EDITORIAL

ALS Bridging The Education Gap

by Ernesto T. Solidum

Alternative Learning System (ALS) consolidated 2012 report in the province of Aklan shows a total of 1,288 out of school youth were enrolled in its non-formal education program with mean passing score of 65.45 percent. Dr. Dobie P. Parohinog, Education Program Supervisor, ALS, DepEd Aklan announced.

Of this total, 29 are elementary level while 794 are secondary. They all come from selected towns of Aklan with only one motivating desire to receive a certificate/diploma which bears the seal and signature of the DepEd Secretary certifying to their competencies comparable to graduates of the formal school system.

The Bureau of Non-formal Education renamed Bureau of Alternative Learning System (BALS) by virtue of E.O. No. 356 signed by Pres. Gloria M. Arroyo addresses the learning needs of marginalized learners to “catch up”. Basically, it is a parallel learning system to provide a viable alternative to the existing formal education instruction encompassing both the non-formal and informal sources of knowledge and skills. The root of the problem is economic deprivation which offers nearly half of total household  population.

To fully implement the program, special roving Teachers and Learning Facilitators routinely handle classes of 20-30 students once or twice a week. Books, pencils and paper are amply provided for the duration of the course. It’s only here where age limit, school uniform or PTA contribution are not required. After a year, Accreditation and Equivalency Test (A & E) is administered. 

Dr. Parohinog confides that the government spends P270.00/child/year as subsidy for elementary education and P1,200.00/child/year in secondary level. This is the government initiative which provides free and compulsory education in both elementary and   secondary levels. For those 1,288 students of ALS given the opportunity to improve their learning competency, taxpayers saved P1.37 million had they taken it through formal education, Parohinog pointed out.

Data provided by nine (9) municipalities for the period 2006-2010 reveal a total of 338 passed the A & E test. Of this 89 or 26.3 percent are employed, 119 or 35.2 percent are unemployed, 90 or 26.6 percent currently studying and 45 or 13.3 percent had no known status. A random interview of successful learners now employed could be an interesting tool for evaluation.

Profile of Employed 

ALS Passers  

Lou T. Tolores, 30 from Tagas, Tangalan is married with a kid. One of 12 siblings, no one ever got to high school. His father is a blacksmith while his mother is a housewife. There are three (3) of them who enrolled with ALS. Only 2 passed the A & E test and now fully employed as bakers (one is in Boracay while Lou is with An Ria Bakery in Poblacion, Tangalan). His daily wage is P150.00 that includes meals. To augment his income, his wife manages a sari-sari store in their barangay. His only desire is for his daughter to get a decent education. 

Arfred B. Fulgencio, 26 married with one kid is from Ibao, Lezo. He works as Bill Collector of Akelco. Through hard work, his family was able to build a modest house. His wife is currently a third year accountancy student at Garcia College of Technology. 

Gladys Alejandro, 22, single is from Balactasan, Madalag. She is a product of Kalibo II District ALS under Ms. Annelyn D. Billones. She is now working as Office Clerk, Comelec, Banga with salary of P2,000.00 per month. She plans to take up BS in Education.

Other successful ALS students are Ms. Ledilyn M. Guillepa of Poblacion, Kalibo now working as OFW in Singapore. Ms. Jennifer I. Olesco is a Grade School Teacher at Bacan Elem. School, Banga. 

The above mentioned people serve as inspiration and model who may have wasted their lives if not for window of opportunity given by ALS. Aware of the benefits, civic minded barangay officials of Bakhao Norte, and Bakhao Sur even fetch their ALS scholars to and from school during scheduled weekend classes. 

The municipality of Kalibo has annual appropriation of P50,000 to ALS District II for the purchase of school supplies and computer units. This is also implemented in Malay where government officials are keen on increasing literacy rate and employment potentials for the booming tourism industry.

Virtually, ALS is bridging education gap or chasm? (statistics show that only 3 out of 100 elementary pupils finish college) by fulfilling its mandate under RA 9155 or the Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001. However, it depends upon the response and attitude of individual learners and their parents. As Booker T. Washington once said, “I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which one has overcome while trying to succeed”.  /MP