SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian proposed an enhanced back-to-school program in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to address enrollment woes in the region as he lamented the low cohort survival rate in the region.

Based on data from the Department of Education and analysis from the senator’s office, only 17 out of every 100 learners who attended Grade 1 in School Year 2010-2011 completed Grade 12 in SY 2021-2022.

This is much lower than the national cohort survival rate of 51 out of 100 learners completing Grade 12 in SY 2021-2022.

“Kailangang hikayatin natin ang ating mga magulang at kabataan sa BARMM upang magbalik at manatili sa mga paaralan. Puntahan natin ang bawat tahanan at tiyakin nating hindi mapagkakaitan ng edukasyon ang ating mga kababayan sa BARMM,” Gatchalian said.

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education lamented that almost half a million youth in BARMM are not in school.

Data from the DepEd revealed that only 6 percent or 28,832 of out-of-school youth are enrolled in the Alternative Learning System.

Gatchalian said that local officials and community leaders should be tapped in the conduct of house visits to persuade families to send their children to school.

Based on the PSA’s 2019 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey, the top reasons for non-attendance in schools among those aged 6-20 are lack of personal interest, 34 percent and insufficiency of family income to send children to school, 25.6 percent.

In implementing the back-to-school campaign, Gatchalian cited the need to collaborate with the BARMM’s Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education.

He also sought the development and implementation of programs that will keep children, especially Grades 1 to 6 learners, in school, including feeding program.