Parang High School

Parang High School building started only as an annex named, Marikina High School Annex. By the year 1993, Mrs. Lagrimas B. Garcia, the school principal, made extra effort on achieving full independence of the Marikina High School Annex to give birth to the school, Parang High School (PHS). PHS had been through a lot of changes since the School Year 1996-1997. Hon. Congressman Romeo DC Candazo, Hon. Bayani BH Fernando and Dr. Perla B. Menguito made a big impact on the transformation of the school’s image and into a conductive learning environment by boosting up the number of faculty members.

To have a beautiful future means to sacrifice and invest their own money and time to send the children in their family to school. According to Theodore Roosevelt, “Education is the key to success.” In the present times, education in the Philippines is very important. Education is the major basis of employment of the Filipino youth. To graduate with a college degree is to have a good job and even improve their self-esteem. These days, there have been a lot of concerns of the selected graduating high school students whether to pursue college or not, considering their concerns in their lives.

The researchers tend to seek solutions for the graduating students of Parang High School to be more interested and continue their education until the tertiary level. The researches want the readers to see the importance of continuing their education until they have a certain degree.

Statement of the Problem
This study identifies the interest of the selected High School students of Parang High School in pursuing tertiary education. Specifically, it sought answers to the following questions: 1. What is the interest level of the student?

2. What are the factors that may affect the interest of the selected high school students in pursuing tertiary education? 3. How does their school help the students in their college choices? 4. What are the most preferred college courses the students want to take up?

Theoretical and Conceptual Framework
The study is anchored on the theory of Randall Chapman that focuses on the behavioral theory on how students select a college. In his theory, there is a notion that college selection may be perceived as a process comprised of interrelated stages. Because of that perception, Chapman made a model describing the stages through which students progress the path toward the extremity of the said process. The stages are named as follows: Pre-Search Behavior, Search Behavior, Application Decision, Choice Decision and Matriculation Decision. The stages are divided into 2 main components: “search” and “choice” components. Search is defined as finding out information describing colleges. Information like cost, academic quality, future career prospects and opportunities upon graduation, quality of student’s life while in college and other considerations. The search ends when the student has decided to apply to a set of colleges. On the other hand, Choice is defined as the decision of the student to which college/university, which have admitted the student, will he/she enter. These two components are actually interconnected with each other as the process proceeds.

Usually, students reason out that they need to pursue college because their parents said so that causes them to realize the desirability to pursue to college level. This is called the Pre-Search Behavior. Students may have the difficulty to think about it and may take up to many years before the decision becomes final. During the deciding, predictors like socioeconomic status, gender, parental education and income, etc. might be used by the student. If the student has decided to pursue college level, he/she starts fishing out information from knowledgeable people such as high school teachers, guidance counselors, family and relatives or the student may request some other descriptive information from brochures, unsolicited direct mail, actual visits to colleges, and the like. This type of student’s behaviour is called the Search Behaviour. Due to some attributes such as academic dimension, future career prospects and opportunities and quality of life, the student forms a perception about what life would be like at specific colleges. At some point, the searching ends and the student chooses among a set of colleges to where he/she will apply. We now proceed to the next stage called the Application Decision. The student applies to different colleges that he/she thinks would be suitable for him/her.

There are instances that from a number of college choices, it will narrow down to a few due to further decision of choosing the right “one”. Some students usually got carried away by numerous good aspects about specific colleges that made then forget about one important aspect which is financial aid. Hence, students may acquire in expensive colleges. But others prefer to low but perceived high-probability-of-admission college (often local public institution) for in case to at least one positive admission decision (Chapman, 1984). Then, while the admission process is going on, the student may establish expectations of being admitted but he/she cannot be certain of the admission. In the Choice Decision phase, the student is presumed to possess relatively complete information on all relevant college attributes, since the student is informed about the availability of financial aid amounts and mix (Chapman, 1984). The phase ends with the final selection of a specific college to attend. Yet, some students end this stage by deciding either to defer admission at a later time probably because they were not qualified to their first choice or some financial considerations or changes in the personal life of a student. And the last stage is Matriculation Decision but this will not be explained further since the study focuses more on the students’ attitude towards college.

Conceptual Model
From the research gathered from similar studies, the conceptual framework is formulated. This is shown in Figure 1.

Significance of the Study
This study is beneficial to the following:
The Students.The study shows the problem that students are not ready to make decisions on college. The study provides the student’s awareness and consciousness on continuing to the tertiary level or not. The Parents. Traditionally, parents are involved in the decision making of the students since they are the ones providing the tuition fee and other miscellaneous fees of the student pursuing college. The study benefits the parents in such a way that they are guided on their child’s own choices. The Guidance Counselors.The study benefits the guidance counselors because the study can be used as a material to give more information that can help the students in having wider options in their college preferences and help the students in finding the suitable course for them. The School Administration.The study can inform the administration about holding wider and more specific programs that cater the high school student’s interests about college.

Scope and Delimitation
This study is limited to fourth year high school students, faculty and the administration of Parang High School of Marikina during the school year 2011-2012. This study is primarily concerned with the different factors that might affect the interest of the students in the said school.

Definition of Terms
The following terms are defined operationally.
Administration- This refers to an institution of people who manage.

Capacity- This refers to the ability to generate, execute or distribute.

Faculty- This refers to a division of teaching or knowledge in an educational establishment. It is also a division accountable to instructand teach in an establishment.

Interest- This refers to a feeling that attracts a special notice to a particular student.

Peer Pressure- This refers to themanipulation exerted by a group of friends in persuading a person to change his or her personality, conduct or personal view in order to adapt to group norms.

CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Chapter II deals with the review of the local and foreign literature and studies relevant to this proposed study. Related Literature
This section of the research presents a review of related literature and studies in line with the interest of the graduating high school students in pursuing college. Significant to the present study are online evidences and interviews to concretize this research.

Foreign
According to Chenoweth and Galliher, parents who have received a diploma in college are able to manage and to mold the decisions of their child to pursue college. Moreover, for parents who are well educated, education for them has a great impact on their lives and keeps the belief that their child is required to go to college under any circumstances.

Peer pressure also produces stress for students who seem to be forced to do something or to be influenced which usually are negative acts.
According to Braverman, a parent must know how to budget the money. He or she must prioritize the needs more than the wants. If a parent saves money for her child’s college education in the future she will most likely to worry less of saving in the future. According to the research of Chenoweth and Galliher, for males, what matters is the parent’s schooling and colleague’s arrangements towards college. Adolescent men living with a wealthy family were having more tendencies to attend college compared to the other side referring to the commonalty, barely plan to go for college.

Usually they reason out that college is not necessary or that they tend to remain in their own households. To those who are educated with quality are likewise adapted from a developed and well-off family that affects the occurrence of connections and ambitions. In contrary, to those who adapted from proletariat headquarters are likewise to prefer working not studying which puts down quality education. For females, they rely on the course of studying during their high school and on what their associated know for readying to college. Teen females thought that college is limited and no sufficient knowledge which hinders them from entering since they perceive college as a benefit for gaining money to provide needs and wants and to enjoy life.

A report stated that high school counselors are unconscious and unprepared for giving advice to students about college. They have inadequate information on college. This conclusion, recommends the proliferation of new techniques for spreading information about college possibilities, specifically funding the chance should be the focus of educators and influential people. (Chenoweth and Galliher)

The constant factors for determining student’s decisions regarding college are the factors connected on their academic development. Concrete measures such as the student’s average and if he/she is enrolled in a college preparatory curriculum in high school are very much involved in the student’s college plans. Furthermore, abstract measures such as the mindset of the student regarding college, their willingness to go to college and convenience in the school setting are also involved in the student’s college plans. Students who are very much interested in pursuing college seem to visualize and anticipate it too early in their academic occupations. One cause is that they may be prepared mentally and physically for college by the school’s personnel and academic mentors. Advance academic accomplishes aids both concrete and abstract measures of progress which gives opportunities for the future academic prospects. (Chenoweth and Galliher)

Local
According to Lee-Chua, the success of students is not only based to the facilities and enrichment the school is giving but the school is giving but in the values the child’s parent had taught them. (61) Though there are news about public schools having poor facilities and resources many of the student’s families helped their children to excel in school through discipline, proper goal setting, self- reliance, strong family bonds and proper home environment. It turned out that if parents give their child a decent environment for learning, the students excel in school. They become more determined as long as they work hard. (67)

In the Inquirer news report, reporters interviewed teenagers that witnessed their friends who gave into peer pressure. Most of them think that peer pressure is all about being cool in school and protecting their image of not being part of the so-called “weird” in school. One said that if her friends dropped their grades because they were influenced by their friends in all their vices. With negative peer pressure, student’s lives may be easily destroyed. Of course, a student’s attention would always be on his/her peer’s negative advices which would make their studies not on their top priority. The researchers interviewed Maria Theresa G. de Guzman, the guidance head at Parang High School. Ms. De Guzman stated that the students’ parents are having some troubles regarding the expenses in college. Their main problem is not about the fee itself since there are scholarship grants that are offered but the daily allowance and fare to go to school. Some non-government organizations (NGO) and some friends of the principal also take part as a beneficiary to the students.

In school, there are extremes. Some can afford college while some can’t even have a decent meal to eat in school. There are some students who have parents working abroad which is the reason why their needs are satisfied.

Based from Christine Joy Tan’s dissertation, gender can also greatly affect the decision making of students towards college. One difference is that females make earlier checking and applying in colleges than males does. Another, males depend on the courses snd the finances that concludes to their college choice while females rely on the utmost vital information. Females take more value on secured family life. Lastly, females consult from recent students in college while males entrust suggestions for guidance counselors. As a result, for female students, the academics is used as their basis and for male students, the cost is their center.

To offer students a harmonious learning experience and a basis for college choice, the Batas Pambansa Blg. 232 stated that school administrators must progress and sustain a sound environment in the school that can help gain to the school’s reputation. The administrators must have a clever attitude towards the students, the teachers, the personnel, the staff and the parents. Should there be any concerns regarding the aforementioned people, a notice must be given by the administrator. And he/she should grant a systematic and democratic method in training his teachers and personnel.

The academic performance and character of the student also affect his/her college choice. From what Tan has said, it has been derived that students with satisfactory academic performance appears to be more interested to pursue college education. They would prefer to inquire at private colleges/universities with quality teaching, with high tuition fee, with farther range from home and with four-year degree programs. Other findings have also stated that students with satisfactory academics would regard colleges and have an early inquiry to numerous desired colleges/universities. According to the guidance head, the fourth year students are willing to take up college especially the honor students. They preserve to finish high school with flying colors and to enter a good college.

Every February, the school holds a career fair. It features different colleges and universities. The want to invite some professionals as speakers, but they cannot afford to because of the payment that is given to them.

Related Studies
Following is the review made on some foreign and local studies that are related to the study.

Foreign
According to the study of Maguire Associates about the student’s preferences and plans in college, 68% of the fourth year high school students answered that their application choices are “somewhat” or “greatly” influenced by economic concerns. Their preference is not mainly about economic concerns but they also look for the value of education, academic facilities, campus atmosphere, quality of major and students, career-oriented majors and future employment opportunities, financial aids of the school. Students are mostly interested to go to a public institution (61%), followed by a private non-religious school (17%) and lastly, private religious school (11%). (2)

Local
According to Tan, at a scale of 1 to5 the students gave importance to some college factors such as future job opportunities and programs of study than other factors such as friends and guidance counselors. The low ranking of the guidance counselor may differ from the US research since American students are usually influenced by the counselors in searching the right college or university for them. The study also shows that males consider the financial aspects such as the tuition most than other criterion while women consider academics most than other criterion.

CHAPTER III
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
This chapter explains the method of research used, sources of data, data gathering instruments, data gathering procedure and the statistical treatment of data.

Method of Research Used
The design employed by the researchers in order to carry out the purpose of the study was the descriptive method. Out of the seven types of the descriptive method, the status studies was very much evident in the survey conducted. This method was used because the survey contained questions about an individual’s current status particularly financial status, emotional status and social status. Evident in the survey are questions regarding the family’s income, their family background, and their desired courses and universities/colleges.

Sources of Data
The respondents of this study were the selected fourth year high school students of Parang High School in Marikina City. The survey was
conducted during the school year 2011-2012.The Cluster sample was used in distributing the survey. Among the 13 sections in the fourth year level, 10sections were randomly chosen to answer the survey. From each section, the top ten students of each section were chosen to finish the survey.

Locale
The locale of this study is a public school named Parang High School. It is located at TandangSora Street, Barangay Parang, Marikina City. There are thirteen sections in the graduating students at PHS.Parang High School was established in the school year 1988-1989 as an annex. From then on, the school gave its best to transform the school into a conductive learning environment for the students.

Data Gathering Instruments
The study used the following research instruments in gathering the needed data. Questionnaire. A one-page questionnaire was designed for use in this study. The objective of the questionnaire is to know some basic information about the student’s current status in life; their family income, their parents’ occupation, and their personal decisions in pursuing college. Documentary Analysis. The researchers used foreign and local literature to support the study. This includes information on different factors affecting the interest of graduating students of Parang High School in pursuing the tertiary level. Unstructured Interview.An informal interview was conducted by the researchers with the head of the Guidance center of Parang High School, Maria Theresa G. De Guzman. The researchers asked information on the students’ interest on college.

Data Gathering Procedure
The researchers made a draft of the survey and this was presented to their language and economics teachers. After modifying it, the final survey was made. They then sought the permission of the principal of Parang High School to conduct a survey. When their request was granted, the questionnaires were distributed to the students, particularly to some fourth year high school students. The researchers selected these students for they are the main topic of the research conducted. Furthermore, this is the year level that planning and deciding for college is present. One hundred survey forms were distributed, however only ninety-six were answered. The researchers used the systematic sampling to divide the total number of the general population to get the desired number of the sample population. The researchers used this equation wherein k is the sampling interval; N is the population size while the n is the sample size: [pic]

Statistical Treatment of Data
The statistical techniques used in treating the data were the following:
Weighted Mean. The weighted mean was used whenever the composite attitude of a group of respondents toward an issue is sought. The weighted mean is attained by multiplying the scale value of the responses indicating it and then dividing the total weighted points by the number of responses.

Percentage. The percentage was used to interpret data from frequency distribution. The percentage is attained by dividing the total number of responses from any certain part of the responses then to be multiplied by 100 to be able to determine the part of it from 100%.

Arithmetic Mean. The arithmetic mean was used in some items in the questionnaire.

CHAPTER IV
PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

This chapter presents, analyzes and interprets data gathered to answer the questions of the study about the factors affecting the interest level of fourth year high school students of Parang High School to pursue college level.

Graph 1.
Interest Level of Selected Fourth Year High School Students to Pursue College
The graph shows that 96% of the students are very interested to pursue college. Of course, education is one of the important things in life that we need to be successful.
The other 4% says they are somewhat interested and not interested respectively for believing that college is stressful and for choosing between pursuing college or vocation.

Graph 2.
Aspects that may hinder the Students from Pursuing College Level
The bar graph above shows that 79.17 % of the students say that the top most hindrance of pursuing college is their families’ financial status. Knowing that Parang High School is a public school the family may have some trouble coping with the tuition fee and other miscellaneous fees that is required for going to college.

Graph 3.
Preferred Courses of Selected Fourth Year High School Students
The researchers have observed that students of Parang High School most preferred courses are engineering, accountancy and education. The researchers have concluded that the students’ top 3 courses are professional and highly paid jobs. Thus, students chose engineering, accountancy and education for them to have a good job in order to supply for their own family’s needs and wants.

Graph 3.1
Preferred Institutions of Selected Fourth Year High School Students
As what Chapman said, students may apply to low preference but perceived high-probability-of-admission college, often local public institution. Polytechnic University of the Philippines is a public, non-sectarian, non-profit institution of higher learning. And as shown in the graph, 68.75% of the selected students prefer that institution. Another public institution that is topping the students’ preference is the University of the Philippines with 38.54%. The third is University of the East, known for their generosity of offering scholarships depending on the grade from the entrance exam. And so on and so forth.

The others are a combination of colleges of least preference including ICCT,
OLFU, PSBA, etc.

Graph 3.2
Frequency Distribution of the Reasons of Students to Pursue College |REASON |FREQUENCY |PERCENTAGE | |Achieve goals |22 |13.25% | |Stable job |32 |19.27% | |Explore more |12 |7.23% | |Successful |45 |27.11% | |Help family |37 |22.29% | |Finish studies |9 |5.42% | |Help other people/country |3 |1.81% | |Prevent deprivation |2 |1.21% | |Others (productive, passion, stressful, |4 |2.41% | |vocation) | | | |TOTAL |166 |100% |

Students say that they want to pursue college to be successful with a percentage of 27.11. Education is the key to success, a famous quote, is a common belief yet it applies to almost everybody especially to those who finished their studies. Another reason why students want to pursue college is to help their parents and their families. Students believe that if they finish college, they would find a stable job to provide the needs and wants of their family and of themselves. When they have found a job for support, there will be a possibility of achieving their goals in life.

Some students reason out that college would help them explore more about what they can do so they can specialize it and use for their future. A few only thought of college as stressful. One student thought he/she can’t decide what to choose between education and vocation.

CHAPTER V
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

This chapter presents the summary, conclusion and recommendations of the study. In order to answer these research questions in our survey, the systematic method of research was applied.

Summary
This chapter summarizes the findings, generated conclusions and recommendations based on the analysis of the results of the study on factors that affect the interest of the selected graduating students of Parang High School in pursuing college. This paper’s aim is to analyze the results and find a way to increase their interest in pursuing the tertiary education.

Specifically, this study endeavoured the profile of the students of Parang High School and relates such observations to the factors affecting their interest in pursuing college. The main source of this data is through the questionnaire which consisted of twelve questions that are divided into three variables: personal background, family background, and college preferences. Other resources used were: school pamphlet, articles, documents and a personal interview with the guidance head.

This study endeavoured to answer the following:
1. What is the interest level of the student?
2. What are the factors that may affect the interest of the selected high school students in pursuing tertiary education? 3. How does their school help the students in their college choices? 4. What are the most preferred college courses the students want to take up?= Conclusion

Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions were made. 1. 96% of the students are very interested in pursuing college. 2. 79.17% of the students are hindered to continue until the tertiary level by their financial status. 3. 68.75% of the students are interested to go to college in Polytechnic University of the Philippines and their preferred courses are engineering. 4. 27.11% of the students want to pursue college because they want to be successful.

Recommendations
The following measures are recommended for boosting the interest of the graduating students of Parang High School in pursuing the tertiary level. 1. The graduating students of Parang High School should have a career orientation wherein different universities would have a representative to have a talk for the fourth year students about their university. In that way, the graduating students would already have an idea on the university that would fit them. 2. They must be provided a career booklet. In this way, the students would be aware of the different universities and the courses they offer. 3. Parang High School’s administration can put up a new subject in their curriculum, which is a guidance subject. In that subject, the students would be asked to take several tests about themselves such as interest test, career test, aptitude test and the like. 4. They should be informed of the scholarships offered by the different universities. In that way, they would be more inspired to pursue the tertiary level and would not be hindered by their financial problem.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Braverman, David J. The Standard and Poor‘s Guide To Saving and Investing for College. New York: McGraw-Hill.2003 Brown, B. Bradford. “The extent and effects of peer pressure among high school students: A.retrospective analysis.”Journal of Youth and AdolescenceVolume 11, Number 2, 121-133 Carandang, Ma. Lourdes A., Queena N. Lee-Chua.The Filipino Family Surviving the World:The Psychology of Filipino Families, Pasig: Anvil Publishing Inc. 2008. Chenoweth, Erica and Renee V.Galliher.Factors Influencing College Aspirations of Rural West Virginia High School Students.15 Oct. 2004. Utah State University.NP Ma Theresa G. de Guzman.Personal Interview. 8 Sep. 2011.

Flint, Thomas A. “Parental and planning influences on the formation of student college choice sets.” Research in Higher Education.Volume33. Number 6, 689-708 Tan, Christine Joy. “College Choice in the Philippines.”Doctorate thesis. University of North Texas, May 2009 Yang, Angelica Y. “Students bare their ‘peer pressure’ moments”.Philippine Daily Inquirer. 29 May 2001 “Batas PambansaBilang 232”.Chan Robles Virtual Law Library.25 Sep. 2011 “Students’ College Preferences and Plans in the 2011 Admissions Cycle.” Maguire Associates..March 2011. Fastweb.26 Oct. 2011..