I. ABSTRACT
Drop-out is a common problem of each school. One of the initiative of the Department of education is the establishment of DORP or the “Drop-out reduction Program”. It is an intervention program to reduce the high dropout rate and improve learning outcomes in public and private schools of the country, using formal, non-formal and informal approaches.
This study, using descriptive research design wherein the involvement and the characteristic of the population towards DORP is centralized, focuses on the Implementation of DORP of the Secondary School of Area 1 and the involvement of the Local Government Unit (LGU) in implementing it. Analyzation of the data gathered brought us to the conclusion that said municipalities covered by this study admits to be having a huge percentage of dropping out in where they are willing to work hand-in-hand with all the stakeholders to eliminate it. The following are the planned and are under implementation project of the municipalities to have the problem remedied: provide financial support, conduct home visitation and dialogue with parents, closely monitor recipients of 4ps, open new secondary school in far flung area, plans to open night high school, others such as bahay pag asa, supplemental feeding, week base education system.
In conclusion, said Municipalities are mostly aware of what the DORP program is together with the advantage that it could bring if properly implemented. Based on the data provided by each respondents, there are already measures that are under planning phase, or under implementation that targets the problem. What is lacking is the keen monitoring and evaluation of the said measures, meaning the involvement of stakeholders and support is lacking.
II. INTRODUCTION AND RATIONALE
ZERO DROP-OUT RATE! This is the aim of almost every school for it is believed that the effectivity and efficiency of a school is classified on its drop-out rate. Measures had been done to hit the said title but still undeniably impossible if the school only works one way. Stakeholders such as the parents, community, and most importantly the LGU, must be on the same side in battling drop-out rate.
What is a drop-out? As one of the most serious educational problem faced by the Philippines, a drop-out is defined as “any student who leaves school for any reason before graduation or completion of a program of studies without transferring to another elementary or secondary school.
One of the initiative of the Department of education is the establishment of DORP or the “Drop-out reduction Program”. It is an intervention program to reduce the high dropout rate and improve learning outcomes in public and private schools of the country, using formal, non-formal and informal approaches. The program aims to facilitate access of every Filipino to quality basic education, which equips him with the basic literacy tools and content that are essential for his growth and development as a person and as a citizen of a democratic society.
To achieve this aim, DORP has the following specific objectives:
1. Reduce, if not totally eliminate school dropout;
2. increase retention rate;
3. increase significantly the achievement level of the Students-at-Risk of
Dropping Out (SARDO);
4. retrieve learners who are out of school;
5. increase the capability of schools to establish, implement, monitor, evaluate
and continuously improve the DORP;
6. design and continuously improve DORP practices and learning materials;
7. benchmark the best DORP practices.
8. saved SARDO
Complete with legal basis, guiding principles, conceptual and theoretical framework, DORP is set to alleviate, if not halt the cycle of poor education that ripples till employment and affects economic progress of the country.
Education is too important and far too crucial for only one facet of the society to work it. For a better graduates, every stakeholders holds a special role in honing the students and contribute life-long learnings. In education, the term stakeholder typically refers to anyone who is invested in the welfare and success of a school and its students, including administrators, teachers, staff members, students, parents, families, community members, local business leaders, and elected officials such as school board members, city councilors, and state representatives. This clearly calls for the inclusion of the Local Government Unit in the educational process of the students within the community. (LGU).
Basic public education is still largely the responsibility of the central government, delivered through the Department of Education (DepEd), notwithstanding the devolution of many basic services to local government units (LGUs). However, LGUs do provide supplementary funding support to public basic education because they have access to a sustainable source of financial resources that are earmarked for the basic education subsector, the Special Education Fund (SEF). The SEF comes from an additional one percent tax on real property that LGUs are mandated to impose and collect by virtue of Republic Act 7160 otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991.The resources that LGUs provide to the basic education sector from their general fund are quite significant at 7 percent of total general government spending on basic education in 2001-2008. Thus, the LGUs are considered major partners of the national government in the delivery of basic education services. With these on the limelight, we can establish the idea that the LGU can be of assistance to the school in realizing the DORP.
III. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
A drop-out student is deprived of his/her right to education. Stakeholders must hand-in-hand establish ways of lessening or abolishing the said right-depriving act. In the Philippines, the dropout rates revealed an alarming 83.7 percent, meaning the country is producing 2.13 million college dropouts annually. In this case, the Philippine government must, in the next education generation or the next 14 years be able to reverse the current situation from 80 percent of college students enrolled in private schools and 20 percent in state universities and colleges (SUCs) to 20 percent, private colleges, and 80 percent SUCs (Manila Bulletin, 2012).
Based on the Local Government Code of 1991, it is mandatory for the LGUs to do two main things: One, they are to support the education services the national government provides. Indeed, LGUs are required to allocate 1 percent of their Real Property Tax (RPT) collection to their Special Education Fund (SEF). Two, they are to ensure citizen participation in the budgeting and allocating of their resources for the education services.
LGUs are also expected to provide support in the improvement of the state of education. This includes improving the elementary participation rate, elementary completion rate, secondary completion rate, tertiary and technical education completion rate and basic or simple literacy rate.
In this regard, the LGUs are expected to spend their SEF on the:
1. Operation and maintenance of public schools.
2. Construction and repair of school buildings, facilities and equipment.
3. Educational research.
4. Purchase of books and periodicals.
5. Sports development.
LGUs are further expected to support extension classes and provide locally funded teachers’ salaries. By and large, the LGUs are expected to supplement the available resources from the central office, especially for items that are in short supply. But what exact measures do the LGU do to support DORP?
As clearly stated, the LGU has a direct and imposed responsibilities towards the education process. With DORP as the highlight, this research aims to know the following:
What is the extent of awareness of the LGU about DORP?
What is the extent of awareness of the LGU about the drop-out rate of the schools under its jurisdiction?
What are the programs the LGU is undertaking in line with the objective of DORP?
What are the programs the LGU is planning to lessen drop-out?
IV. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
A zero drop-out rate is a cloud for every stakeholders in Education. This shall set the foundation for a better future of the students with an expectation of better performance academically. This better performance shall contribute to alleviated educational status of our country, which seems to be ranking low in most international academic skills survey. To top that this shall add to the competitive work force working locally and abroad which will contribute high to our country’s economic dilemma.
Specifically, this study will directly tap the following group/individuals:
a. SARDOs( Students at Risk of Dropping out)
- This generation’s students, with their exposure to social media, is susceptible to making complex and unguided decisions. The latter somehow affects them to resort towards course of actions that they might find regretful in the future. Though basically, most reasons of dropping out hinges from financial instability, stakeholders must also take into consideration the mental unstableness of the SARDOs. This study will somehow save and give them light out the dark path of dropping out.
b. School Administration(e.g. Teachers, Principals, etc..)
- The moment the child enter the school, the school administration has to take responsibility is caring, nurturing and molding them produce a strong-willed individual out of them anchored in the mission vision and core Values of our good office. Dropping out is a phenomena that could be avoided if the parties involved are fully aware of the reasons with a guided monitoring measure to lessen if not completely abolish it.
c. LGU
- Education is a partnership. This include the community as a whole, especially the LGU. This research will be of significant to them in better grasping the drop-out problem. This shall also highlight the measures that they are implementing to be emulated, or simply give them an information on how they can be of assistance to this dilemma.
V. SCOPE AND DELIMITATIONS
This study focuses on the Implementation of DORP of the Secondary School on Area 1 and the involvement of the LGU in implementing it. Area 1 schools includes those coming the Municipality of Palo, Alangalang, Sta. Fe, San Miguel, Tanauan, Tolosa, and Babatngon. The data gathered from the following Municipalities under Area 1 does not reflect or generalize the other area.
VI. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES
DROP-OUT; WHY’S AND WHAT’S
Before planning of ways to eradicate drop-outs, it is equally important to know that why’s and what’s of dropping out. Yet identifying the causes of dropping out is extremely difficult. Like other forms of educational achievement (e.g., test scores), the act of dropping out is influenced by an array of factors related to both the individual student and to the family, school, and community settings in which the student lives (National Research Council, Committee on Increasing High School Students' Engagement and Motivation to Learn, 2004).
Dropouts themselves report a variety of reasons for leaving school, including school related reasons, family-related reasons, and work-related reasons (Bridgeland, DiIulio Jr., & Morison, 2006; Rotermund, 2007). A number of theoretical models that have attempted to explain this phenomenon and its relationship to other indicators of school performance further illustrate this complexity. For example, some scholars have viewed dropping out of school as the final stage in a dynamic and cumulative process of disengagement (Newmann, 1992; Rumberger, 1987; Wehlage, Rutter, Smith, Lesko, & Fernandez, 1989) or withdrawal (Finn, 1989) from school that is influenced by a variety of proximal and distal factors. Other scholars have characterized student mobility—the act of students making non-promotional school changes—as a less severe form of student disengagement or withdrawal from school (Lee & Burkam, 1992; Rumberger & Larson, 1998; Rumberger, 2003). In the latter case, students are withdrawing from a particular school, while in the former case students are withdrawing from school altogether.
EFFECTIVITY OF DORP
The official Gazette of the Department of Education, on his press release dated October 2011 , claimed that the intensified campaign and continuous interventions developed by the Department of Education (DepEd) to reduce the number of high school students quitting school registered a remarkable increase with nearly 2,000 schools nationwide registering a zero dropout rate compared with last year’s numbers totaling to 56 secondary schools.
Luistro said the program is effective because the alternative delivery mode for students who are at risk of dropping out (SARDO) is being tailored fit to meet the learners’ unique educational requirement. “We first check the SARDOs circumstances, then come up with alternatives that respond to their specific learning needs,” he added.
DepEd records show that the DORP has contributed to the remarkable accomplishment, reducing the high school dropout rate from 12.51 percent in 2005–2006 to 7.95 percent in school year ‘09–‘10.
“There are many learners who face difficult social and economic situations and they too need government intervention. This is part of our mandate to make education inclusive and accessible to all Filipino learners,” Luistro explained.
DepEd came up with DORP to save students from dropping out of the rolls because of financial problems; peace and order issues; and physical handicap, family, and health concerns, among others. It offers a menu of alternative delivery modes that aim to keep students in school and finish their basic education.
Simultaneously, the Open High School Program (OHSP) is providing access to all learners who are not capable of coming to school every day for justifiable reasons. It is a distance education program with unique features like self-directed learning and acceleration by learning area or by year level. This allows working students or previously out-of-school-youth to continue studying using specialized learning modules.
The Schools Initiated Interventions (SII), which is one of the features of the DORP, is also effective as the school itself designs the kind of help a student needs according to his/her unique circumstances. The SII has enabled schools to determine, based on interview, specific problems of students or the real causes for dropping out.
DepEd also reported that there are nearly 8,000 OHSP graduates of whom 1,355 proceeded to college, 59 went abroad, and 719 are employed locally. Data are still coming in as the DORP team continues to track graduates of the OHSP
VII. METHODOLOGY
To make this research as reliable and credible, the following method shall be used:
1. Research Design
This research employs descriptive research design wherein the involvement and the characteristic of the population towards DORP is centralized. It primarily geared toward explaining DORP and the involvement of LGU through a demographic segment. None of the variables that are part of the research will be influenced or altered and this will only attempt to collect quantifiable information to be used for statistical analysis. The data collected from this study can be utilized for further knowledge or review of those who plan to trudge the same study.
2. Sampling
Area 1 has a total of seven (7) Municipalities that makes up the total population. An accurate sample size is a prerequisite in assuring validity of a research. Sample is a part of a population that the researcher used for inferences. Since there are only 7 municipalities covering Area 1, the researcher decided to utilize 100% of the population to yield better and comprehensive outcome.
3. Data Collection
For formality, the researcher will send a letter to the respondents seeking permission and cooperation from them. Once permitted to do so, the researcher will now conduct a survey to come up with the following information from the respondents:
a. Municipalities
b. Number of School under its jurisdiction ( Secondary only)
` c. Average drop-out rate
d. Awareness of DORP
e. Plans implemented in line with DORP
f. Participation in S-DORP
g. List of plans to be implemented regarding DORP
The researcher will also ask for a copy of accomplishment reports/ monitoring report of the plans and DORP related project already implemented and actualized if available.
4. Ethical Issues
This researches will most likely enjoin Sanggunian Bayan (SB) member in-charge of Educational Affairs of each municipalities. Each respondents shall be deemed important and will be treat with utmost respect as the researchers are the one who are requesting information that could be confidential. Congruently, the information imparted shall also be deemed confidential. During the making of table for analyzation, Municipalities shall be marked as M1, M2 and so on for subject protection of the Municipality of they wish not to be known. No data shall be made without concrete basis that could be attach on the appendix to ensure transparency.
Results shall not be bias and will be anchored on the data analyzation. It shall undergo careful analyzation with honesty and integrity.
5. Plan for Data Analysis
Percentage and frequency shall be used in coding the data that are somehow the same. Since there is a massive possibility that practices and measures are going to be different in every municipality, each varied answer shall be tabulated. Microsoft excel shall be used in the tabulation of answers, mode and percentages.
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