WITH more than 6 million youths out of school, a youth group urged the government to increase the budget for education.
Party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino of Kabataan said it will be a grave injustice to the youth if, despite pressing data, the Aquino administration will still refuse to heed calls for a substantial increase in the “grossly insufficient” education budget.
“The alarming number of out-of-school youths is a sad fact that the Aquino administration does not want to address owing to its continued refusal to allocate sufficient funds for education. The future of our youth and country is bleak given the low education priority of the Aquino government. Providing a substantial increase for the education budget is urgent and necessary,” Palatino said.
The 2010 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (Apis) report released early this month showed that 16 percent, or 6.24 million, of the total 39 million Filipino 6 to 24 years old are out-of-school youths (OSY).
Last week Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said that Philippine education is in “deep crisis” when he met with the heads of state of universities and colleges (SUCs) in the Cordillera and Ilocos regions at the Benguet State University in La Trinidad, Benguet.
Abad said he was ordered by President Aquino to discuss with SUC heads the drafting of a program that would help upgrade the quality of education in the country.
Beginning with basic education, which affects higher levels of education, the problems have not been dealt with decisively and the President is committed to correct this during his term, Abad said.
He lamented that about half of the nation’s children are not in school not just for academic reasons but for other reasons like malnutrition and poverty.
And even if these children finish secondary education, they come up with poor achievement levels. For many, this is also a terminal program as their parents want them back to help in the farms or to start looking for a livelihood to help support the family.
Only 15 percent end up with a college degree and only 5 percent of them earn degrees in the hard sciences, logically making for a weak foundation in the whole educational system, Abad said.
The government defines an out of school youth as someone who is not attending formal school or not gainfully employed in the case of youths aged 18 to 24 who have not finished college or even a technical-vocational course.
The government report added that the primary reason given by out-of-school youths for not attending school is the high cost of education, followed by lack of personal interest.
Palatino said the high cost of education is a “result of poor government funding and the profit-oriented education system.”
“The deplorable facilities and an education curriculum geared toward the demands of the foreign-dominated market push many youths to become disinterested and doubtful of the possible benefits formal education may have for their future.” he added.
The 2012 national budget, currently being deliberated in the Senate, was earlier amended in the House of Representative to include a P200 million additional budget for the capital outlay of the Philippine General Hospital, which is under the University of the Philippines System.
Palatino said that the increase is “loose change” considering the dire needs of both of University of the Philippines (UP) and the other 111 State Universities and Colleges (SUCs).
Palatino proposed a P24 billion increase, on top of the P22.09 billion amended SUCs budget, to address the urgent needs of public higher education for facilities, research, salaries and infrastructure.
