Thursday, April 17, 2014

1st Youth Agenda Item: Access to quality education and skills development towards employment and livelihood


A.  
Access to quality education and skills development towards employment and livelihood 

CONTEXT

Education is the great enabler and equalizer. It is central to the inclusive development strategy of the Philippines and stands as the primary area of engagement of the Cagayan de Oro Youth Development Council. Increasing access to quality education is vital in sustaining the growth trajectory of the city as the hub and leader of the region. It is a task that requires the committed participation of all sectors in the community especially its recipients – the students. Through the OYDC, the students or the In-school-youth sector made a clear commitment that they do not only sit and passively reap the benefits of education but also become active partners in building our educational institutions.

Cagayan de Oro city is home to one of the largest concentration of learning institutions in the whole Island of Mindanao. As of SY 2008-2009, a total of 135 pre-schools, 139 elementary schools, 75 secondary schools and 16 tertiary schools. From these schools, there are 288 pre-school teachers, 2,505 elementary school teachers, 1,418 secondary school teachers and 1,988 college teachers[1]. This is a competitive-edge that the government and civil society should constantly nurture and improve to maintain our leadership in the region.


Last November 16, 2013, the City conducted the 1st Education Summit where Elena M. Borcillo, CESO VI, presented the situation of primary and secondary education in Cagayan de Oro City. 

National Achievement Test Results

In elementary, the National Achievement Test (NAT) results both public and private schools fluctuated from SY 2010-2011 SY 2012-2013 from the mean performance scores of 69.36 to 60.94. It increased in SY 2012-2013 to 64.77 but it was still below the education for all target of at least 75%.


Elementary
Secondary
PASSING
2010-2011
69.36
47.40
75
2011-2012
60.94
46.39
75
2012-2013
64.77
49.07
75


These results showed that for every 10 questions in English, Science, and Mathematics, the learners answered only 6 correctly.

In the Secondary School, the NAT of the secondary school decreased from 47.4, 46.39 from SY 2010-2011 to SY 2011-2012 respectively. It increased to 49.07 in SY 2012-2013. However, these were still below the Education for ALL Target of at least 75%. Hence, it shows us that only 5 questions out of 10 in English and science and only 4 questions out of 10 in mathematics are answered correctly.


Public Elementary School

TOP 3 for 2012

Baluarte Elementary School            89.12
Tablon                                                88.60
Palalan                                               86.11

BOTTOM 3 for 2012

Corrales                                              41.66
Gusa                                                    46.01                                                
East city Lapasan                              46.84             

Public High School   

Top 3 for 2012

Gusa                                                    72.01
Taglimao –Besigan                            69.76
Tablon NHS                                        65.33

Bottom 3 for 2012

Macabalan                                         38.39
Taglimao – Tumpagon                      39.56
Carmen                                              41.22




Drop out rate


Elementary
Secondary
2011-2012
.23%
-
2012-2013
.78%
4.06%





            For elementary, there was a noted increase of dorp-outs in the recent S.Y. This means that out of 30,289 secondary students, 1,230 dropped out in SY 2012-2013. For secondary, this means that out of 30,289 secondary students, 1,230 dropped out in S.Y 2012-2013.

Retention Rate

S.Y.
Elementary
Secondary
2010-2011
94.59%
89.45%
2011-2012
94.22%
89.00%
2012-2013
91.86%
90.00%

For elementary, this means that 8.14% or 5,368 out of 65,948 total population of the division were not able to proceed to the next grade level. For secondary, this means that 9.54% or 2,215 out of 23,218 of the secondary students were not able to proceed to the next year level.

Cohort Survival Rate

S.Y.
Elementary
Secondary
2010-2011
83.43%
85.69%
2011-2012
83.43%
73.93%
2012-2013
78.14%
83.93%

For elementary, this means that out of 14,563 pupils in Grade 1, only 11,011 reached grade 6 after 6 years of schooling. For secondary, it means that out of 8,317 students in 1st year, 6078 reached fourth year high school after 4 years of schooling.

Access or Participation Rate
S.Y.
Elementary
Secondary
2010-2011
88.56%
39.85%
2011-2012
92.20%
41.83%
2012-2013
81.37%
40.11






For elementary, it means that out of 82,422 (based on NSO data) school aged children, only 67,072 enrolled in school. For secondary schools, this means that out of 54,565 (based on NSO data) secondary level school aged children only 21,886 were in school.

For the tertiary level, Cagayan de Oro enjoys the presence of competitive Universities and colleges that regularly produces top-notchers in board exams such as nursing, criminology, education among others.  In part of the Local Government, they established the City College Scholarship Program that gives 600 indigent but deserving students scholarships to different colleges and universities in the city. It also is providing alternative education among with different national agencies. 

It cannot be doubted that the educational situation in our city is a reflection of the over-all educational landscape of the nation. It is dire to see the dismal performance our city has been showing in the NAT results especially in our secondary schools. Multidimensional factors should be considered which cause these challenges. During the Education Summit, 5 intervention ideas were surfaced. These are (1) Conduct parenting seminars (2) values formation (3) seminars on birth control (4) teachers training (5) expansion of ALS/Mobile teachers.




YOUTH POLICY AGENDA

During the Oro Youth Leaders Convergence conducted last March 22, 2014, the following policy agenda were surfaced with regards to education:

1.    Invest in multi-sectoral participation and youth private – public partnerships in reducing the drop out rate and increase the NAT results.


The youth leaders pointed out that vital to improving our quality of education is building long-term partnership with the barangay, the parents, the principal/teachers, the students and civil society in general. They highlighted the importance of the barangay in providing a safe and school-friendly environment. This includes crime monitoring and environmental scanning (canals, pests, dengue).  The students also surfaced the importance of establishing evaluations and feedback mechanisms in the implementation of programs of the school. The parents should also be included in the decision making process and regularly inform them of the performance of their child. In part of the student leaders, they pointed out that they should not just only focus on organizing activities but should also be given a chance to articulate their own experience and suggestions. They also pointed out the importance of being open to interventions and donations from the private sectors but emphasizes that such interventions should be sustainable and include them in the processes of owning it so that it would not be a total dole out.

2.    Invest on school infrastructure, cloud-based knowledge, and teachers’ development in consonance with K-12


The youth leaders pointed out the lack of classrooms, books and resources to facilitate learning. With this situation, they hope that the government continues their actions in building better disaster resilient classrooms and invest in new learning materials. The public high schools should have their own campuses.  The students also pointed out the lack of computers and the lack of access to the Internet.  They also highlighted the importance of incentives for teachers to perform better. Aside from trainings, there should also be a reward system for teachers to improve their performance, which must be evaluated and reviewed by a disinterested third person.

3.    Evaluate and integrate the different vocational courses offered by different agencies and create venues for youth with special needs access to education


The out of school youth in particular raised the importance of having a streamed line access to alternative education or vocational courses. The government should evaluate the teachers if they are up to date and competent in teaching and constantly monitor job demands in the locality in order to align course offerings. They also highlighted greater investments in the People with Disabilities sector. The government should explore the idea of providing scholarship grants to deserving PWDs.

4.    Expand the city college scholarship program and improve its screening and development interventions

The city college scholarship program is one of the flagship programs of the city government. As mandated by ordinance, the program provides scholarships to 600 indigent but deserving students to study in different colleges and universities not only in the city but other parts of the region. The beneficiaries pointed out the need to improve the screening process in selecting scholars and the retention rules. It should be strict in terms of retention. It should include private independent sectors in the selection committee to insulate it from being used as a political reward tool. 

ORO YOUTH DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL PARALLEL ACTION

Adopt a school program  

The different college student councils will adopt the bottom 4 schools in terms of NAT performance. The program is a long year intervention program that aims to provide enrichment classes in math, science, English. It also includes skills development seminars such as basic computer graphics designing, leadership development, peace education and creative solution designing.  This also includes donating NAT reviewers and other learning materials to their library.

NSTP-LTS Tutorials

In partnership with the NSTP – LTS of their schools, the different college student councils shall lobby their administration to intensify their investment in NSTP-LTS tutorials in the area of Englsih, Math and Science. This will be a requirement for the college students and the performance of their tutees should also be factored in in their NSTP grade.  

Barangay Conferences on School’s Surroundings

In partnership with the schools student government, the OYDC would lobby to the barangay council to conduct a conference call and scanning on the surroundings of schools. They should monitor the business establishments and what they are selling. They should also scan street lighting, traffic flow, drainage and other factors that affect the learning of the students.  


Active Representation in the Local School Board


With the organized In-School-Youth Sector, the OYDC shall create a communication system that allows the different student leaders to lobby their school’s concerns to the local school board through the Youth Representative of the board following basic administrative remedies.  


City College Scholars Life Coaching


The Faith based sector youth, in response to dismal performance of some of the city scholars, would intervene in a year long life coaching program that does not only talk about academics but also about time management, character, leadership and values.


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