Assessment of the performance of school-based multi-purpose teen centers in the first district of Iloilo Province

Abstract

Teenage pregnancy, HIV and AIDS, and mental health problems are increasingly alarming among adolescents in the Philippines. Thus, Adolescent Heath Development Programs (AHDP) were initiated in the country along with this is the institution of teen centers for the personality enrichment and skills improvement among teens focused chiefly on sexuality and health. Aside from the criterion used for the MODEL ILOILO TEENiran by the Iloilo PPO, no other guidelines exist to evaluate a teen center in the Philippines. This study aimed to evaluate the functionality of the teen centers present in the first district of Iloilo. A descriptive study design was used with study locales at schools within the first district wherein the teen centers are located and is within the inclusion criteria. Evaluation was done by the researchers’ using pre-tested evaluation tool and through a survey given to randomly selected teens. Frequency and proportion, Principal Component Analysis, and Hierarchical Clustering Methods were used for statistical analysis. The Teen Centers had an overall rating of above average with a mean score of 4.10±0.31. Tills also reflects that the four different components of the teen centers are also above average. Three clusters based from the views of the respondents were identified namely Enthusiastic consisting of 50.5% of the respondents, Gregarious having 31.9% and Apathetic comprising 17.5% of the teens surveyed. From the respondents, 60.5% were satisfied while 39.5% were not satisfied. As a conclusion, the teen centers have been effective in implementing its goals and objectives based on the evaluation of the researchers’ and feedbacks of the teen clients. Despite these outstanding results, it is still recommended that the teen centers further improve their overall performance to fully reach the goals of a teen center and to give the teens the utmost experience and learnings of the programs.