By Jade D. Miguel
MANILA, Sept. 9 (PNA) — Calling on all stakeholders to recognize the role of Filipino youth in sustaining the country’s competitiveness, the National Youth Commission (NYC) has targeted to address issues concerning the youth such as enrollment rate in secondary education, increasing incidence in teen pregnancy, tobacco and alcohol consumption, drug abuse, HIV/AIDS infection, among others.
A rate of 115.79 percent from 92.62 percent last year in terms of gross enrollment rate in secondary level is being aimed by the youth organization for the upcoming year.
Seeing a higher incidence in teen pregnancy, the NYC also hopes to lower cases of unwanted pregnancy among teenage women.
Apart from the said concerns of the youth, NYC Chairperson Gio Tingson underscores the need to bolster efforts to achieve further improvement on education and health, in which the country ranks 92nd in the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report.
“We have the Philippine Youth Development Plan (PYDP) to facilitate the youth’s development founded on four pillars, namely education, health, employment and participation,” said Tingson.
In terms of labor market in which the country has been put at 91st place, Tingson emphasized that the youth sector has “always worked towards realizing responsive education, training and methods of career-coaching that are tailor-fitted to the needs of young people.”
Overall, the Philippines has managed to clinch the 52nd place out of 148 rankings, as it has jumped 50 places since 2010, the NYC shared, citing the report which credited the improvement to the “reforms of the past four years which have bolstered the country’s economic fundamentals.”
The national youth organization has further emphasized the country’s adoption to digital technologies which makes it close to the ones adopted by Malaysia and Thailand.
“Such improvements create conditions that are conducive for young people to develop and innovate,” Tingson remarked.
However, in spite of the achievements the country has reached so far when it comes to global rankings, the NYC has urged the government to sustain its efforts and support the youth sector in achieving the aforementioned targets next year and for the succeeding years to come.
“While we appreciate this kind of affirmation that the government is doing well, our ultimate measure of competitiveness should be based on our policies’ targets that we have set for the future,” the chairperson said. (PNA)