Data on out-of-school youth in the Philippines is scarce and often comes in different forms. Decision-makers in the community often have to craft youth policies and design programs based on limited information, fragmented insights, and outdated data.
USAID tapped higher education institutions in the Philippines to strengthen second-chance education systems in its partner cities. In Cagayan De Oro City, the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines (USTP) was able to develop a mobile application called ‘eMonitorMo’ using USAID grants. This allowed local actors led by teachers to add and update the city’s data on youth using existing mobile devices.
On May 19, a Technology Transfer Agreement was signed between USTP and the City Government, formally turned over the technology and ensuring the service was sustainable. Over 1,200 out-of-school youth have already been located and identified through the app while more are being added as data gathering rolls out on a weekly basis.
“Before, if we were asked how many out-of-school youth are enrolled in our district, we would not know what to answer,” said Pinky Fabria, an Alternative Learning System teacher in Cagayan de Oro City. “Now with the application, it is convenient and easy for us to use. Mapping and recruiting OSYs is now convenient and using printed forms is no longer needed which reduced logistical costs.”
Youth are then guided along pathways to college, technical-vocational training, employment, or entrepreneurship through the city’s youth development alliance which is composed of public and private agencies that work on education, technical-vocational training, and workforce development. Reports generated from the app are also expected to inform Cagayan de Oro city’s youth policies and programs from this point forward.
USAID’s support enabled higher education institutions to pursue innovations that helped Philippine cities craft data-driven policies and programs that more efficiently uplift the lives of out-of-school youth.#
