ALMOST 1,000 youths aged 16 to 19 are out of school and unemployed, according to Gov. Juan N. Babauta.
The figure is about 10 percent of the estimated 10,000 students enrolled in various public schools last school year.
“About 400 of those kids (who are out of school) are unemployed,” Babauta said.
“That’s not good for them and that’s not good for our society. So we’re going to change the schooling requirements,” he added.
The governor said the current law only requires graduation from the 8th grade which he described as “an embarrassment to the commonwealth.”
To address the problem, Babauta said the government will work to change the requirements.
“Our proposal is that everyone stay in school until they graduate from high school or reach age 18,” he said.
The same idea was raised by the Board of Education last month in an effort to keep CNMI youths away from trouble and increase retention rate among high school students.
Under current law, authorities can only keep students in schools until the age of 16. BOE said the law must be changed to keep up with the times since most high school students graduate between the ages of 17 and 18.
Babauta said his administration will work with the Legislature to make the appropriate changes in the schooling requirements.
In a separate interview, Special Assistant for Administration Tom Tebuteb said statistics showed that most CNMI students do not go to high school after finishing junior high school.
Tebuteb, a former teacher, said this is “disturbing” since the government provides free education.
He said the administration’s proposals to reform the schooling requirements are meant to help the out of school youths become productive members of society instead of becoming liabilities dependent on welfare assistance.
