DepEd focus on pre-schoolers to address drop out rate
To address the high dropout rate in elementary level, the Department of Education (DepEd) is now preparing for the coming school opening wherein the DepEd will focus on pre-schoolers as part of the measures.
Education Secretary Mona Valisno made the disclosure after latest study conducted showed that the high dropout rate in elementary level posted in Grade 1 up to Grade 3 was mainly attributed to lack if not poor preparation of school aged children for school in the primary level.
Valisno said school aged children from three to five years old should get the best experience they should have in pre-school level so they will have better preparation for the rigors of school life in primary level.
She disclosed that aside for preparation of standard curriculum for pre-schoolers, the re-implementation of the School Feeding Program is another measure the DepEd is pinning its hope to encourage more parents to send their children to school.
DepEd has been implementing the Food for School Program to pre-schoolers and grades 1-6 students in the food-poor priority areas to address the issue of drop out and malnutrition.
Citing the enrollment rate posted in the Preschool Education Program for school year 2009-2010, Valisno said the number of school aged children that enrolled for the said school year rose from 522,255 to 557,220, an increase of 6.70 percent.
At the same time, the DepEd also noted that school attendance of Grade I to VI has likewise increased from 90 percent in 2006 to 95 percent in 2007.
“The department concerns itself not only with the school children’s academic performance, but also with their physical condition and well-being,” Valisno said.
“We are cognizant of how their nutrition status directly affects their performance in school,” she added.
Valisno, however, admitted that the biggest challenge for DepEd is to encourage school kids to stay in school and improve their performance.
“That is why, DepEd has integrated health and nutrition programs to improve attendance and performance among public school children,” she said.
DepEd records also showed that the percentage of pre-schoolers below the normal nutritional status has slightly dropped in the past year following the implementation of the School Feeding Program.
Earlier, the DepEd outlined a number of measures the education department intend to implement in its effort to improve the declining quality of public education in the country.
The DepEd claimed that it has recorded gains in its commitment to make quality basic education accessible to as many learners through policy reforms and peak resource mobilization and posting substantial improvement in national student test ratings, among its achievements.
The DepEd stressed that all efforts to turn around situation are geared towards making every Filipino functionally literate and that includes the out-of–school youth, adults, indigenous people, even the mentally and physically-challenged. (PNA)
