ABSTRACT
This study assessed the lived experience of a former Grade 10 student of Don Bosco College. The Phenomenological Qualitative method of research was employed using open-ended interview questions as the data gathering tools. The data recording procedure was done through video conference with the utmost security in the manner and transcribed verbatim. The transcribed data submitted to the official analyst of the school who helped the researcher to derive the emerging theme
The researcher reflected on the lived experiences of the former Grade 10 students in Don Bosco College in determining the factor why the student opted to migrate to another school that offers senior high school. The main reason for the challenge was scholarship, academic standing and seeking for a new culture or environment. Furthermore, it was observed that the former Grade 10 students Don Bosco College – Canlubang sought greater opportunity in preparation for their college life.
The track offerings of the College Department were assessed as relevant. Furthermore, the environment and activities conducted in the school were highly appreciated, the facilities of the school are highly sufficient for a learning environment, and the relationship of the Salesian, Salesian educator and Bosconians was highly commendable. However, the scholarship, academic standing must be considered. From the result, a compilation of testimonies was crafted and Strategic Enrolment Marketing is recommended.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
In the Philippines Education system in the Philippines provided different levels classified as primary, secondary, vocational, and/or tertiary. Primary Education includes grade level one to grade-level six with an optional seventh grade 7 which is being offered by some other schools. Major subjects include Math, Science, English, Filipino, and Social Sciences while for optional grade level seven, it offers Music, Arts, Physical Education, and Health. Furthermore, secondary education consists of four (4) levels with a curriculum prescribed for both public and private schools. In addition, vocational education accredits private institutions known as colleges offering technical and vocational education. Lastly, tertiary education is regulated by the Commission for Higher Education for which most institutions constitute higher learning. This was the structure of the Philippine Education system which was considered as one of the shortest terms in the world.
Being known to be included in countries having a short-term period of education, in 2018, Philippine Education marked one of the most notable milestones when the government actively sought to expand access and participation in higher education and tried to enhance the quality of education. Until the program, K-12 was introduced and formulated reform which affects the rate of college enrollees since most of the students are required to complete two additional years for senior high school before they can be admitted for higher education.
In recent years there are hardship in retaining students in senior high school. Parents and the students, in general, seem to have reasons why their children transfer to other schools. There are those who transfer because they move to a new area. Some do the transferring from private school to public senior high school because of financial reasons. Others do the movement due to high tuition and living expenses. Others transfer as they look for the track or strand that they think is best suited for them. But it is a big deal if a student who is in a private school seeks a transfer to another private school that is having an even higher tuition fee than the former.
This gives the researcher the enthusiasm to tackle a study that will discover the reasons why students transfer to other schools; and in his case, their students who seek movement from their school to another private school. The researcher also thinks about what strategies their school should have to keep the said students. He has been office personnel for eleven (11) years and four (4) years as a teacher at Don Bosco College- Canlubang. Don Bosco College- Canlubang is one of the private institutions which support the Senior High School Program, and it started to offer courses. Unfortunately, it was being observed that there is a hardship in retaining old students and there is a yearly increase of transferring- out of the Grade 10 Bosconians the number of students who transfer was six (6) in the school year 2016 – 2017, sixty-four (64) in the school year 2017 – 2018, forty-one (41) in the school year 2018 – 2019 and lastly forty-seven (47) in the school year 2019 – 2020. In line with this, the researcher attempted to identify what factors contributed to the aforementioned yearly increase of student transfer. The researcher was interested to discover what the said group of students experience in Don Bosco Canlubang as he believed that their testimonies would provide him information as regards his curiosity. Another intention of the researcher was to develop a compilation of testimonies of former grade10 students to help the school strategic enrolment management plan to assure the retention of old students and enrolment of the new ones.
The researcher seeks to answer this central question:
What is the essence of the lived experience of students who migrated to other school?
Corollary Questions:
1. How do the Grade 10 students describe their lived experiences?
2. What themes emerged from the testimonies of the participants?
3. Based on the consolidated results and reflections, what output may be proposed?
2.0 MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY
The study utilized the qualitative research with the phenomenology approach. This approach was used as researchers were “interested in uncovering the meaning of a phenomenon for those involved (Meriam 2012). This strand of research is discovery oriented and the findings are not predetermined because variables would not be manipulated; instead, it is emergent in design. Research questions at the onset, as well as data collection procedures or protocols might change along the way depending on what ongoing data collection and inductive analysis revealed (Creswell,2014).
The research design was applicable to the study of the lived experiences of the former Grade 10 students of the Don Bosco College- Canlubang who transferred to other schools offering senior high schools. The phenomenological approach will concern itself with understanding and revealing the lived experiences of Grade 10 Bosconians in their migrating to other schools.
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