The forgotten citizens – our Filipino youth

Enough now of politics. Greed has taken over our lives so much so that our future is in very bad shape. What are our leaders fighting for? Power? Money? Don’t they know that this country is already going down? There’s just too much exploitation going on for decades and not one public servant has had the courage to stop it.

I’ve always wondered how our public servants can stomach their corrupt practices. What do they tell their children? How do they explain their wealth? When they take advantage of the country’s natural resources and the people’s hard earned tax money; when they keep a position but don’t actually help the country’s development, do they even think of their own children’s and grandchildren’s future?

I guess at some point we must stop and think of our country’s future. We must think of our children’s future. What will become of their lives in this God forsaken country of ours?

Jose Rizal once said, “The youth is the hope of the fatherland.” But how are we addressing their needs today?

A cause of concern now is the growing number of out-of-school youth (or OSY) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Senator Sonny Angara, chairman of the Senate committee on youth, noted that the increase in the number of OSY is a serious issue that could lead to bigger problems, if left unchecked.

Data from the Department of Education show that close to 4 million students were not able to enroll last school year. The agency said that 2.75 million of the 4 million who did not enroll were private school students. Angara said, “We understand that the sharp drop in enrollment for the current school year was due to the restrictions on face-to-face education. We hope to see these figures improve once our schools start to open up again, albeit gradually. What worries me is that many of the children who were not able to enroll last year could end up missing even more time out of school or, worse, drop out completely for one reason or another.” The senator is right. We should worry about the OSY who will lose interest in wanting to return to school.

According to the 2017 Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data, 9 percent or 3.53 million of the estimated 39.2 Filipinos aged 6-24 years old were considered OSYs. Of this number, 83.1 percent consist of individuals 16 to 24 years old, 11.2 percent were 12 to 15 years old and 5.7 percent were 6 to 11 years old. The PSA data indicated that the most common reasons among OSYs for not attending school were marriage or family matters, lack of personal interest and high cost of education or financial concerns.

It must be noted that around 50 percent of OSYs belong to families whose income fall within the bottom 30 percent of the population, based on their per capita income.

The data are quite alarming. Senator Angara is pushing for the establishment of a Magna Carta of the OSYs as proposed in his Senate Bill 1090. The bill seeks to strengthen the State’s mandate of instituting policies and programs for the development of OSYs in the country and to encourage them to seek out the various opportunities available to them.

Angara said a whole-of-government approach will be needed to effectively address the needs and concerns of OSYs, with the DepEd, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Labor and Employment and Department of Trade and Industry as the agencies leading the charge. Other than ensuring OSYs get a proper education, the government will also see to it that they receive all health benefits under the law, as well as the appropriate social services; get help for employment and be provided with the skills or livelihood support.

Is Senate Bill 1090 the answer to the OSYs’ woes? Abangan!

*      *      *

What has become of our youth today? Who are they? What are they like? In an interview of graduating senior high school students (from a private school), I was able to gather some thoughts and sentiments that can help us understand and appreciate our youth of today.

A common difficulty among young people nowadays is not being able to see or have in-person contact with friends and family members. Prolonging the no face-to-face classes is actually detrimental to their mental and physical growth and development. It is fascinating to note, however, that the youth of today are more observant and involved in the present crisis on environment and climate change issues. They worry about the future. They are abreast with current events and want to involve themselves in helping out. They have become more concerned with the accuracy and integrity of information. They want their voices heard.

The youth continues to harbor hope for a better tomorrow. It is easy to assume that their awareness of many social ills could lead to exhaustion, feelings of defeat and hopelessness. And they do acknowledge how challenging everything has been. But they’ve shown remarkable will and youthful stubbornness to continue striving for the personal and social uplift.

Students are actively trying to be part of the solution, both in the short and long run. Some of them have become part of family efforts to donate to public schools or set up community pantries. They show a keen responsiveness to the times. During this pandemic, when they saw the need for an improved health sector, they looked at how they could align their skills with the health sciences.

They know what their generation specializes in and how they can use this to contribute to society. They view social media applications as more than just public diaries. For them, these applications can be used to deliver accurate information, to call for change and to unite communities. But they are also aware of the limitations of these applications. As one student mentioned, it would be faulty to assume that social media can reach everyone, especially the impoverished. And so, when they propose solutions, they take into account the different sectors.

They know what their generation lacks and where to get help. They show that they are not naive, and that they do not believe that the solutions to all the world’s problems are in the palm of their hands alone. They are concerned with the much needed cooperation among the national government, the local government units, the health experts, the local and national media and more to resolve our present crisis.

We need to listen to our children. We need to think of their future. They are still in the process of becoming. They are in a very fragile state. We need to protect them and make them strong so that they can in turn become the changemakers of our country.