Study Skills and Science Academic Performance of the Conditional Cash Transfer Program (“Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program”) Junior High School Beneficiaries in Zambales, Philippines

The Philippines' Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) was patterned after the Conditional Cash Transfer program in Latin American and African countries. With the 4Ps' goals of reducing poverty and empowering the poor, the government has invested in the primary and secondary education of children by providing cash assistance among the poorest households. Almost a decade after its initial implementation in 2008, the expectations on this program are high. Hence this paper (1) provides a comparison of the study skills and (2) presents an analysis of Science academic performance, Science class attendance, and daily allowance, among junior high school students in two hundred fifty (250) 4Ps and three hundred thirteen (313) non-4Ps families in school districts of three northern municipalities that differ in economic classification in Zambales province. The students' self-rating of their study skills focused on (1) textbook reading, (2) note-taking, (3) memory, (4) test preparation, (5) concentration, and (6) time management following Congos' Study Skills Inventory. The results illustrate the (1) causal effect of 4Ps on the students' study skills, Science academic performance, and Science class attendance, and (2) relationship between study skills and Science academic performance. The findings are discussed to reflect on the effectiveness of 4Ps to address poverty relative to its implications to study skills and Science academic performance.