Educating youth key out of poverty

MANILA, Philippines — Extreme poverty is an ailment that continues to afflict the country, according to a foundation that is helping eradicate the problem.

In 2015, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the subsistence incidence among Filipino families – that is, the proportion of families living in extreme poverty – was at 5.7 percent.

“This means that around 1.3 million Filipino families still can’t afford their basic needs,” said Norman Jiao, executive director of the Association of Foundations. AF is the Education Cluster Lead for the Zero Extreme Poverty 2030 (ZEP2030).

In the face of extreme poverty, families often sacrifice the education of children, opting to put the little money that they have in more immediate needs. Almost 10 percent of the estimated 39 million Filipinos from six to 24 years old were out-of-school children and youth (OSCY), according to the 2016 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey.

The most common reasons among OSCYs for not attending school were marriage or family matters, high cost of education or financial concerns and lack of personal interest.

ZEP2030 is a movement composed of non-government entities (NGEs) that aims to end extreme poverty in the Philippines by 2030. It has organized itself into seven clusters, each one working in a specific area where extreme poverty may be addressed, namely health, education, environment, livelihood, agriculture and fisheries, housing and shelter, and partnerships for indigenous peoples.

The education cluster focuses on communities where children and the youth have limited access to education, training and employment opportunities.