Up to .4 M dropouts due to senior high

MANILA, Philippines - For education officials, the historic rollout of the senior high school program was so far the “best school opening,” even as up to 400,000 junior high school completers were estimated to have dropped out of the Philippine education system.

Outgoing Education Secretary Armin Luistro said there were no insurmountable problems during the resumption of classes yesterday.

Problems reported in several schools include classroom congestion in highly populated areas, late enrollees and lack of teachers, facilities or learning materials.

Officials of the Department of Education (DepEd) said the issues are solvable and the school division offices are ready to address the problems.

Some 25 million students were estimated to have returned to public and private elementary and high schools across the country for the new academic year.

Among them are those who will be part of the first batch of senior high school, the centerpiece of the K to 12 reform program instituted by the Aquino administration.

From over 1.4 million students who completed Grade 10 in March, Luistro said they expect more than one million to enroll in one of the over 11,000 public and private senior high schools, resulting in a possible dropout rate of 200,000 to 400,000.

“Our enrollment in public schools would be between 700,000 to 800,000 (in Grade 11),” Luistro said, and at least 400,000 will be enrolled in state and local universities and colleges, and private schools.

The DepEd chief said a clearer picture of the enrolment data would be out later this week, when all schools have finished submitting their lists of enrollees through the online registration system.

He said they expect more students to flock to schools this week to enroll for the senior high program.

‘Within historic baselines’

Despite the huge number of estimated dropouts, Luistro and his successor incoming education secretary Leonor Briones said the numbers are still lower than the dropout rate of high school graduates who defer proceeding to college.

“Statistically, only half of the graduates of high school proceed to college,” Briones said in Filipino.

“Based on the figures of DepEd, we have already breached the 50 percent fallout,” she added

Briones joined Luistro in monitoring the school opening at the Commonwealth High School in Quezon City.

Luistro said they aim for 80 to 90 percent of Grade 10 completers would proceed and finish the additional two years in basic education.

He ordered school principals to track down their graduates and ensure that they would proceed to senior high school.

Protests greet school opening

Protests marked the school opening as critics urged the DepEd to stop implementation of the K to 12 program.

At least 70 militant students staged a rally in front of the Department of Education building in Pasig City, calling for the scrapping of K to 12.

The militants claimed the program is an added burden not only to students but to parents as well.

The rally snarled traffic along Meralco Avenue in Barangay Ugong.

Elements of the Pasig City police and DepEd’s security force prevented the students from entering the building.

After a short rally, the students dispersed peacefully on board passenger jeepneys.

“As the school year opens, horrors and chaos greeted our youth and students. The opening of classes is marred by an increase in dropouts,” League of Filipino Students national spokesperson JP Rosos said.

“Luistro is dead wrong when he wants the people to celebrate this year’s school opening. If there is anything that is correct in his statement, it is true that this is a historic moment. Indeed, it is an earth-shattering moment that our government implements a program that will lead to a million dropouts in just its first year of full implementation,” Rosos added.

Incoming Kabataan party-list Rep. Sarah Elago, who met with Luistro and Briones yesterday, urged the government to recognize Grade 10 dropouts as high school graduates and allow them to enroll in tertiary institutions as college students.

Elago highlighted problems brought by the additional two years in basic education, saying parents would have to shell out an additional P100,000 to P200,000 for a student to finish senior high.

Briones stressed the need to increase the budget in education, noting the need to strengthen alternative learning modules for those outside the traditional system.

Usual problems

In several schools, usual problems emerged during the opening of classes.

Several schools had to divide classrooms to accommodate more students as new buildings are still being constructed.

Late enrollees were also reported to have flocked to some schools during the opening.

Senior high school classes at the Batasan Hills National High School are being held in ancillary rooms, as the new building – which would cater to both Grades 11 and 12 – is unfinished.

In Lagro High School, some teachers declined the senior high school items given to them, as they would be effectively demoted if they continued teaching at junior high school.

Incoming ACT Teacher party-list Franz Castro expressed alarm over the concerns of the teachers, which if left unresolved could result in more problems.

Another common trend among public senior high schools is the low enrolment rate.

In Batasan Hills, more than 2,600 students completed Grade 10 last March, but only 89 have enrolled for senior high. The school has a capacity rate of 670 Grade 11 students.

In Lagro, the school has 1,600 Grade 10 completers, but only 500 of the 800 senior high school slots have been filled.

The same case was recorded at the Commonwealth High School, where only around 330 of 650 slots were filled. It had over 1,000 Grade 10 completers.

Luistro said historic figures would show that former fourth year high school graduates usually enroll in private universities and colleges.

In Metro Manila, only 181 public senior high schools were established, while 574 non-DepEd schools were given permit to offer Grades 11 and 12.

Nationwide, public senior high schools outnumber non-DepEd schools: 5,990 to 5,046.

Luistro said they are not pushing away the students from the public education system, but noted that they should be given opportunity to choose if they want to enroll in private institutions.

Voucher system

Maria Noemi Moncada, principal of Lagro High School, said some students who initially signified intention to enroll in private institutions ended up at their school.

Moncada said there were instances when parents were surprised that they had to shell out money if they enrolled their children in a private school.

DepEd has allocated some P12 billion for the voucher system, which seeks to subsidize tuition and other fees of students in private schools.

Luistro said 300,000 public Grade 10 completers and former education service contracting grantees were automatic recipients of vouchers, which could amount to as much as P22,500 per student.

Another 75,000 were admitted to the program following the application period earlier this year.

Addressing concerns on top-up, the DepEd chief urged parents to ensure that they know the tuition rates before enrolling their students in a private school.

He said there are private institutions that offer no top-up rates for senior high.

Birthing pains

Despite the hitches, education officials said that the school opening across the country was smooth.

Luistro said complaints had been lower than in previous years, noting the preparations made by school officials and regional and division offices.

He said learning materials and additional facilities are currently being delivered, and that teachers have contingency measures to ensure that the learning process would continue.

Briones stressed the importance of K to 12, comparing the current situation to moving in to an almost finished house to see the problems “while the contractor is still around.”

She said the K to 12 would address long-time issues in Philippine education, particularly the mismatch in the number of years in basic education here compared to other countries.

Luistro described the school opening as the historic culmination of the Aquino administration’s vision to reform the education system in the country.

Extended enrolment

Meanwhile, the Central Luzon DepEd office extended until June 30 the deadline of enrolment for Grade 11 students after officials noted that only 57.6 percent of expected enrollees have registered.

The DepEd regional office said the new deadline would ensure that the projected enrolment for public senior high school students would be realized.

“As of the original deadline, which was on June 3, about 57,637 of the 100,333 or only 57.6 percent of projected Grade 11 enrollees  registered,” DepEd acting regional director Malcolm Garma said.

He urged students and parents to enroll now and not wait for the new deadline so school administrators would have time to prepare and adjust their program.

Perfect attendance

In Pangasinan, a school division office reported an almost perfect attendance of students during the Balik Eskwela.

Schools division 1 superintendent Maria Celia Junio-Fernandez told The STAR that no problem occurred during the opening of classes in their area.

Fernandez said only two or three students failed to go to school yesterday, unlike in previous years when many were absent.

Of the 607 classrooms awarded to the school division, only 38 percent finished construction, she said.

Education supervisor Jesusa Macam of San Carlos City schools division reported a high number of students attended the first day of school yesterday. – With Non Alquitran, Ding Cervantes, Eva Visperas