The Department of Education in the Philippines has announced its intention towards homeschooling as a possible solution to the current issues of the community. Already, parents have been keeping their children home to gain their education. There appears to be two reasons for this event: 1) The high cost of education, and 2) Overcrowded classrooms and lack of teachers.
In a society where many families send their children to private schools, the rise of tuition costs has caused parents to look for alternative ways of education.
“Economic issues facing families [such as high cost of education and the need to work] are perceived to be factors hindering children from attending school,” the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS) said. Young children have been reported to drop out of school to help support their families financially. A PIDS study showed almost one out of ten children, between the ages of five and 11, are engaged in labor work. For these children, the only education that they can receive and give to younger siblings is at home. Monetary gains are given to family, not education.
Even middle-class families are having a hard time pulling in enough money to pay the rising tuition so parents have been transferring their children from private schools to public schools. This has caused a great inflation of students in classrooms that lack teachers.
In response, the school division at Quezon City brought in a homeschooling program. This has been in practice for three years, and officials say the program is working.
The students in this program follow modules patterned after the regular curriculum. On Saturdays, they are expected to meet with their teachers. This alternative method will still allow these students to graduate like any regular student attending schools. By offering homeschooling, the schools hope to ration the student-to-classroom ratio.
In the Philippines, financial difficulties and lack of resources are greatly impacting the lives of children. As the situation appears to be getting worse, more children will be forced to leave their schools. Until the current poverty rate declines and more teachers can be found, homeschooling is becoming a preferable route.
Creative Commons Love: Simon Oosterman on Flickr.com
Comments
About the Author
