Academic Challenges of Low-Income High School Students during COVID-19: A Study, High school final essays of English

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UNIVERSIDAD DE MANILA SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT Cecilia Muñoz Palma St. Ermita Manila

The Main Problems Faced by Students

from Low-income Families

Submitted by:

Austria, Princess Jenny D. Belen, Lea B. Clemente, Zildjian C. De Dios, Owen Hart T. Estrella, Patrick Jake M. Fortaleza, Alexis M. Lau, Trisha Mae R. Mendoza, Samantha Arianne S. Peña, Andrei Nard T. Rosales, Kriztel Jade B. Utayde, Xian Andrei Virayo, Bea Trynna F. STEM11-C A.Y. 2021-

UNIVERSIDAD DE MANILA SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT Cecilia Muñoz Palma St. Ermita Manila CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND INTRODUCTION Education has paved a way towards success to achieve every students’ hope and dreams. However, the accessibility of education may remain limited to other people, especially in the Philippines. According to the 2017 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS), approximately 17.9% of the estimated 39.2 million Filipinos aged 6-24 years old were out of school due to their family’s financial concerns. Although education is the key to success, students who come from low-income families may encounter difficulties in their academic performance in various aspects amidst the pandemic. Among the problems faced by students from low-income families is the lack of necessary family funds to support the needs in their studies. Whenever their children have projects at school, parents find it difficult to afford the needed materials. Because of this, their children may fall behind in their school performance. Students may also experience psychological distress in keeping up with their studies as they strive to find ways to overcome their financial issues. Moreover, they may find it difficult to socialize with their peers since they prefer to allocate their extra time working part-time jobs to keep up with their family’s needs and wants. As the COVID-19 pandemic crisis had erupted, it had significantly impacted the educational sector (Rotas, et al., 2020). With the current and new method of learning, students from low-income families were greatly affected thus they were forced to adjust to these changes to continue their studies amidst the pandemic. Despite the government’s efforts to mitigate this issue, there will always be a vast chasm between the students who are rich and poor. In the end, these students have to go to extreme lengths just to continue their studies in hopes of achieving their goals. On the other hand, can we truly say that education is the most powerful weapon to change the world if we continue to overlook these issues? Can we truly say that we are ready for

UNIVERSIDAD DE MANILA SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT Cecilia Muñoz Palma St. Ermita Manila change? Is it our negligence and conservatism that kills the hopes and dreams of every child? Hence, this study is conducted to know the lived experiences of students who came from low- income families amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The purpose of this phenomenological research is to understand the living experiences of Universidad de Manila senior high school students from low-income families during the COVID-19 pandemic. General Problem:

1. How does a senior high school student’s financial situation affect his or her academic performance? 2. How do senior high school students manage to continue their studies despite their family’s minimal income?

UNIVERSIDAD DE MANILA SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT Cecilia Muñoz Palma St. Ermita Manila SCOPE AND DELIMITATION This research will only focus on the experiences of senior high school students from low-income families during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is only limited to five (5) grade eleven (11) students in Universidad de Manila, who are currently studying for the School Year 2021-2022. This study aims to look at how a student's financial position, which includes insufficient finances to meet their necessities, influences their academic performance. Participants that will be interviewed include boys and girls aged fifteen (15) to eighteen (18) years old who come from households with a monthly income of around ₱10,000 or less and are Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program recipients (4Ps). The students would then be referred by their nickname to keep them anonymous for their privacy. Although this study heavily focuses on the student, it also has its limitations. This study will not include a student from other universities. College students are not included as well as participants' ages are based on predetermined criteria that must be met in order to be eligible for the program (e.g. households with children aged 0-18). The researchers will gather detailed information on the students' experiences using interviews and surveys. The interviews and surveys would be conducted online for safety precautions of both students and researchers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since this will be done online, researchers and respondents may encounter internet problems that may impede thorough data collection. Unstable internet connection and lack of materials, such as gadgets, are likely factors that will limit the scope of this study.

UNIVERSIDAD DE MANILA SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT Cecilia Muñoz Palma St. Ermita Manila SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY With the Philippines having a 16.6 percent poverty rate in 2018, this means that 17. million Filipinos are living at the poverty threshold estimated at PHP 10,727 per month. Among those 17.6 million are Filipino students and some can be found here in Universidad de Manila. Alongside this poverty rate, education has been immensely impacted by the spread of COVID-19 as it has made education less accessible to those students who are less fortunate. Our study aims to enlighten Universidad de Manila about how coming from a low- income family affects the academic performance of their students. This study will help further understand where the university is lacking in terms of aiding their students. It can also be a pivotal action to help enlighten the faculty to be more sympathetic towards their students. This study is significant for the university in terms of making them understand the problem and act upon it. This study will broaden the understanding of the LGU of Manila by illustrating to them the importance of further funding programs that helps public institutions in promoting assistance to students from low-income families. This will hopefully inspire our LGU to further mitigate the spread of the virus so that education can be more accessible. This study will also be beneficial for students as it is important for us to understand the difficulties that our fellow students face. Along with this understanding is empathy. If we could dive deeper into what really are the struggles our peers are facing, we might be able to be of help even in simple ways and might even be able to foster a healthy environment for them where they will be helped and understood.