The Ilocos Norte Department of Education (DepEd) admitted that the number of out-of-school youths (OSYs) in the province is rapidly increasing due to poverty. Ilocos Norte Schools Division Superintendent Araceli C. Pastor explained that the problem on OSYs, which is alarmingly increasing annually, is a societal problem involving not only the DepEd but also the concerned community and government at large. “It is expected that the reason of drop-out students I because of poverty,” Pastor said as she added that the DepEd is trying to address the issue while recognizing that economic difficulty is being felt by almost everyone in the country. Pastor’s statement came after Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) member Shirley O. Sin brought out the issue of OSYs in Barangay Parot, Vintar, Ilocos Norte, a remote barangay three kilometers from Vintar town proper, where there is no complete elementary school but only a multi-grade primary school from grades 1 to 4 with only two teachers supervising close to 100 pupils. Due to the remoteness of the barangay to the town proper where a complete elementary school is located, Sin said parents with limited income can no longer afford to send their children after finishing their fourth grade because of the high cost of transportation alone. As a result, Sin noted that the number of OSYs in this area is increasing every year. Sin visited the remote Vintar barangay recently as she attended a medical mission program sponsored by the Philippine Councilors’ League (PCL)-Ilocos Norte Chapter. In view of this, Sin has requested the local DepEd to initiate moves to address this issue. In reaction to this, Pastor said in an interview that they would conduct an assessment in the area to find out the number of pupils that would enroll once the education department comes up with funds to finance the completion of a complete elementary school in the barangay. Pastor further explained that in coming up with a project proposal, the department needs to establish first the number of expected enrollees and if the number warrants, a teacher will be assigned in the area. However, Pastor cautioned that the lack of fund to provide for the salary of teachers in the said barangay may become a problem in the future hence the need to further study the matter. Meanwhile, Pastor reported that the DepEd has an ongoing project for OSYs which provide alternative learning system for dropouts and OSYs where a mobile teacher supervises the program. Pastor said the alternative learning scheme purposively designed for OSYs is a distance learning package which provides accredited modules to interested learners and where they are given examinations to determine if they would be allowed to enroll in higher education institutions. Leilanie G. Adriano
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