Masbate City: Nearly 11,000 marginalised children attending school in the island provinces of Masbate and Northern Samar in the Philippines have been receiving social, personal, and financial support from Dubai Cares and Plan Philippines as part of the Raise programme since July 2013.

The project will run for four years to ensure that these children and youth, especially girls, are able to make better life choices as a result of their improved education levels. The programme provides a holistic approach to address the provinces’ complex situation and is divided into four parts.

Part 1 of the project seeks to support children in completing primary school and achieving the transition to secondary school.

Poor parents are forced set aside their children’s education to put food on the table with their meagre daily wage of 150 pesos (Dh12). Walking two to four hours every day to and from school on rugged terrain and crossing rivers can also be exhausting and discouraging for some pupils, forcing them to drop out.

Among the many interventions of Raise, the Targeted Transition Grants stand out. Here, students identified as at risk of dropping out are given financial assistance depending on their need to continue their education into secondary school.

Each child is given 2,100 pesos every year, out of which 1,000 pesos is spent on school supplies and the remaining is for food and transportation, among other things, depending on each child’s needs.

Part 2 of the project seeks to help children complete their secondary school education.

Once a child becomes a teen, he or she is expected to help at home. Very often, girls are left to take care of their younger siblings and take care of chores at home. In other cases, they have to help earn additional income for the family.

The burden of dipping into the family income for a teen’s school needs is removed making parents more willing to send them to school. The Targeted Schools Assistance Programme provides financial help (2,100 pesos per year) as well school supplies or uniforms, depending on individual needs.

Part 3 of the project seeks to widen access to the alternative learning system for adolescent girls and boys.

Teens helping their parents earn a living wouldn’t be in a position to attend a regular school from 8 am to 5 pm with many of them having to catch up on their studies in the few hours they can spare from their jobs as helpers on the farm or on boats at sea.

Such high school students who are still enrolled but can’t make it to school regularly are registered in the Open High School Programme where they can come to school for at least four hours per week even on Saturdays depending on their free time.

Those who have long stopped schooling may enrol at the Alternative Learning System (ALS) centres where also they can attend four hours of classes every week.

Vangie Amper, Raise Community Development Facilitator, said: “This mode of instruction is very effective especially for students who no longer have time to go back to school or for those who are already older than the prescribed school age. It would be hard for a 16-year-old to be on the same level with a 10-year-old.”

An ALS centre is currently under construction in the town of Milagros and will have 10 computers, study centres, a nursery, and a room for breastfeeding mums when ready. The building is expected to be completed in April.

Part 4 of the project seeks to improve the personal and social situation of adolescent girls.

Some 587 babies were delivered by teenage mothers aged 15 to 19 in Masbate last year, figures from the Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Survey reveal.

Adolescent pregnancy eventually forces students to drop out. “Once the student gets pregnant, it seems as if she no longer has any right to go to school. People discriminate against her and this causes her to believe that that is the end of her dream,” said Ailyn Nabi, Project Manager of Raise in Masbate and Northern Samar.

To address this situation, students are taught about their sexuality and the consequences of early pregnancy. They are trained to become Youth Peer Educators to encourage students to make better life choices and assert their right to their own bodies and future as girls.