EDUCATION

Formal Education

For school year 1997-1998 are 576 schools in the province, 524 public and private.  By level of education, there are 478 elementary, 86 secondary and 11 tertiary schools,  Table 15 shows the number and location of schools in the province.

1.2 ENROLLMENT

For SY 2000-2001, total enrollments for public and private schools in all levels in the province is 136,944.

Enrollees in the elementary level comprised 63 percent of the total enrollment accounts for 28 and 9 percent, respectively.

1.2  STATUS OF BASIC EDUCATION RESOURCES

In the public elementary level, there are three thousand six hundred ninety-six (3,696) teachers and support personnel deployed in four hundred seventy (470) schools. Analysis of teacher needs by school shows that the province needs thirty-one (31) more teachers in the first congressional district and one hundred (100) more in the second congressional district to reinforce the existing staff.

In the public secondary level, there are six hundred sixty five (665) teachers deployed in 54 schools. Of these schools, eighteen (18) are in need of fifty four (54) additional teacher items due to overcrowded classrooms, the creation of new sections, and the opening of new curriculum years.  The Cervantes National High School in particular does not have a teacher with plantilla item.  The seven (7) teachers assigned to this school are being paid by the local government. The same is true with Caoayan National High School which opened its doors to first and second year students in June 2001 but the three teachers are being paid by the local government.

1.3  CLASS-CLASSROOM RATIO

The class-classroom ratio in the elementary level is 1:1.03 while that of the secondary level is 1:1. This shows that the classroom shortage is not critical, however, some classrooms are not comfortable and not conducive to learning for the pupils, students and teachers.

In the elementary level, fifty two thousand six hundred seventy eight (52,678) armchairs are available.  This means that twenty six thousand five hundred sixty seven  (26,567) are still needed to achieve a 1:1 pupil- armchair ratio.  In the secondary level, twenty four thousand nine hundred ten armchairs are available which show a shortage of six thousand three hundred thirty two (6,332) to achieve a 1:1 student armchair-ratio.

In the elementary level, the textbook-pupil ratio is 1:2 while that in the secondary level is 1:1.2.  This condition is lamentable since the existing textbooks are already condemnable and need replacement.

Instructional equipment are inadequate in the elementary level.  In the secondary level, only the big high schools (old national high schools) have available instructional equipment.  Of the fifty-four (54) public high schools, only seven (7) belong to this category. 

The presence of an Education Supervisor I for Non-Formal Education has solved the problem on who will tackle the task related to this area.  Assistance is provided by district/school coordinators designated in each of the twenty-five  (25) districts and some secondary schools.  Each municipality has its own set of facilitators to handle organized literacy classes, literacy cum livelihood classes, functional education literacy program and continuing education program organized throughout the division.

1.4  EXPANDING ACCESS TO BASIC EDUCATION

Some primary schools have opened their intermediate classes to complete the curriculum offering.  This paved for the increase of participation rate because pupils need not stop schooling after finishing Grade II or Grade IV.

1.5  MUNICIPALITIES WITHOUT HIGH SCHOOLS

Secondary schools exist in each municipality of the province.  This may either be public or private school.  Only the municipality of San Vicente has neither a public or private high school.

1.6  INCOMPLETE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Of the four hundred seventy (470) public elementary schools, three hundred nineteen (319) are complete and eighteen (18) incomplete.  There are eighty-four (84) complete and forty nine (49) incomplete primary schools.  The main reason why there are still incomplete elementary or primary schools is the inadequacy of new teacher items  allocated yearly.  Another reason is the enrolment in a certain grade level does not warrant the creation of a separate class or section.

1.7  LITERACY RATE

As of 2001 simple literacy rate in the province is 96 while the functional literacy rate is 93.45.

1.8  PARTICIPATION RATE

Participation rate at the elementary level is 92.86% while that at the secondary level is 77%.

1.9  TEACHER-PUPIL/STUDENT RATIO

The teacher-pupil ratio for elementary level is 1:25, while that of the secondary is 1:34.

1.10  CLASS SIZE

Class size for the elementary level is 45 while for the secondary level is 50.

1.11  DROP-OUT RATE

The dropout rate in the province is 0.72 percent for the elementary level and 6.47 percent for the secondary level.

1.12  CLASSROOM-PUPIL RATIO

The classroom pupil ratio for the elementary level is 1:24.

1.13  Textbook-Pupil Ratio

            The textbook-pupil ratio for the elementary level is 1:1.

1.14  Repetition Rate by Grade

          Grade I                        77%

          Grade II                       70%

          Grade III                      52%

          Grade IV                       41%

          Grade V                        15%

          Grade VI                       0.07%

1.15  Completion Rate

          Elementary                   72.24%

          Secondary                    80.65%

1.16  Cohort Survival Rate

          Elementary                   77.15%

          Secondary                    84.6%

1.17  Drop-out Rate

          Elementary                   0.53%

          Secondary                    5.4%

HEALTH AND NUTRITION

Vital Statistics

In 2001, there are 11,153 live births recorded in the province registering a crude birth rate of 18.93/1000 population.  On the other hand, there were 3,405 deaths and the crude death rate is 5.78/1000 population.

Health Facilities

Hospitals

There are 38 hospitals operating in the province of which 30 are privately owned and the remaining 8 are government hospitals.  This does not include private medical practitioners who are maintaining medical clinics and admitting in-patients.

Of the government hospitals, only the provincial hospital, Gabriela Silang General Hospital in Vigan City is capable of providing tertiary level of care in terms of equipment facilities as well as specialized services like orthopedic surgery, psychiatry, ophthalmology and the like.

There are six (6) district hospitals and one medicare hospital established in strategic locations in the province.

St. Martin de Porres in Candon City and Metro Vigan Cooperative Hospital in Bantay have the most modern equipment and facilities among the private hospitals operating in the province because they offer CT Scan among the services.

There are 32 Rural Health Units located in the 32 Rural Health Units located in the 32 municipalities of the province.  However, the municipality of Alilem has no Municipal Health Officer for the past 5 years but a new physician under the Doctor of the Barrio Program of the Department of Health is presently managing the Rural Health Unit.  There are 2 City Health Offices (CHO) namely Candon and Vigan.

There are also 136 Barangay Health Stations (BHS) in the province, 11 in Vigan City and 9 in Candon City.

There are 32 Municipal Health Officers, 36 Public Health Nurses (PHN), Midwives assigned in the 32 Rural Health Units.  A City Health Units.  A City Health Officer takes charge of the City Health Office in each city.  Candon City has an Assistant City Health Officer, 2 PHNs and 9 midwives, while Vigan has 2 PHNs and 11 midwives.

The ten leading causes of morbidity in the province in 2001 are as follows:

   1. Bronchitis

   2. Diarrhea

   3. Hypertension

   4. Influenza

   5. Pneumonia

   6. TB (all forms)

   7. Diseases of the Heart

   8. Measles

   9. Typhoid Fever

 10. Chicken Pox

Listed below are the ten leading causes of mortality in the province in 2001.

   1. Pneumonia

   2. Cardiovascular accident

   3. Cancer (all forms)

   4. Accidents, Violence and Poisoning

   5. Cardiovascular Diseases

   6. TB (all forms)

   7. Multiple Organ Failure

   8. Peptic Ulcer

   9. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

 10. Renal Failure

Public Health Program

The Provincial Health Office (PHO) coordinates all public health programs in the province.  Its staff provides technical assistance and supervises over the RHU staff regarding program implementation.

SOCIAL WELFARE

The Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office contribution to the alleviation of the slight disadvantaged and undeserved population sub-groups comes in the form of community based as well as institutions of center-based social welfare projects.

As a result of the devolution, the Office is composed of a Provincial Social Welfare and Development Officers and 4 staff.

In 1997, the PSWDO reached out to 4,435 clients.  The beneficiaries of the self-employment Assistance accounted for 52 percent of the total clientele.  The remaining 48 percent are the clients/beneficiaries of either counseling, relief, medical care and AICS services.

In 2001, there are 730 day care centers located in the province where 18,140 Day Care children are enrolled.  There are still barangays without day care centers and these are located in municipalities of Banayoyo, Bantay, Burgos, Cabugao, Caoayan, del Pilar, Lidlidda, Magsingal, Nagbukel, Narvacan, Salcedo, San Ildefonso, San Vicente, Sta. Cruz, Santiago, Sinait and Tagudin.