Maniago, Lady Francesca Nicole S.

H 11 – E

Alleviating Poverty in the Philippines: can this be resolved using experimental

method?

Thesis Statement :

 Debunking the myth of alleviating poverty in the Philippines through the use of experimental method.

I. Lack of Education contributes to poverty

a) The Problem of Rural Education in the Philippines.

b) Since 1991, we have done precisely what the education-focused poverty people said to do.

Between 1991 and 2014, we steadily reduced the share of adults in the "less than high school"

and "high school" bins and increased the share of adults in every other bin. (Brookings and the

American Enterprise Institute’s bipartisan consensus plan for reducing poverty.)

II. Lack of government projections to promote jobs that fit the existing labor force.

a) Employment and labor relations

b) Distribution of workers by education level and employment status.

Conclusion :

 Experimental method CAN be used to resolve social problems more specifically the poverty in the
Philippines because this calls for an immediate solution with a gradual process
Alleviating Poverty in the Philippines: can this be resolved using experimental

method?

Poverty alleviation aims to improve the quality of life for those people currently living

in poverty. First, let us have a clear understanding of poverty. From a Webster dictionary, poverty means

‘lack of money or material possessions’. While from the book of Villegas entitled ‘Guide to

Economicsfor Filipinos’ he stated that poverty or being poor means ‘experiencing a low qualityof life

deprived of both the material and non material requirements that allow anindividual to live like a human

being’. According to ‘Addison Wesley Economics’ byRichard M. Hodgetts’ said most of people regard

poverty as ‘a condition in which people are unable to buy the minimal amount of food, clothing and

shelter that isrequired for existence’. Over all there are a lot of ways to define poverty, it dependson how

the person thinks or how does the person relate it to his life personal experiences.

Alleviating poverty has always been a major challenge in the Philippines. Across

generations, the country’s leaders vowed to bring the poverty numbers down but it seems to have

remained daunting. Poor people start life at a disadvantage. Malnutrition, lack of resources, poor access

to quality health care, low education, and skills limit their lifetime earnings. Inefficient institutions,

corruption, and political instability can also discourage investment. Aid and government support in

health, education, and infrastructure helps growth by increasing human and physical capital. Despite the

said efforts of both government and business firms many Filipinos remain in need.
There are issues that has lessened the poverty issues in the other countries by the use of social

experiments. Duflo explains that experiments can help answer simple and specific questions, for

example: ‘Is it better to give bednets for free or make people pay in order to reduce malaria in under 5s

(the leading cause of child mortality in Africa)?’ 2009 MacArthur fellow Esther Duflo argues that

experiments, using randomized controlled trials, are essential to the eradication of poverty. Duflo

describes the use of experiments as revolutionising the field of medicine – and advocates for their use to

improve social science interventions. Dude outlines how experiments can provide policy makers with a

range of options.

The Philippine Education has undergone several stages of development from the pre-Spanish

time to the present. Education is a basic factor in economic development. At the microeconomic level

education has an important role in social mobility, equity, public health, better opportunities for

employment (lower unemployment and higher wages), etc. Education is for many an escape route away

from poverty. Many children are forced to disengage or drop-out from school because of poverty. they

cannot even afford the transportation and miscellaneous expenses like food allowances necessary to send

their children to school, ultimately making education beyond the reach of many supposedly students.

According to my research; 1 in 10 Filipinos has never gone to school (6.8 million) (Education

Network Quick Stats,2003)· 1 in 6 Filipinos is not functionally literate (9.6 million),· 4.1 million

Filipinos are complete illiterate.· 1 in 3 children/ youth is not attending school(11.6 million)· About

half(51%) of Filipinos had Elementary Education at most· Among poor Filipinos, only about 70% can

read, write and compute.· Only a little over half(54.3%) are fully literate· Among non-poor Filipinos,

45.3% have completed at least basic education.· In contrast, only 14.3% have achieved this level of
 education among the rural poor Filipinos (According to IBON Foundation). One more child out of every

10 school-age children was not able to go to school, highlighting the need for higher government

spending in social services.

In this essay I would like to focus on the Rural Education in the Philippines. There are towns

located deep in the mountains and the rice fields, about 80% of the Filipino poor live. The population

density in the rural parts of the country is low, and there is a corresponding deficiency in schools and

classrooms. Public school is free, but families still cannot afford to send their children for a complicated

network of reasons. In order to provide for their everyday, children in farming families are expected to

work in the fields during harvest time. In agriculture-based communities where farming is the primary

livelihood, having children around to help with the work means more income for the family. Some have

to cross rivers and climb hills with their bookbags. The ones that can afford it take a tricycle, but that is a

luxury. Schools are sometimes too far for the most remote communities to practically access. So the

families can’t afford to pay and the children are pulled from school. Corruption in the education

bureaucracy and a lack of resources make delivering a high-quality education to all Filipinos a

challenge.

Microfinance is one way to help. With the assistance of microcredit loans, women can

pay for the education of their children – to purchase uniforms, textbooks, lunches, and rides to school.

Also, by creating another source of income other than farming, the children do not have to come help the

family work the fields.

In Australia they provided a social experiment that provides a focus on the unique

challenges and opportunities rural, regional and remote communities encounter. Here they enhanced the

opportunities for children, to ensure that they have vibrant and valued rural communities with a strong

social and economic future. They focused on the uniqueness of each communities and improved it for
everyone to make a living out of it that benefits the country at the same time. Such communities are also

attractive places for professions to relocate to, have a career and raise a family.

In the Philippines failure to fully develop the agriculture sector is our major peoblem.

Some countries that agriculture is the major way of living had been successful on improving it for the

benefit of their country and people. Last year the whole country was shocked and panicked with the news

that came to town. We had had a rice shortage, how come we encountered that, considering that our

country is blessed by abundant natural resources; we have a good land for agriculture. But of course due

to lack of government support we can’t have a better use of it. Hence that government doesn’t give

enough support to our farmers for agriculture. If we give this amount to our farmers in the form of

fertilizers, insecticide, seedlings, irrigation and other support services, they will be able to produce more

than the required rice supply.

REFERENCES…

 Massachusetts jurisprudence. (1994). Rochester, NY: Lawyers Cooperative Pub.

 The Problem of Rural Education in the Philippines. (2012, August 28). Retrieved from
https://joshweinstein.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/the-problem-of-education-in-the-philippines/

 Employment and Skills Strategies in the Philippines. (2017, May 12). Retrieved from
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/employment/employment-and-skills-strategies-in-the-
philippines_9789264273436-en