 in 2019.
Early childbearing may result in poor health outcomes and may be a threat to
the country’s economic growth. Pregnant adolescents are less likely to complete
higher education and have lesser ability to earn more income over the course of a
lifetime, causing economic losses to the country. Young women with some primary
education and those from the poorest households are more likely to have begun
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childbearing than young women with higher education levels and those from the
wealthiest households.

Pregnancy during teenage years is also associated with a higher risk of

health problems such as preeclampsia, anemia, contracting STDs (sexually
transmitted diseases), premature delivery, postpartum hemorrhage, and poor mental
health outcomes. Teenage mothers are more likely to experience violence and
depression that can increase the risk of mental disorders.

g. Suicide
Suicide is death caused by injuring oneself with the intent to die. A suicide
attempt is when someone harms themselves with any intent to end their life, but they
do not die as a result of their actions.

Philippine Statistics Authority’s report that said deaths related to suicide were up
by 25.7 percent in 2020 among young learners compared to 2019, while cases of
intentional self-harm recorded in 2020 increased to 3,529 from 2,808 in 2019.

The National Center for Mental Health had also registered a notable increase in
the number of calls — from 400 monthly average calls to 953 calls from March to May
2020. From March 17 to Oct. 6, 2020, the monthly average calls recorded were 907.
The monthly average calls related to suicide were 53.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Filipino youth were already struggling
with mental health woes as evident in a 2015 survey by the World Health Organization
showing that 16.8 percent of 8,761 student-participants aged 13 to 17 attempted
suicide one or more times a year.
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h. Teenage Drug Abuse

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i. Dropouts
The percentage of pupils/students who leave school during the year for any reason
as well as those who complete the previous grade/year level but fail to enroll in the
next grade/year level the following school year to the total number of
pupils/students enrolled during the previous school year.

The Philippines currently has the highest dropout rates among all of the ASEAN
countries, with a dropout rate of 6.38 percent in elementary students and 7.82
percent of secondary school students. There are several reasons for the high
dropout rate, but the top three reasons seem to be:
 Hunger, students will skip class to find something to eat when there is no
food at home or at school.
 Work, to help provide for their families students will stay at home and work
on family farms or businesses.
 Conflict, this problem is primarily in the southern regions of the country in
Mindanao where there have been insurgents disrupting life for the past 50
years.
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Difficulties in Remote Learning

The coronavirus disease (COVID) 2019 crisis has impacted not only the economic,
psychological, and social aspects of the world but also particularly, the educational sector to a
great extent. The virus, which first emerged in December 2019, became a pandemic leading
to school closures and eventually, migration to remote learning by all levels of educational
institutions in the new normal education. Thus, the traditional delivery of instruction in
education has transformed and in turn, learning spaces were reorganized. Some of the
difficulties observed in the remote learning are as follows:
1. Unstable internet connectivity - One of the most recurring difficulties experienced by
the students in remote learning is unstable internet connectivity. Most of the time, this
problem is caused by the geographic location. At other times, it is compounded by the
weather
2. Inadequate learning resources - Another difficulty that repetitively appears in the
responses of the students is the inadequacy of learning resources. Most students use
only phone and need other resources Others have a challenge in terms of the storage
capacity of their available gadgets
3. Electric power interruptions - Furthermore, since remote learning relies on
electronic gadgets in this context, the students were challenged with electricity
interruptions. This is especially difficult in areas where regular interruptions occur or
such interruptions are.
4. Vague learning contents - The students also disclosed that a difficulty they
encounter in remote learning is the vague lesson contents. This seems to stem not
from the delivery mode but from the content itself They also have difficulty when it
comes to the written instruction in the module
5. Overloaded lesson activities - The students further indicated that they have
difficulties in remote learning due to overloaded lesson activities. There are daily and
weekly activities per subject. This difficulty sometimes loses the learning value of the
lesson
6. Limited teacher scaffolds - Moreover, the students articulated that they receive
partial
learning scaffolds from some of their professors. They perceived that some professors
cannot be approached or reached.
7. Poor peer communication - The students also have difficulties in remote learning in
terms of communicating with their classmates. This difficulty occurs especially in
group activities. Other students feel hesitant to ask their classmates.
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8. Conflict with home responsibilities - While the home may present comfort, students
voiced difficulty with balancing and home responsibilities and remote learning. It keeps
their time divided home responsibilities affect their focus.
9. Poor learning environment - The students likewise expressed difficulties in remote
learning when it comes to their learning environment. Especially for students who
need to go to internet shops, they get distracted They also do not find their homes a
conducive place to study proper space for learning at home
10. Financial related problems - Furthermore, the students have difficulty with remote
learning in terms of its financial demands. Even if they have the choice to take a job to
support their studies, they cannot because of the current situation.
11. Compromised physical health - The students encounter difficulties in remote
learning to the point that they feel they are sacrificing their physical health. They report
eye strain and headache due to exposure to the gadgets They also expressed that
they are deprived of enough time to take a physical rest
12: Mental health struggles - Lastly, the students feel difficulties in the form of mental
struggles brought by the demands of remote learning. They sometimes overthink and end
up feeling sick at other times, they entertain the idea of concession.

REFERENCES

Nichola Mae Meron “How Poverty Affects Education in the Philippines” March 2014.
Retrieved from https://www.truevolunteer.org/how-poverty-affects-education-in-the-
philippines/

The Borgen Project “ The State of Homelessness in the Philippines” July 2, 2020.
Retrieved from https://borgenproject.org/homelessness-in-the-philippines/

Richard S. Velayo Violence in Schools: Cross National and cross-cultural

perspectives(pp.191-205) Chapter A: Perspective on Child Abuse in the Philippines:
Looking at Institutional Factors. New York Springer 2006

UNICEF “Online bullying remains prevalent in the Philippines, other countries” September
6, 2019. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/philippines/press-releases/online-bullying-
remains-prevalent-philippines-other-countries

Ong, Ghio and Flores Helen “7 in 10 Pinoy students suffer from violence in schools –
study” August 11, 2010 Philippine Star Global. Retrieved from
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2010/08/11/601309/7-10-pinoy-students-suffer-
violence-schools-study

National Nutrition Council “ Negative Impacts of Teenage Pregnancy in the Philippines”

March 22, 2021. Retrieved from https://nnc.gov.ph/regional-offices/mindanao/region-ix-
zamboanga-peninsula/4931-negative-impacts-of-teenage-pregnancy-in-the-philippines
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Atlantic Fellows “Youth Suicide Rates Have Escalated in the Philippines” August 2020.
Retrieved from https://www.atlanticfellows.org/project/youth-suicide-rates-have-
escalated-in-the-philippines

Makati Medical Center “The Scary Facts About Teenage Drug Abuse” November 22,
2019. Retrieved from https://www.makatimed.net.ph/news-and-exhibits/news/teenage-
drug-abuse

Gamboa Rey “Dropouts Left Behind the Pandemic”. Philippine Star. June 29, 2021.
Retrieved from https://www.philstar.com/business/2021/06/29/2108717/dropouts-left-
behind-pandemic

Rotas, Erwin E. & Cahapay, Michael B. “Difficulties in Remote Learning: Voices of

Philippine University Students in the Wake of COVID-19 Crisis”. Asian Journal of
Education Vol. 15, Issue 2, 2020.