The KA•T•ON solution
On its first partnership ceremony to recognize the strategic alliance between KA•T•ON Kaon (to eat) + Tuon (to study) and five barangays addressing the need to motivate students to stay in school and reduce the risk of dropping out, this awareness was formally launched at the Mediterranean Hall at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino in Lahug, Cebu City.
With an alarming drop-out rate of 57 percent among Junior Public High School students, a study shows that out of 100 pupils entering Grade 1, only 66 of these students will graduate from Grade 6, and from the 66, only 28 will graduate from high school. This translates to millions of young Filipinos falling in the cracks unable to break free from poverty due to lack of money for travel fare, food, projects, extracurricular activities, the need to help out at home, to help earn a living to support the family and the cost of education—and these are only some of the reasons why students drop out of school. Other factors as well are having crowded classrooms and the addiction to online gaming/ gambling. Even for high school students, the lack of basic skills in subjects such as English and Math are due to the poor foundation from their elementary years.
The Barangay Impact Management and Support Services Corp. was established in 2015 with the vision of addressing the problem of drop-outs by increasing their chances of staying in school and completing their secondary education with tutorial programs with volunteer tutors. The KA•T•ON Barangay Junior Public High School Tutorial Program with Entrepreneurship Exposure aims to let these students move forward with their schooling and helping them graduate from high school and even college.