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Number: 2003-75
Date Released: September 12, 2003
Out-of-school children and youth highest in ARMM
(Final Results from the 2002 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey)

In 2002, out-of-school Filipino children and youth were 14.7 percent or 4.84 million out of 32.96 million population aged 6 to 24 years. Among the 16 regions, the percentage was highest in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) (23.1 percent), followed by Central Visayas (18.3 percent), and National Capital Region or NCR (17.2 percent). It was least in Cagayan Valley (10.6 percent) and Cordillera Administrative Region or CAR (10.8 percent).

Results of the 2002 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS) showed that about 250 thousand of the approximately 1 million children and youth aged 6 to 24 years in ARMM were out of school. Among the children and youth who belonged to families in the bottom 40% income group in ARMM, 28.4 percent were out of school. This was much higher than the percentage of those who belonged to families in the upper 60% (17.9 percent). Likewise, in NCR, the percentage of out-of-school children and youth was higher among those in the bottom 40% (24.7 percent) than among those in the upper 60% (17.0 percent).

The lowest 40% income group refers to the bottom 40 percent of the total families in the list of families arranged in descending order of the family income. In this report, the bottom 40% income group represents the poor families.

Out-of-school children are household members 6 to 14 years old who are not attending formal education during the school year, while out-of-school youth are household members 15 to 24 years old who are out of formal school and are not gainfully employed.

The 2002 APIS is a nationwide survey conducted by the NSO to provide inputs to the integrated poverty indicator and monitoring system of the Philippines. A total of 38,014 households were interviewed for the 2002 APIS.

Table 1.   Percentage of children and youth aged 6 to 24 years who are out of school,
by region and income stratum, Philippines: 2002
 

  Region Total Income Stratum
Lowest 40% Upper 60%
Total
 Population 
6 to 24
years old
('000)		 Out
of
school
 (Percent) 		 Total
 Population 
6 to 24
years old
('000)		 Out
of
school
 (Percent) 		 Total
 Population 
6 to 24
years old
('000)		 Out
of
school
 (Percent) 
             
  Philippines 32,965 14.7 11,940 15.6 21,025 14.2
     National Capital Region 4,108 17.2 138 24.7 3,971 17.0
     Cordillera Administrative  
        Region		 632 10.8 224 8.3 408 12.1
     Ilocos 1,736 13.9 585 14.7 1,151 13.5
     Cagayan Valley 1,231 10.6 509 10.2 721 10.8
     Central Luzon 3,211 15.5 517 16.5 2,694 15.4
     Southern Tagalog 4,850 14.2 1,109 14.7 3,741 14.0
     Bicol 2,097 14.2 1,197 15.4 900 12.6
     Western Visayas 2,732 11.8 1,214 12.3 1,518 11.4
     Central Visayas 2,379 18.3 1,122 19.7 1,258 17.0
     Eastern Visayas 1,637 13.1 948 15.5 689 9.9
     Western Mindanao 1,432 15.1 863 15.6 569 14.4
     Northern Mindanao 1,244 11.3 653 11.8 590 10.7
     Southern Mindanao 2,362 14.7 1,067 16.9 1,296 12.8
     Central Mindanao 1,231 12.2 653 12.6 578 11.8
     Caraga 997 13.6 601 14.7 396 11.8
     Autonomous Region
        in Muslim Mindanao		 1,085 23.1 541 28.4 544 17.9

  Source:   National Statistics Office, 2002 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey

Annual Poverty Indicators Survey Index
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Page last revised:  September 12, 2003