January 22, 2026
MANILA – Domestic abuse is a contributing factor that forces students to drop out of classes, cutting enrollment numbers in schools, according to a study conducted by a government think tank.
The Second Congressional Commission on Education (Edcom 2), the body tasked to review the education system, cited a study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), which revealed the “critical link” between violence at home and dropout rates in schools.
“The study established that these early experiences of harm have profound consequences for a child’s educational trajectory,” it said in a statement.
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Lower odds of enrollment
Edcom 2 said researchers found that adolescents who experienced parental violence at age 10 had 52 to 57 percent lower odds of attending school by age 14, compared to their unexposed peers.
In its 28-page study titled “Early Harm, Lasting Impact: The Effect of Parental Violence on Educational Outcomes Among Filipino Children,” the researchers found and provided “compelling evidence” about the connection between early exposure to parental violence and educational outcomes among adolescents.
The results showed that exposure of 10-year-old children to physical or emotional violence by a parent is “significantly associated with lower odds of school enrollment by age 14.”
“These results align with child development theories suggesting that household violence disrupts emotional stability and cognitive development; hence, impairing academic engagement,” researchers Aaron Carlos Manuel, Lyle Daryll Casas and Valerie Gilbert Ulep said in the study.
The research found that nearly four in 10 Filipino children experienced violence from their parents at age 10, affecting the child’s educational trajectory.
Adolescents experiencing domestic violence had 52 to 57 percent “lower odds” of attending schools as they reach the age 14 compared to their “unexposed peers,” according to the study.
Severe risks of dropping out
Analyzing the data by gender, the study found that both boys and girls face “severe risks” of dropping out of school because of domestic abuse. It added that 48 percent of the boys “are less likely” to be enrolled by age 14, while 66 percent of the girls are “less likely” to be in school at all.
“These findings align with child development theories that highlight how violence at home undermines the behavior and overall well-being of children, which in turn leads to poor educational outcomes,” the researchers said.
The data used by the researchers came from the first to fifth waves of the 15-year Longitudinal Cohort Study on the Filipino Child, which tracks a nationally representative sample of approximately 5,000 Filipino children age 10 in 2016 until they reach the age of 24 in 2030.
Neither Edcom nor the PIDS provided current dropout rates in the K-to-12 curriculum.
In the 2025-2026 school year, 25 million students enrolled, down from 27 million in the previous school year, according to Education Secretary Sonny Angara.
The researchers also dug into the impact of violence on academic proficiency in several subjects, such as mathematics, reading and science, but said these specific associations were “not statistically significant.”
“While our evidence on academic performance suggests an adverse impact, it is less conclusive,” the researchers said. /cb