PUBLIC school students, while no longer required to wear uniforms, should be in "appropriate school attire," Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said yesterday.
Guidelines on what constitute proper school attire will be drawn up by the department, he said.
Lapus on Monday issued a directive dropping the uniform requirement for all public school students. This was after President Arroyo exempted Grade 1 pupils from the requirement.
Lapus said public schools in other countries do not impose the wearing of uniforms.
In the Philippines, he said, requiring uniforms is "like requiring public education to have a cost" under a free public education system.
Lapus said students who want to wear uniforms can do so.
Education Undersecretary Ramon Bacani said schools will be issuing IDs to prevent lawless elements from entering public schools.
He said the IDs are free.
Lapus said scrapping of the uniform requirement stemmed from government's desire to ease the financial burden of parents. The move will also enable more children to go to school, he said.
He said Arroyo ordered "absolutely no collection of fees" for Grades 1 to 4 students. For Grades 5 to 6, school fees or contributions may be collected only a month after school opening and only after approval of parents.
At least seven of 10 students drop out from school primarily because of poverty, the presidential task force on education said.
Arroyo wants the dropout rate reduced to 20 percent, said Augusto Syjuco, chief of the Technical Education and Skills Development (Tesda).
DepEd data show that for every 100 children who enter Grade 1, close to 15 do not make it to Grade 2, and roughly one-quarter (24 percent) drop out before Grade 4.
It said less than 20 percent of those who go to public elementary school actually attend a full year of preschool education.
Mona Valisno, presidential adviser for education, said the task force is targeting a "zero dropout" rate.
Fr. Ben Niebres, president of Ateneo University and task force chairman, sought an assurance from local government units that they would use part of their internal revenue allotment to subsidize schools to encourage students to stay in school. - Jocelyn Montemayor, Ashzel Hachero and Wendell Vigilia
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