Four out of Five Children Aged 5 to 24 Years Were Attending School for School Year 2022 to 2023
Based on the 2017 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS), about nine percent of the estimated 39.2 million Filipinos aged 6 to 24 years old were out-of-school children and youth (OSCY). OSCY refers to family members 6 to 14 years old who are not attending formal school; and family members 15 to 24 years old who are currently out of school, not gainfully employed, and have not finished college or post-secondary course.
Of the 3.6 million OSCYs, 83.1%0 were 16 to 24 years old, 11.2% percent were 12 to 15 years old and 5.7% were 6 to 11 years old. The proportion of OSCYs was higher among females (63.3% ) than males (36.7% ) (Table 1).
The most common reasons among OSCYs for not attending school were marriage or family matters (37.0% ), lack of personal interest (24.7% ), and high cost of education or financial concern (17.9% ). Among females OSCYs, marriage or family matters (57.0% ) was the main reason for not attending school while lack of personal interest among males (43.8% ) (Figure 1 and Table 2).
Nationwide, about one-half of OSCYs belong to families whose income fall at the bottom 30 percent based on their per capita income (Table 3).
The APIS 2017 is a nationwide survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Around 11,000 sample households are covered nationwide in the survey. The survey is designed to provide non-income indicators related to poverty at the national level. It also gathered data on the socio-economic profile of families and other information related to their living condition.
LISA GRACE S. BERSALES, Ph.D.
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General
See more at the Annual Poverty Indicators Survey landing page.