TUMAAS umano ang bilang ng mga dropout sa bansa nang ipatupad ng gobyerno ang K to 12 program.
Ayon kay ACT Representatives Antonio Tinio at France Castro dapat tugunan ng gobyerno ang paglobo ang mga out of school children.
“The government brags the increase in the net enrolment in elementary and high schools but there are still millions deprived of their right to education. The number of children accommodated in the public school system gets smaller as one goes from Kinder to Grade 12,” ani Tinio.
Batay sa 2016 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey ng Philippine Statistics Authority, 3.8 milyon o isa sa bawat 10 bata na edad 6-24 ang hindi nag-aaral.
Sa bilang na ito 3.3 milyon ang edad 16-24 na dapat ay nasa senior high school o kolehiyo.
Walong porsyento ng Grade 6 ang tumitigil sa pag-aaral at hindi nakakapagtapos at hindi nagpapa-enroll sa Grade 7.
Labing-walong porsyento naman ng junior high school ang hindi pumapasok ng Senior High School.
“This is further supported by the data from the Human Development Report 2015 showing that the mean years of schooling in 2014 is only 8.9,” ani Tinio.
Pinapalala umano ito ng problema na patuloy na kinakaharap sa mga paaralan sa elementarya at high school.
“This shows that the average Filipino youth does not even graduate from junior high school. With this alarming statistics and the perennial problems of shortages of teachers and classrooms, it is appalling that the government is so keen on adding two more years to basic education, without careful planning and preparation of the curricula, learning materials and personnel,” ani Castro.