OBTAINING ACCESS TO FREE EDUCATION

MELANIE D. TAN

Seeing school-aged boys and girls unable to attend classes due to illness and other health related disorder, picking rubbish on streets to sell at junk shops is really heart breaking, realizing they should be in school learning just like other normal kids instead of staying at home, feeling outcast and deprived.

According to a study by the National Statistics Board, one in six schoolaged children in the Philippines are being deprived of education and the number continues to increase. The study also reveals the number of sixyear-old children who are not in grade one reached 1.207 million and 3.8 million school-aged children who do not attend school.

The Department of Education (DepEd) implemented the Alternative Delivery Modes (ADMs) in the formal education system in both elementary and secondary levels to widen the access of marginalized and disadvantaged learners to quality basic education which rules out that education is a right of every individual and that education is inclusive and not discriminating.

It primarily aims to address the problem on classroom congestion and other situations and circumstances, which prevent children from going to and staying in school.

Classes under Modified In-School or Off-School Approach (MISOSA) are divided into two groups— the in-school group and the off-school group. The in-school group learns in a typical classroom set-up, while the offschool group is given the flexibility to learn and do activities independently or with a learning facilitator.

The in-school group then will exchange with and experience the learning intervention of those in the off-school group, and vice versa while the off-school group utilizes Self-Instructional Modules. Those inside the classroom use the Learner’s Materials and textbooks provided by the Department. It was developed to address the problems of seasonal absentee learners and congested classrooms in schools.

The Open High School Program (OHSP) utilizes distance learning as a way for teenagers, especially those who are differently abled or those with financial difficulties, to still catch up with their lessons. It is a part of the DepEd’s Drop Out Reduction Program (DORP), which aims to address the needs of students at risk of dropping out.

The said program offers independent, self-paced and flexible study programs using self-instructional materials. OHSP learners are supported by tutors whom they meet occasionally.

Furthermore, DepEd also supports other local initiatives or efforts to widen and improve learners’access to basic education, aside from the three introduced alternative modalities. This will better address the access to basic education problems per region, division, or school.

Parents of these differently abled or financially uncapable kids need to envision the Department of Education’s programs in supporting every Filipino learners.

With the government’s effort in promoting quality education, surely, “No Filipino Child is Left Behind”.

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The author is Teacher III at Pampanga High School