DAVAO CITY, 12 April 2003 — There’s an increasing rate in school dropout in the country and this should alarm the government and education officials, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said yesterday.
The scenario was excellently tackled in the award-winning local film, Mga Munting Tinig, where two brothers alternately attend school using the same uniform and a pair of slippers.
While the Philippines has a 90 percent literacy rate, it is showing signs of deterioration and that only 15 percent of those who Grade 1 finish a four-year college degree, said Pimentel, who was in Mindanao for various speaking engagements in this season of commencement exercises.
Among the factors affecting the uptrend is the lack of financial capability and failure to cope with school pressures, he said, citing various studies. Pimentel also lamented that while the government has put up barangay and national high schools and established 115 state colleges and universities that offer free or negligible tuition, government neglect is apparent in the southern Philippines.
“This goes against the basic rules of instruction,” said the activist politician, who is from Cagayan de Oro City in Northern Mindanao.
He said schools in Mindanao accommodate 60 to 90 students per class and provide only few books to be shared by students.
Pimentel also expressed concern over the big number of children being forced to work and the increasing crime incidence that involved school dropouts.
