Phl hopeful it will meet UNESCO targets by 2015

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines remains hopeful it will meet the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) “Education for All (EFA)” targets by 2015, an official of the Department of Education (DepEd) said.

DepEd Assistant Secretary Jesus Mateo said the agency is optimistic that all five-year-olds in the country will be enrolled in kindergarten schools in 2015 as called for by the EFA campaign.

Mateo presented the status of EFA implementation in the Philippines to Mee Young Choi, a program specialist in education at the UNESCO Jakarta, during the launching of the 2014 Education for All Global Monitoring Report last Tuesday.

The UNESCO report, however, showed that Goal 2 (Universal Primary Education) “is likely to be missed by a wide margin” globally.

The net enrollment rate for kindergarten in the Philippines was 79 percent in 2013 and is projected to reach 90 percent this year and 100 percent in 2015, Mateo said.

In January 2012, President Aquino signed Republic Act 10157 or the Universal Kindergarten Law, which seeks to reduce the early dropout incidence in the country.

DepEd also aims to reduce the number of out-of-school youth and adults by partnering with the private sector.

DepEd earlier forged a partnership with various public and private institutions to improve the delivery of quality education for the out-of-school youth (OSY) in the country under its “Abot-Alam” program.

It also aims to improve school participation and eliminate dropout and repetition in the first three grades.

The completion rate for elementary was 75 percent in 2013. It was projected to improved to 78 percent this year and 81 percent in 2015.

For secondary, the completion rate was 75 percent in 2013. It was expected to reach 76 percent this year and 78 percent in 2015.

DepEd data showed that three to four million Filipinos, aged 13 to 30 years old, did not finish high school.