MANILA, Philippines — Around 18.6 percent of Filipinos aged five to 24 years old were not attending school last year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The rest – four out of five or 81.4 percent of Filipinos from the same age bracket – were enrolled or going to school last year.
The figures are based on the PSA’s Annual Poverty Indicators Survey for 2022.
The PSA said the top reasons cited for not attending school are the respondents finished schooling or finished post-secondary or college with 21.1 percent, employment (19.7 percent), lack of personal interest (12.6 percent), marriage (10.7 percent) and high cost of education or financial problem (9.9 percent).
Among regions, Mimaropa (Mindoro provinces, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) had the highest proportion of school attendance last year with 85.1 percent, followed by Eastern Visayas (84.8 percent) and Bicol (84.4 percent).
Meanwhile, regions with the lowest proportion of school attendance are Zamboanga peninsula (76.7 percent), Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM, 78.1 percent) and Central Luzon (79.5 percent).
The PSA said a higher proportion of males were not in school last year due to employment at 25.9 percent compared to that of females at 11.6 percent.
On the other hand, more females, or 28.9 percent, were not attending school last year as they have already finished schooling, compared to males at 15.1 percent.
“Across regions, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) had the highest proportion of children not attending school due to employment, at 28.3 percent, of the total number of (individuals) five to 24 years old who were not attending school,” the PSA said.
The BARMM had the highest proportion of children not attending school due to high cost of education or financial concern (23.2 percent) and family matters (16.2 percent).
As for Mimaropa, it had the highest proportion of those not going to school due to illness or disability (7.2 percent).
Cagayan Valley had the highest proportion of those not attending school due to marriage (18.7 percent), while the Cordillera Administrative Region had the highest proportions of those not going to school due to finished schooling (28.8 percent) and lack of personal interest (24.1 percent).