Many students stop going to school before Grade 10 – Gatchalian

FULL CLASS In this file photo, Grade 1 pupils at San Diego Elementary School in Quezon City are each called in front of their class to recite their lessons. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines — Nearly half of learners who enter Grade 1 end up quitting school before they reach Grade 10.

This is according to Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, head of Senate committee on education.

Gatchalian on Tuesday cited data from Department of Education.

It said out of 100 learners, only 60 reached Grade 10, and only 58 finished junior high.

This information came from records that kept track of students as far back as 2010 and 2011.

“We should focus on how to keep kids in school from Grades 1 to Grade 10. (So) that’s a problem that we need to look at in the Second Congressional Commission on Education,” Gatchalian noted.

In view of this, the senator proposed the inclusion of mass awareness campaigns in a bill he authored.

The measure is titled ‘Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program Act.’

The bill aims to equip students with knowledge and skills in reading, language and numbers.

This is done through systematic tutorial sessions and the provision of well-designed learning resources.

In 2019, Philippine Statistics Authority reported the leading factor for absence in school among teenagers was “lack of personal interest.”

This was followed by poverty or lack of money.

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