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How does poverty affect education in the Philippines?

The Never-Ending Cycle of Poverty and Education

Jawhaina Tomawis
Global Studies and World Languages Academy
Tallwood High School
December 2014

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Table of Contents:
Introduction. 3
Limitations.. 4
Methodology... 5
Literature Review... 6
Body of the Paper... 8
Geographic Location...... 9
Lack of Resources....... 10
Health. 12
The Problem... 14
Conclusion.. 16
APA References.. 17

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Introduction
Poverty is an unending cycle present in every country of the world
today. The primary cause being the lack of education. These two, poverty
and education, definitely interplay with each other. Parents who werent able
to go to school during their early years are more likely to lack both
knowledge and skills, resulting to their landing on low-paying jobs and
simply, poverty. As these parents children start their own school years, most
end up dropping out of school due to the lack of finances. The same process
of the parents applies to their children, therefore, the cycle is continuously
on-going and unstoppable.
In this research, the focus will be on the effects of poverty on
education in the Philippines. The researcher specifically chose the
Philippines as it is the country where she originally came from and is a
country close to her heart. This topic of poverty and education stood out the
most to the researcher out of the other issues in the Philippines because she,
herself, has seen the situations and the effects of poverty to the childrens
education; its a serious issue that needs to be addressed immediately.
Nelson Mandela once stated, Education is the most powerful weapon which
you can use to change the world. However, in the Philippines, most children
cant even go to school due to extreme poverty, so how are they supposed to
get the education that they need to change the country and the world? Is it
still possible for these children to escape poverty even without education?

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Also, is the government taking action to finally put an end to this issue?
Through in depth research, statistics, and interviews, this research
paper will certainly prove that poverty is the primary hindrance to
educational achievement in the Philippines.

Limitations
The intent of this research is to inform the readers and provide
concrete evidence of how poverty affects childrens education in the
Philippines. However, concrete evidence can only be provided through
research, not personal experience, therefore, geographic location acts as the
major barrier to the scope of the study. The researcher would not be able to
travel to the country itself and do her own research and observations due to
insufficient funds and time restraint. Also, the researcher would not be able
to interview Filipino families suffering from poverty as well as teachers who
are seeing the effects of poverty on childrens behavior on a day-to-day
basis. However, instead of interviewing Filipino families and teachers, the
researcher will interview the teachers, and possibly the students, who
traveled in the Global Studies and World Languages Academy to the
Philippines, as a replacement. In addition, the researcher can also interview
a few professionals from the Philippine Cultural Center in Virginia Beach and
ask for their opinion and thoughts about this particular issue regarding their
country of origin.

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The researcher will not attempt to research for other countries
economic status and their poverty and education levels and compare them
with the Philippines because of the time limit given. Also, comparing other
countries with the Philippines may bring confusion over the main focus of
this research. Instead, the researcher will only use one other country, which
is the United States, to compare and contrast the twos extremely different
status and their stand on poverty and education levels. By doing so, the
researcher can connect the issue of poverty and education globally and
locally.

Methodology
As for the data used for this research paper, several different online
sources were used in order to completely explain the issue and situations in
the Philippines, the main focus of this research. The information and data
used were mainly from credible online resources, databases provided by the
Tallwood High School Library Media Center, and educational Filipino articles.
In order to research deeply in this issue, most of the information and
statistics were from several of the Philippines local newspapers, websites,
and resources updated directly by the Philippine government. By doing so,
this research paper is filled with updated and accurate information and
figures.

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Interviews with two Filipino professionals currently working and living in
the Philippines were conducted and despite the location, the interviews were
still made possible through the use of email and two different social
networking sites, FaceBook and Skype. One of the interviewees is a public
school teacher while the other is a pediatrician who has been involved in
observing public schools around Manila, the countrys capital city. Both of
the interviewees answers helped the researcher incorporate specific details
about their own observations of the students enrolled in public schools.
Their observations of public school students became even more helpful and
useful to this research as most of the students enrolled in public schools lack
financial resources and are usually suffering from the number one factor that
hinders their education: poverty.

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Literature Review
This research paper focuses on the effects of poverty on education in
the Philippines, specifically public education, and what the Philippine
government has done to gradually decrease these effects.

Since poverty

and education has been one of the main issues and concerns in the
Philippines for a very long time, countless of research, newspaper and online
articles, and articles from charitable organizations, whose main concern is
the importance of education, have been done prior to this research paper.
Because the researcher has prior knowledge about this topic and the country
itself and shares the same concern as the local Filipino organizations, and
even international organizations, the issue between poverty and education
intrigued and engrossed the researcher, herself. As a result, quantitative and
qualitative information were collected to successfully discuss and explain this
research.
Quantitative information, such as the statistics of the current
population under poverty, total number of public schools with insufficient
funds for its students, and the total number of working students, was
obtained from several online sources like the World Fact Book, World Health
Organization, and the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment. The
countrys statistics on school drop-outs (1.46 million), children working under
hazardous labor conditions (2 million), and students suffering from hunger
were also included in the research which were also obtained from several
online sources.

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Qualitative information, such as own observations of both foreigners,
who traveled to different provinces of the country to grasp and personally
see the extreme situations, and Filipino citizens and explanations to why
students prefer to work instead of study, was accumulated from blogs and
online and newspaper articles, like Rappler, a social news networking site in
the Philippines, and Philstar, a famous newspaper source. Information and
details supplied by the interviewees, Ms. Arlene Villanueva and Dr. Ciela Mae
Velasco-Tomawis,

bring

an

interesting,

yet

concerning

view

to

the

relationship between poverty and education. Their observations as well as

facts provided specific details and imagery as well as deep concerns related
to this issue.
Research about the solutions of the Philippines regarding this issue and
concern, such as laws implemented by sectors of the government and help
from international and local charities and organizations, was mainly from the
Gale Database and once again, the Rappler social news networking.
Solutions include the Early Years Act, which planned to strengthen
community and family-level programs for children, Education For All, which
was an upgraded version of the said act, and the Conditional Cash Transfers
(CCT), which are funded by the World Bank and intended to meet short term
consumption needs for young children and families in need.

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Jawhaina Tomawis
Mr. Falls
Senior Project: Research Paper
5 Nov 2014
How does poverty affect education in the Philippines?
As of December 2014, the population of the Philippines has surpassed 100 million at a
rate of 1.73% and is ranked the 12th most populous country in the world (Philippines population).
While the population continues to increase, the Philippines, as a developing country, cant fully
support its peoples wants and needs. Furthermore, there arent enough job opportunities for
every adult in the country, which eventually leads to a competition between the more skilled and
knowledgeable and the less skilled. Those who are less skilled are obviously at a disadvantage,
as they dont have the specialized skills that the more skilled adults have; then, those who
werent able to acquire a regular job will search for any type of work, not even complaining
about the salary just to survive. As a result, they will land on extremely low paying jobs and will
eventually fall into poverty.
In 2012, the poverty rate of the Philippines was reported to be 27.9% of its population,
however, last June 2013, the new estimated poverty rate was at 24.9%, which may seem as an
improvement, but in reality, it isnt (Torres, 2014). The target reduction rate regarding poverty
for the year of 2015 is 12.2%, which is still half of the current percentage (Meeting the goals
of, 2010). In addition, 10% of the Philippines population is considered to be extremely poor
and is living on less than $1.25 per day (Welch, 2013).
Along with this major concern of poverty comes another, which is education. Poverty
greatly affects the students education; in fact, the Philippine Institute for Development Studies

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(PIDS) cited poverty as one of the top reasons why students do not attend or drop out of school.
According to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) more than 1 million children
were reported to be out of school in 2012 (Rodriguez, 2014). With this high number of out-ofschool children, the Philippines remain as one of the top 10 countries with the highest out-ofschool population; in fact, it is the 5th country in the world with the most number of school
dropouts (Diola, 2014). There are countless of explanations to how poverty affects education in
the Philippines, however, the 3 main factors that contribute to the effect of poverty on education:
geographic location, lack of resources, and health.
Geographic Location
In 2010, more than half of the countrys population lives in rural areas accounting for
54.7% of the total population. Moreover, almost 80% of the Filipino poor live in the rural areas
of the country, living off of agriculture, mainly farming and fishing. For these people,
agriculture is the primary and only source of income as they are mostly illiterate and
unemployed. Considered the poorest of the poor are the indigenous peoples, who are smallscale farmers who cultivate land received through agrarian reform, landless workers, fishers,
people in upland areas and women, (Rural poverty portal).
This extreme poverty in rural areas has a huge impact on the childrens education and
future. Though public schools are free, parents choose not to send their children to school as
their help with the work in farms, especially during harvest time, simply means an increase in the
familys income (Weinstein, 2010). Instead of these children learning and preparing for their
future in school, they are working with and for their families in order to have something to eat
and survive. Last year, according to DOLE, Philippines is home to over 2 million working
children between the ages of 5-17 (Rodriguez, 2014).

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Another major issue regarding rural areas effects on childrens education is the school
accessibility. Some of the rural areas are small towns located deep in the mountains and are
extremely remote. In order to get to school, many students have to walk for up to 2 hours, or
worse, have to swim across rivers. By traveling for hours, students are physically exhausted and
their school performance are affected (Geronimo, 2014). For other rural areas, schools are
present, however, the people who are needed to teach the students are not (Diola, 2014). Some
teachers are not willing enough to travel to these remote areas every single day, or even live in
these remote areas leaving their families behind. As a result, students would have to turn to their
neighboring towns and go through the same process as those students who do not have school
accessibility, which is walking for hours, just to get the education they need.
Lack of resources
The lack of resources acts as another major barrier to education in the Philippines,
primarily the lack of finances. Even though the admission to public schools (pre-school- high
school) are free, parents still have to worry about other finances, such as other school fees,
allowance, daily transportation, books, uniforms, school supplies, projects, and other
miscellaneous fees. Fearing this financial burden, parents decide to let their children stay at
home, and if possible, work for the family (Rodriguez, 2014). As mentioned previously, there
are 2 million working children in the Philippines; out of those 2 million, 1 million children are
not attending school. The usual case is that students from poverty would be able to reach certain
grades, but unfortunately, are unable to graduate. Some students even decide for themselves and
choose work over school, wanting to contribute to the family income (Rodriguez, 2014).
Moreover, some of these working children are engaged into hazardous labor, desperate
attempts, or criminal activities for the sake of helping their families (Rodriguez, 2014). Some

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students do manage to balance school and work, however, school performance is affected, as
they are both physically and mentally exhausted.
In addition to the lack of financial support, there are also issues regarding classroom
conditions, or the shortage of classrooms in public schools. According to a newspaper report,
82% of 764 public schools around Metro Manila were congested with as many as 80 students
per classroom. A public school teacher whose name is Ms. Arlene Villanueva (2014) stated in an
interview, Students were so packed in the classrooms that they looked like sardines. In my
classroom, it is extremely difficult to move around because desks are closely lined up next to
each other. Theres no space for me to walk down the aisles and reach the back of the room.
She also added, I really think that the classroom conditions in public schools are the worst,
especially because my students at the back of the room always struggle to listen and pay
attention to the lesson because of all the noise. I also noticed that my students sitting at the back
tend to have lower grades. One of the solutions of some school authorities for this serious
problem is by cutting classes in half and cramming the excess students into science labs,
libraries, corridors, etc. According to the IBON research foundation, the Philippines public
school system lacked 152,569 classrooms, 13.28 million school chairs, 95 million books, and the
shortage of over 100,000 teachers (Pastrana, 2014). Unfortunately, these high numbers barely go
down as in every year comes more needs for classrooms, chairs, and school supplies due to
natural disasters.
As the country is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, it is prone to earthquakes and
typhoons. One year ago, a typhoon considered as one of the most powerful storms that hit the
country destroying thousands of homes and affecting over 14 million Filipinos, including 6
million children, was Typhoon Haiyan (Philippines Typhoon Haiyan). The aftermath of the

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typhoon was so devastating that it brought awareness to the international community, resulting to
other countries volunteering and participating in helping the Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan
destroyed 3,100 schools, including approximately 20,000 classrooms needing to be repaired or
rebuilt, across the nation. After seven months, only 35% of the totally damaged classrooms and
53% of the ones that were partially damaged have been rebuilt. While other schools are being
rebuilt and others waiting to be rebuilt, classes are still being conducted, however, the classes are
held in over 4,000 of the so called learning spaces, which are tents made out of only metal and
wood (Pastrana, 2014). In such extreme classroom conditions, students are unable to concentrate
and pay attention to the teacher as they endure the heat and noise of the overcrowded classrooms.
All in all, it is not only the childrens education that is being affected by natural disasters, but
also the families status as the natural calamities and other man-made shocks would tend to
move the non-poor into poverty and the poor into deeper poverty (Meeting the goals of,
2010).
Health
Possibly the most important factor caused by poverty which negatively impacts the
students education is poor health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), poverty
serves as the main cause of poor health as it forces people to live in unsanitary and polluted
environments, without access to clean water or sanitation. Kofi Annan, a diplomat who served as
the 7th Secretary-General for the United Nations, even stated, The biggest enemy of health in the
developing world is poverty, (Poverty and Health, 2014).
In the Philippines, the poorest of the poor in the cities live in slums, or squatters, which
are crumbling temporary tenements or shacks slung under bridges or hovels built on top of
toxic waste dumps (Roy, 2014). In the squatter areas located around Metro Manila, there are no

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such things as pure, clean water and food, or sanitation, as these areas are surrounded mainly by
garbage, human waste, and toxic wastes. A Manila Doctors Pediatrician, Dr. Ciela Mae VelascoTomawis (2014) stated, The conditions at the squatters area really do place a huge threat to the
people living in these areas, especially the children, whose immune systems are not as strong as
those of the adults. Skin diseases, malaria, and dengue are just some of the diseases they may
acquire from living in these squatter settlements. Once a child is exposed to one of these
diseases, his or her life will be at risk, affecting not only the childs education as a result of
absenteeism, but also his or her life as a whole. By living in these areas, children are exposed to
unsafe surroundings, violence, and illnesses (Philippines urban).
Another health related issue in the Philippines is hunger and malnutrition. Many children
from poor families tend to eat less nutritious foods, lacking nutrients needed for their bodies,
therefore, affecting their mental and physical health (Rodriguez, 2014). These children also
suffer from hunger because they dont have the money to buy food, resulting to malnutrition. The
World Health Organization described malnourished children as lacking energy, less curious and
playful, and less socially active, which impairs the childrens physical, mental, and cognitive
development. Based on Dr. Velasco-Tomawis observations in one of Manilas public schools,
she reported, The class I observed was a 6th grade classroom. I noticed that some of the students
were very skinny for their height and age. I had my eyes on these students throughout the
duration of time I was in the classroom and I noticed how they were inactive, weak, and never
really participated in the discussion and activities. These are certainly due to malnutrition. In
the childrens case, early malnutrition can result to shyness, anxiety, less intellectual curiosity,
and a lowered sense of efficacy that a child may carry into adulthood; by developing these,
malnourished children tend to participate in fewer school or class activities as well as

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interactions with other classmates (Rodriguez, 2014). As a result, their academic performance,
as well as concentration, critical thinking, and creativity, may be negatively affected, or worse,
suffer.
The negative impact of poor health on students education was shown through the scores
of the National Achievement Test (NAT), which is a test conducted yearly for students in grade
levels 3, 6, and high school. According to the 2012 NAT results, the mean percentage score for
students in the 3th Grade was 56.98%. For 6th Graders, the percentage was slightly higher at
66.79%. Lastly, for high school students, the mean percentage was the lowest out of the three at
48.90%. All of these mean percentage scores were extremely low, especially the high school
students, that it raised questions not only on the students academic performance, but also
criticisms against parents, teachers, and the government (Rodriguez, 2014).

The Problem
So, what are the solutions for this major issue of poverty and education in the
Philippines? What is being done to solve this problem? The answer is that the government has
passed laws and policies for childrens rights to free education and has provided solutions for
families living in extreme poverty. However, even with all these laws, policies, or solutions
passed and implemented, barely anything has changed. Critics even say, The Philippines is
good at planning policies but fail at actual implementation (Rodriguez, 2014).
Throughout the years, the Philippine government has passed several laws regarding
education, including the Early Years Act in 2013. This particular act ordered the Early
Childhood Care Development, or ECCD, Council to strengthen communities as well as
programs for children through providing free daycares, building neighborhood playgroups,

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educating and training parents and community workers, and home visiting programs. Also, the
government created a plan called Education for All as early as 1991 and has been revised
several times in order to meet the countrys goal by 2015, which is education for everyone
(Rodriguez, 2014).
Along with these laws and policies, local and international organizations, or charities,
have been involved in helping the Philippines overcome the problem regarding education and
poverty. An example is the Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT) funded by the World Bank; a part
of these cash transfers are given to young children attending school. Some of the local and
international charities are Save the Children and ChildHope Philippines, which provide support
for the students and children in need (Welch, 2013).
Even with all these laws, policies, and local and international help, the Philippines is still
dealing with such a huge problem between education and poverty. Lack of regulations and
awareness of the laws and programs protecting and supporting childrens rights and needs are the
main causes of why the Philippines is still dealing with this issue (Welch, 2013). In order to
reach the goal of education for every child in the Philippines, there must be more laws and
policies outlining childrens rights to free and easy access on education. Also, more people
needs to be aware and follow the legislations passed so that people will be engaged in their
communities and contribute to ease this problem. The Socioeconomic Planning and NEDA
(National Economic and Development Authority) Director General Arsenio Balisacan once
stated, What we need is a strong and unified determination from all sectors, at the national and
local levels, for our country to make good on our Millennium promise, (Meeting the goals
of).

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Conclusion
Poverty has had a negative impact on education in the Philippines in many ways, whether
it is lack of materials, schools, or poor health. Education, on the other side, also impacts poverty;
without education, people are more likely to land on low-paying jobs, affecting the familys
income, which will eventually lead them into poverty. Without education, children miss the
knowledge and values needed for their lives and future. For those working children, even though
they might think of dropping out of school as a better idea for the mean time to help their
families eat and survive, it will never be the better solution. It will only lead to the children
being used to their working environment, enjoying and being satisfied of how their work helps
their families, and never returning back to school ever again. Their decision of work instead of
education is possibly the worst decision they have ever made. As they grow up and have their
own families, these children, who were unable to access adequate nutrition and education, lack
the proper knowledge about childcare, affecting their childrens lives. Choosing work over
education as children lessens their opportunity and chance to escape poverty. Therefore, poverty
affects education and education affects poverty. Without the childrens, parents, communities,
governments, and the countrys cooperation and contribution as a whole, this never-ending cycle
between poverty and education can never be stopped and solved.