Getting an education fast through ALS

EDUCATION TRENDS

Jackson Claudio

SAGADA, Mountain Province -- Ronald Garcia,19, a graduate of the Alternative Learning System (ALS) of this tourist town in August 2019, passed the equivalency test and went to college.

             ALS of the Dept. of Education provides practical option to out of school youth, adults and elders or anyone who wishes to finish their basic education.

Some learners who graduated in ALS took the equivalency test to pursue higher education while others use it for employment. Elderly people enroll in ALS to learn how to read and write.

              Garcia is the second child of three siblings from Nueva Vizcaya. Because the work of his parents was not enough to sustain their daily sustenance, he decided to stop schooling.

Garcia was encouraged by his friends and invited him to work in Sagada as a souvenir shop assistant. He worked for three years for him to help his parents back in the province and to save for his education as well as pay his personal needs.

While working in the shop, his immediate supervisor encouraged him and his friends to enroll in ALS. Within two months of modular-based learning, he took the equivalency exam and passed it.

He claimed amidst all of his past experiences he is still grateful to ALS for it gives a big impact in his life.

“Mayat talaga ti ALS, ta adu ti naitulong na kinyak. Mairecommend ko ti ALS kadagiti padak nga nagsardeng ti panag-eswela da,” said Garcia

He added: “Marigatan nak laeng idi simrek ak ti college ta ado met ti sabsabbali nga adaddalen mi ti college, ngem agyamanak talaga ti ALS ta naituloy ko ti panagiskwelak uray nu medyu kasla naladaw amin.”

Garica is one of the 770 learners that ALS Sagada catered for the school year 2019-2020. In the 2019 literacy mapping of ALS, there are 2,175 target learners that are listed. Thus, the program continues to encourage out of school youths, adults, and elders to take the program.

According to DepEd, ALS is a parallel learning system in the Philippines that provides a practical option to the existing formal instruction. When one does not have or cannot access formal education in schools, ALS is an alternative or substitute.

ALS educators are designated to different barangays to cater drop outs, working individuals and anyone who wishes to finish their schooling.

Arminda Bangcawayan, ALS district Coordinator for Northern Sagada shared their experiences on how they teach the students. Accordingly, there are four types of learning systems that ALS is offering.

First is the face to face learning approach where learners attend classes in the ALS office based on their availability.

The house to house based learning, on the other hand, focuses on the learners who have special cases or conditions like the PWDs and the old folks who cannot walk. The educators visit them and teach them in their houses.

Third is modular-based learning. The learners in this group are independent learners. These students are working. They get their modules to their teachers and return to them after the set schedule. Most learners in this group are both from young and adults.

Lastly, the fourth group is the computer-based learners. The learners in this type have knowledge and able to operating computers and some softwares. Modules were just sent to them.

            Bangcanayang stated: “Being in this kind work commitment and dedication is needed for the learners to be reached out. It is not because they do not like to study; they just need opportunities to finish their education.”

Garcia is planning to study commercial cooking through the scholarship program of TESDA. And he is looking forward to having a brighter future for himself. (Jackson Claudio is a BSU-DevCom intern)