An IOM pilot project launched two years ago has helped hundreds of
disadvantaged young people, including the children of migrants in
some of the poorest provinces of the Philippines, to finish their
education.

The pilot, launched by IOM and the Philippine government's
Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), provided an
education subsidy to disadvantaged youngsters in 15 selected public
high schools to allow them to stay in school, get a better
education and eventually get better jobs.

Thousands of young Filipinos leave school early for financial
reasons to join the workforce. Many are ill-prepared and find
themselves in dead end and often exploitative employment.

"The goal of the subsidy was to increase the level of school
participation and retention rates in secondary education among
disadvantaged youth, including the children of Overseas Filipino
Workers (OFWs)," says IOM Philippines Chief of Mission Ovais
Sarmad.

IOM and its partners will tomorrow (28th March) honour the final
student beneficiaries of the scheme who will graduate as the school
year winds down in the Philippines.

In two years, the education subsidy has benefited 641 students
at risk of dropping out, 33 former out-of-school youth, and 74
students classified as disadvantaged children of OFWs in public
schools in Masbate, Antique, Agusan del Sur and Maguindanao.

Under the scheme, which unlike other scholarship programmes did
not require a minimum points average, students and parents were
required to sign commitment letters in which the parents agreed to
allow the children to stay in school and the children agreed to
attend classes.

Figures from the Philippines Department of Education show that
in 2009 the national secondary school drop-out rate in the country
was close to 8 per cent. This was usually attributed to poverty, an
inability to pay school fees and pressure to contribute to the
family income.

"We saw cases of students having to walk huge distances because
they didn't have money for transport. Others failed classes because
they didn't have the resources to complete school projects and
assignments. Sometimes they deliberately missed classes because
they didn't have food to bring with them to school. These are all
things that the education subsidy aimed to address," says IOM
Philippines National Programme Officer Ricardo Casco.

The project, which provided a monthly allowance of PHP 1,000
(USD 23.21) for transport, food and other expenses, and PHP 500
(USD 11.60) for school-related fees, was a component of the Joint
Programme "Alternatives to Migration: Decent Jobs for Filipino
Youth" supported by the Spanish-funded Millennium Development Goals
(MDG) Achievement Fund and implemented by IOM, ILO, UNICEF and
UNFPA.

IOM is encouraging new partners to carry on the subsidy. Some
local government units and private sector donors have already
expressed a willingness to support beneficiaries who later enrol in
college or in technical-vocational courses after high school, and
to continue the subsidy for incoming students.

For more information, please contact:

Ricardo Casco

IOM Manila

Tel: +63 2 230 1752

E-mail: "mailto:rcasco@iom.int">rcasco@iom.int