EXPLORING THE PERCEPTIONS OF GRADE 12 STUDENTS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF MANDATORY BASIC RESERVE OFFICER TRAINING CORPS

Criminology

Mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) programs have been proposed to instill patriotism and discipline among students, sparking diverse perceptions. This study investigated the perceptions of Grade 12 students towards the implementation of mandatory ROTC in Cateel, Davao Oriental. It aimed to profile respondents by age, gender, and ethnicity, assess their views on social development, disaster preparedness, national security, and related issues, and identify significant perception differences based on demographics. Using a quantitative descriptive methodology, data were collected from 241 students across three educational institutions via a stratified random sampling survey. Results showed a majority of respondents were above 18 years old (62.66%) and female (58.50%), all identifying as Mandaya. Students generally had a positive perception of mandatory ROTC, especially regarding social development, disaster preparedness, and national security, with concerns about physical and mental well-being, military abuse of power, and hazing. No significant perception differences were found based on age or gender. Recommendations include making ROTC programs inclusive, implementing safety and support measures, and establishing continuous monitoring and evaluation systems. Future research should consider diverse samples to understand the broader impact of mandatory ROTC across different ethnic groups.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.