large school-based intervention called the Third Elementary Education Project (TEEP), which was implemented in 23 relatively poor divisions from 2001 to 2006.30 By examining the wage dynamics of the data gathered in eight provinces (Ifugao, Nueva Vizcaya, Antique, Iloilo, Leyte, Samar, Cebu, and Negros Oriental), their study shows that a student’s education and ability or natural capacity or ability (endowment) together augment the gains from accumulating labor market experience, implying that education helps adolescents upgrade their occupations over time.31 Furthermore, they stress that “it is important to prepare the youth for the school-to-work transition, equip them with knowledge and competencies and the right attitude, and strengthen skill development to situate themselves in productive and decent work.”32 15. The same study also notes that the high unemployment rate among the youth is a typical phenomenon in the Philippines. Similarly, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESC) has made the same observation in its combined fifth and sixth periodic reports of the Philippines, citing that based on available information, the unemployment rate remains high, especially among the youth.33 The Committee also presents several recommendations for the government to reduce unemployment among the youth, one of which is to intensify its efforts in developing “effective school-to-work transition programs for young graduates and adopt other youth employment policies to respond to the fast-growing youth population.”34 16. More recently, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) estimated the youth labor force participation rate in April 2022 at 34.8%, which was lower compared to the reported estimate of 38.2% in the same period last year but higher than the 32% estimate in January 2022.35 The same data showed that the youth employment rate was at 87.7%, or 6.14 million of the 7.01 million youth labor force, which was higher than the reported estimate of 86.2% in January 2022 and the 84.2% reported in the same period last year.36 However, unemployed youth was at 12.3% or 861,000 out of the 7.01 million youth in the labor force, and underemployed youth was reported at 11.4% or 703,000 of the total 6.14 million youth reportedly employed in April 2022, while youth not in employment, not in education, and not in training (NEET) accounted for 11.9% of the 20.12 million youth population, aged 15-24 years old, which was lower than the youth NEET in April 2021 (15.8%) and in January 2022 (14.5%).37 Moreover, the Institute for Labor Studies (ILS) reported that despite a slight increase of young people that were neither in education nor employment (NEE) from 18.8% or 3.7 million in January 2018 to 19.7% 30 Futoshi Yamauchi & Marites Tiongco, Tracking School-to-Work Transition Among the Youth in the Philippines, 30(1), DLSU Business & Economics Review, 61–79 (2020). https://www.dlsu.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/5Yamauchi033021.pdf 31 Id. 32 Id. at 76. 33 UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Concluding Observations on the Combined Fifth and Sixth Periodic Reports of the Philippines, (Oct. 7, 2016), available at https://www.right-to-education.org/sites/right-toeducation.org/files/resource-attachments/CESCR_Concluding_Observations_Philippines_2016_En.pdf (last accessed May 26, 2022). 34 Id. 35 Philippine Statistics Authority, Employment Rate in April 2022 is Estimated at 94.3, available at https://psa.gov.ph/content/employment-rate-april-2022-estimated-943-percent (last accessed June 18, 2022). 36 Id. 37 Id. 16