Alternative learning system seen completing Pinoys basic education

TARGETING to complete the basic education of 24 million Filipinos, Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian pressed Congress to front-load passage of urgently needed remedial legislation to institutionalize the “alternative learning system” (ALS) devised by the Department of Education (DepEd).

In filing Senate Bill 740, Gatchalian pressed for the nationwide adoption of the DepEd’s parallel learning system to the existing formal education set up, stressing the need to reach out to millions of Filipinos aged 15 and above who have yet to complete their basic education.

The Gatchalian bill filed last July aims to “provide accessible training and education services in every barangay, including the farflung and conflict-torn areas to out-of-school children, youth and adults, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, children in conflict with the law, persons deprived of liberty, and other marginalized sectors of society.”

He explained that the ALS curriculum was “designed to help learners acquire the knowledge, skills and competencies” that learners under the formal school system are expected to develop under the K to 12 Program.

The Senator’s bill, once enacted into law, will institutionalize the ALS under the DepEd’s parallel learning system to the existing formal education system.

In a statement, Gatchalian noted that while the number of ALS enrollees have increased over the years, an overwhelming number of potential learners have yet to be reached. He said that based on DepEd data, “there are 2,025,167 enrolled learners between 2016 to 2018 but only 1,329,667 learners were able to complete the program.”

“We have 24 million people who did not graduate from high school, so that’s 1 out of 4, and there are 1 out of 10 or 10 percent of our population that cannot read and write, so that’s 10 million. There’s an urgent need to put a lot of attention to ALS because it also captures literacy,” Gatchalian said. “That’s why I’m very bullish about this bill because we need to reach out to the 24 million and right now we’re only addressing 600,000 a year. That’s barely 1 percent of the total required enrollment,” he added.