A PICTURE of a young boy wearing a school uniform while selling Sampaguita in the street has caught the attention of netizens, noting that the government should do more for children’s education in the country.

This was after Manila Bulletin posted the photo of the student on Facebook from Quezon City, who said he is a Grade 12 student trying to earn an income to help him with his studies.

The photo gained mixed reactions from netizens, with sentiments pointing to the government’s prioritizing programs for education.

“Sorry to burst your bubble but he is not “mulat sa realidad”. HE IS a “biktima sa realidad”. I am so done romanticizing these things. This picture should not inspire us, but jolt those people in power to action. Inaccessible quality education brought by poverty is the elephant in the room,” one netizen wrote on the comment section.

“The PISA results indicate that socio-economically advantaged students outperformed those socio-economically disadvantaged ones. We should not turn a blind eye to this problem. This is one of the reasons why our education system is failing— we disregard students’ welfare,” he added.

A 2021 report by the Philippine Statistics Authority stated that around 19.3% of Filipino children under 18 years of age are living below the poverty line.