WB cites gains in Phl’s Human Capital Index

Human capital development in the Philippines has been improving for the past six years, but more attention should be given to addressing malnutrition and learning challenges, according to a report by the World Bank.

The latest Human Capital Index (HCI) released by the international finance institution showed the country ranked 84th out of 157 countries in terms of the human capital attained by children from birth to adulthood in terms of health and education.

The HCI measures the probable rate of productivity of the next generation of workers based on human capital accumulated from the moment a child is born until he becomes a full adult. It is made up of five indicators: the probability of survival to age five, expected number of schooling, harmonized test scores as a measure of quality learning, adult survival rate (fraction of 15 year-olds that will survive to age 60), and the proportion of children who are not stunted.

Based on these indicators, it is expected that a child born in the country today would be 55 percent as productive when he grows up given the level of education and healthcare he stands to receive.

The HCI value for the Philippines is above-average compared with other countries in its income group, but still below the global average.

Among the countries surveyed, Singapore ranked the highest with an HCI value of 88 percent, while Chad ranked the lowest with 29 percent.

Broken down, 97 out of 100 children born in the country are expected to survive to age five. A child who starts school at age four can expect to complete 12.8 years of education by his 18th birthday.

Children in the Philippines can expect to complete 12.8 years of pre-primary, primary and secondary school by age 18. When the years of schooling are adjusted for quality learning, however, this is only equivalent to 8.4 years, causing a learning gap of 4.4. years.

Students in the Philippines score 409 on a scale where 625 represents advanced attainment and 300 represents minimum attainment.

Nationwide, 80 percent of 15-year-olds are expected to survive until age 60. In terms of healthy physical growth, 67 out of 100 children are not stunted.

Disaggregated by gender, HCI values for girls are higher than boys across all indicators.

The report said there has been a steady improvement in the country’s HCI value over the years, having increased from 0.49 to 0.55 between 2012 to 2017.

World Bank country director Mara Warwick said there is a need to address malnutrition among school age children as as third of Filipino children under the age of five are found to be stunted in growth, a key indicator of lack of proper nutrition.

Children who are malnourished stand to face challenges in learning and are more likely to drop out of school early. They are also less likely to hold on to good jobs as adults.

“The government of the Philippines recognizes these challenges and has initiated critical reforms to improve human capital in the country,” she said.