USAID ships learning tools for Deped’s ALS
PART of the United States’s ongoing commitment to support the Philippine government’s Basic Education learning Continuity Plan during the pandemic, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) recently turned over 371 laptop computers worth more than P16 million (or about $333,000) in total to the Department of Education (Deped).
At a ceremony inside the Deped Central Office on February 19, USAID Philippine Office of Education Director Dr. Thomas Leblanc handed the laptops to Education Assistant Secretary for Alternative Learning System (ALS) G.H. Ambat. The devices will support ALS teachers and coordinators in the field who provide education to out-ofschool children and youth. ALS teachers and administrators will use the equipment to continue working with students, updating lesson content, innovating teaching methods, and monitoring learners’ progress.
This new donation supplements an October 2020 USAID handover to Deped of laptops, printers, projectors, and learning materials. USAID had also provided five “e-skwela Centers” with equipment to expand their outreach to vulnerable out-ofschool youth who want to enroll in the ALS.
This assistance is part of USAID’S Opportunity 2.0: a fiveyear, P1.9-billion (approximately $37.5 million) project that supports Deped, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) and local governments in their ongoing programs that are providing relevant education, employability skills and work experience to out-of-school youth.
Over the course of the program, USAID’S assistance will benefit 180,000 youth in more than 12 cities across the Philippines. Meanwhile, Opportunity 2.0 is implemented by the Usbased Education Development Center together with Deped, Tesda, Accenture, Philippine Business for Education, Catholic Relief Services, Voluntary Services Overseas, and Seameo Innotech.