HIGHER EDUCATION. Criminology students of Eastern Samar State University in Borongan City, Eastern Samar in this Aug. 21, 2023 photo. National government agencies will conduct a study to find out why there is a high dropout among college students in the Eastern Visayas region. (Photo courtesy of ESSU Catalyst)
TACLOBAN CITY – Government agencies are now looking into factors leading to high dropout rate among senior high school and college students in the Eastern Visayas region.
“The study is based on the RDC (Regional Development Council) resolution seeking to study the issue of the observed high drop-out rates in the region despite the improved access to tertiary education and the various education support programs of the government such as Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) and the Student Financial Assistance Program (StuFAP),” National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) regional director Meylene Rosales said in an interview Wednesday.
NEDA records showed that cohort survival rates for elementary and secondary students in the region are still high at 95.9 percent in 2021.
This is up from the 74.7 percent recorded in 2020 to 89.4 percent in 2021.
However, for senior high school, the cohort survival rate declined from 76.8 percent in 2017 to 74.7 percent in 2020.
The cohort survival rate is the proportion of enrollees at the beginning grade or year who reach the final grade or year at the end of the required number of years of study.
NEDA also found that there have been more enrollees in college schools, but the number of graduates declined in recent years.
Enrollees in higher education increased from 154,792 in 2020 to 174,360 in 2021. This is up from the baseline figure of 148,610 enrollees recorded in 2016.
The government has no available data on how many who signed up for college in 2016 have completed their study after four years.
The report on high dropout was based on feedback from state universities and colleges.
Rocky Bultron, a graduating accountancy student of Burauen Community College in Burauen, Leyte, recalled that when he entered tertiary education in 2020, there were 250 students taking the accountancy course in their batch.
“This year, there are only 59 of us undergoing an internship program,” Bultron told the Philippine News Agency.
Rosales said the study will be conducted by the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), NEDA, and the RDC private sector representative for education.
“Through this study, government agencies seek to establish a method to assess the issue among children included in the list of poor families and to quantify the effectiveness of TES and StuFAP in ensuring student completion in tertiary education,” Rosales added.
The results of the study will be presented in a meeting with RDC members within the year and a copy will be furnished to Northern Samar 1st district Rep. Paul Daza, who pledged to bring the discussion to the House of Representatives. (PNA)
