Within the same period, retention rate in the secondary level dropped by 7.6 percentage points. This means that the percentage of enrollees in the secondary level who continued to be in school the following year declined.

Transition rate in the secondary level reached 88 percent during School Year 2006-2007, an improvement of 5.8 percentage points from School Year 2002-2003. Transition rate is the percentage of students who graduated from one level of education and moved on to the next higher level, e.g. from high school to college. While this means that there was a higher percentage of high school graduates who made it to college/technical courses in School Year 2006-2007 than in School Year 2002-2003, there was also lower percentage of students who reached the final year of the of the secondary level in School Year 2006-2007 as indicated by the 7.1 percentage points decline in the survival rate.

Repetition rate, or the ratio of the number of students who enrolled in the same year level in the current School Year to the total enrollment in the previous school year, significantly increased from 2.7 percent in SY 2002-2003 to 3.4 percent in SY 2006-2007. Similarly, dropout rate, or the ratio of the number of students who left the school for any reason during the school year to total enrolment, rose from 5.8 percent in SY 2002-2003 to 6.1 percent in SY 2006-2007.

Aside from the above indicators, results of the National Achievement Tests for secondary schools indicate, and more alarmingly, the deterioration of quality in the secondary schools system. The NAT results cover both public and private schools. On the average, not once in the three years of record, had the secondary schools in the region surpassed the cut-off (75 percent) for the said evaluation. Moreover, the underperformance is apparent in all the five subject areas of the achievement tests. Additionally, results in four of the five subject areas of the National Achievement Test (NAT) generally worsened between School Years 2004-2005 and 2006-2007. These subject areas were English (by 1.4 percentage points), Mathematics (by 1.7 percentage points), Science & Health (by 5.7 percentage points) and Hekasi or Heograpiya, Kasaysayan at Sibika (by 2.4 percentage points). Only the Filipino subject area showed a measly 1.2 percentage point improvement during the School Year 2004-2005 to School Year 2006-2007. On the average, the results of the NAT in the Bicol Region weakened by 2 percentage points within the period.

Human resource is the most important resource of the country’s economy. The quality of human resources that enter the labor force bears heavily on the economy’s productive capacity. Education and other human capital are important in promoting economic growth and a strong position in international markets. Deterioration in an educational system can result to an inferior labor force affecting employability and productivity. Education can be viewed as an investment that equips individuals with the necessary skills for their optimum contribution to the country’s economic and social well-being. Government and households therefore should invest in education with the expectation that higher benefits would accrue over time.

Source of data: Department of Education, Region V

Date posted: May 28, 2009