The right to Education is internationally and globally recognized to bring about changes

in the world and among individuals (Mandela, n.d.; United Nations, 2017). It is a right not only
of those who can afford to pay for a good education but by anyone regardless of the language
or religion, whatever the color of skin and circumstances of birth or social origin,
notwithstanding opinions, political inclinations, and economic condition. The Philippines is a
culturally diverse country with an estimated 14- 17 million Indigenous Peoples (IPs) belonging
to 110 ethno-linguistic groups. They are mainly concentrated in Northern Luzon (Cordillera
Administrative Region, 33%) and Mindanao (61%), with some groups in the Visayas area. The
IPs comprise about 10% to 20% of the Philippines’s 102.9 million total populations. The
Philippines was the first in Asia to pass the Indigenous People's Rights Act (IPRA) in 1997, which
caters to protecting indigenous rights, preserving culture, and securing its continuity, especially
in education.
However, Cornelio and de Castro (2015) have argued that it is very alarming that IP
youth's enrollment in the country has been compromised. They have noted the decreasing
enrollment of IP children in elementary and high school to only 1.2 million out of 5.1 million IPs
under 18 years old listed in the most recent statistics (Calunsod, 2013 &IIMA andVIDES
International, 2011, as cited in Cornelio & de Castro, 2015). Among other concerns are the
discriminations faced by these IP youth regarding cultural insensitivity of either the learning
environment or the existing educational approaches and lessons set by the nationally instituted
education curriculum.
Indigenous students frequently find that the education they are offered by the state
promotes individualism and a competitive atmosphere, rather than communal ways of life and
cooperation. They are not taught relevant survival and work skills suitable for indigenous
economies, and they often return to their communities with a formal education that is
irrelevant or unsuitable for their needs. They are forced to seek employment in the national
economy, leading to a vicious cycle of social fragmentation, brain drain and a lack of
development, especially because the jobs and salaries available to them often will not match
their educational achievements (United Nation, 2019).

Currently the Department of Education is serving 2.529 million IP learners in 42,176

public schools around the Philippines in the first decade of the Indigenous Peoples Education
(IPEd) Program, according to the agency’s Indigenous Peoples Education Office (IPsEO). Through
DepEd Order 62, s. 2011 or the National Indigenous Peoples Education Policy Framework which
was formulated after several consultation sessions with IP leaders and elders the Department
officially commenced the institutionalization of the IP Education Program in 2011.  The policy
adopts a rights-based approach and directs the implementation of an education that is
anchored on the social and cultural context of IP learners.

Galindo (2018) has stressed out that for countless years, indigenous peoples (IP) were
constantly marginalized due to their different ways of living, practices, and beliefs. They were
discriminated against due to preexisting stereotypes towards them as uneducated and
uncivilized.
 Too often, education systems do not respect indigenous peoples’ diverse cultures. There
are too few teachers who speak their languages, and their schools often lack basic materials.
Educational materials that provide accurate and fair information on indigenous peoples and
their ways of life are particularly rare. Despite the numerous international instruments that
proclaim universal rights to education, indigenous peoples do not fully enjoy these rights, and
an education gap between indigenous peoples and the rest of the population remains critical,
worldwide (United Nation, 2019). Ethnic and cultural discrimination at schools are major
obstacles to equal access to education, causing poor performance and higher dropout rates
(United Nation, 2019).