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 Factsheet
RV-FS#03, Series of 2004

Did you know that . . .

one-fourth of population 6-24 years old lack interest in schooling?

The results of the 2002 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS) conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO) reveal a finding that would raise a lot of concern for educators in particular. An estimated 24.8 percent of out-of-school population 6-24 years old cites lack of personal interest for not attending school. This finding is true in both the low and high income strata of the population.

The 2002 APIS divides the families into the lowest 40 percent and highest 60 percent based on a listing of families in descending order of family income. This grouping of families is used as a proxy to approximate the number of families falling above and below the poverty line.

Among males in both income strata, lack of interest in schooling is twice as much (31.1 percent) as females (15.1 percent). Males in the highest 60 percent of the income stratum demonstrated the highest percentage with 32.6 percent lacking personal interest in going to school. The figures among males in both income strata do not vary much but more females in the lowest 40 percent income stratum (17.3 percent) lacked personal interest on schooling than the females in the highest 60 percent income stratum (11.9 percent). Generally, there were lesser females who lack interest in going to school regardless of income stratum.

Poverty may have also taken its toll on the desire to go to school. Regardless of gender, 24.7 percent of those out of school in the lowest 40 percent income stratum point to the high cost of education as the reason for not attending school. In both income strata, however, more females cite this reason for being out of school. Across incomes and genders, this reason ranks second (at 23 percent) among the causes for not attending school.

Of the 6-24 year old population at the time of the survey, 620,000 or 29.5 percent were not attending school. More than half (52.1 percent) of those not attending school were aged 20-24 years old while 25.2 percent were in the 17-19 year old bracket. The rest were below 16 years old. In both income strata, majority (60.7 percent) of the out of school population were males. Additionally, there were more males in the lowest 40 percent income stratum (62.0 percent) who were not in school than males in the highest 60 percent income stratum (58.7 percent).
 
Population 6 to 24 Years Old by Schooling Status and Reason for not
Attending School, by Income Stratum: Bicol Region, 2002
  
Schooling Status/Age Group and Reasons for not Attending School Both Income Strata Lowest 40% Highest 60%
Both Sexes Male Female Both Sexes Male Female Both Sexes Male Female
 Schooling Status
 Bicol Region ('000) 2,907   1,125   972   1,197   642   555   900   483   417  
Currently Attending School
    Percent 70.5   66.6   74.9   69.0   64.2   74.6   72.3   69.7   75.4  
    Number ('000) 1,477   749   729   826   412   414   651   337   315  
    6 to 9 34.3   33.4   35.2   38.1   36.0   40.2   29.5   30.1   28.8  
    10 to 12 26.0   26.2   25.8   29.5   29.5   29.5   21.6   22.1   21.0  
    13 to 14 14.4   13.7   15.1   14.1   14.2   13.9   14.8   13.1   16.6  
    15 to 16 11.2   10.2   12.1   9.8   9.2   10.4   12.9   11.5   14.4  
    17 to 19 10.0   11.7   8.1   7.0   9.6   4.4   13.7   14.4   13.0  
    20 to 24 4.2   4.7   3.6   1.5   1.4   1.6   7.5   8.8   6.2  
Not Currently Attending School
    Percent 29.5   33.4   25.1   31.0   35.8   25.4   27.7   30.3   24.6  
    Number ('000) 620   376   244   371   230   141   249   146   103  
    6 to 9 7.6   7.2   8.2   9.5   8.8   10.5   4.7   4.5   5.0  
    10 to 12 1.4   1.4   1.4   1.6   1.6   1.5   1.2   1.2   1.2  
    13 to 14 5.0   4.5   5.9   7.2   5.8   9.4   1.8   2.4   1.0  
    15 to 16 8.7   9.1   8.2   10.7   11.5   9.4   5.8   5.3   6.5  
    17 to 19 25.2   27.7   21.3   26.5   28.4   23.3   23.3   26.7   18.5  
    20 to 24 52.1   50.1   55.1   44.6   43.9   45.8   63.1   59.8   67.8  
 Reasons for Not Attending School
Schools are very far/no  school w/in the Bgy. 1.0   0.8   1.1   1.3   1.2   1.4   0.5   0.2   0.8  
No regular transportation -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -  
High cost of education/can't          afford expenses 23.0   21.4   25.6   24.7   22.8   27.8   20.5   19.1   22.6  
Illness/Disability 3.9   4.2   3.3   4.0   4.2   3.7   3.7   4.4   2.8  
Housekeeping 5.0   0.5   12.0   5.1   0.5   12.6   4.9   0.4   11.3  
Employment/Looking for work 19.5   23.8   12.7   19.3   25.2   9.6   19.8   21.7   17.0  
Lack of personal interest 24.8   31.1   15.1   25.3   30.2   17.3   24.1   32.6   11.9  
Cannot cope with school work 4.8   4.4   5.4   5.5   4.4   7.3   3.9   4.6   2.9  
Finished schooling 7.7   5.6   11.0   2.3   1.1   4.2   15.8   12.6   20.4  
Others 10.3   8.2   13.6   12.6   10.5   16.1   6.9   4.5   10.3  

 Source: 2002 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey, National Statistics Office
 Notes: Details may not add up to totals due to rounding.
            '-' denotes zero count or less than 0.05 percent.

 
At the national level, however, the main reason for not attending school was employment/looking for work (26.8 percent). This was followed by high cost of education (22.7 percent). Lack of personal interest (19.2 percent) ranks third among the reasons given. Other regions in the same circumstances as the Bicol Region in this respect are: Eastern Visayas, Western Mindanao, Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and CARAGA.

The lack of interest in schooling was also the foremost reason given by both parents/guardians and children 5-17 years old who ever stopped schooling/dropped out of school in the Bicol Region, based on the 2001 Survey on Children 5-17 Years Old conducted by the NSO. In this survey, 32.5 percent of children in Bicol stopped schooling/dropped out of school because they were not interested in school, the same reason given by 44.4 percent of the parents/guardians.

The above findings are a cause of concern especially for educators, parents and the government. The presence of an educational system and its infrastructure support does not seem to guarantee a good school attendance. In fact, the reason that “schools are very far/no school within the barangay” got only 1.0 percent response from both income strata and gender. Moreover, the reason that “there is no regular transportation” obtained less than 0.05 percent of the responses across genders and income strata. This is an indication that accessibility is not a major concern for school attendance. The results of the two surveys would imply the need for the reevaluation of our value system regarding education. It might be worthwhile to study why such disinterest in education exists among a large percentage of out-of-school youth.

Source of basic data: National Statistics Office

Date posted: August 11, 2004
 
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