The Philippine Alternative Learning System: Bridging Gaps in the Society

The Philippine educational system has provided various mechanisms so that

diplomas provided from kindergarten up to higher education may be granted to

particular types of learners who for various reasons are unable to attend or complete

the formal schooling track. Such alternative credential-granting mechanisms are

institutionalized through various national policies. The commitment of the Philippine

government to UNESCO’s “Education for All” (EFA) goals, especially in addressing

school dropout and literacy rates are among the reasons for such alternative

credential-granting schemes. One of such programs is the Alternative Learning

System (ALS), described as the "other side" of basic education. The ALS program

combines nonformal education and accreditation and equivalency (A&E) test that

grants elementary or high school diploma. It specifically targets the learning needs of

school leavers, adults and other learners from marginalized groups who are

described by the law as “deprived, depressed, and underserved” (DDUs).

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 recognized education as

an "indispensable means of unlocking and protecting other human rights by

providing the scaffolding that is required to secure good health, liberty, security,

economic well-being, and participation in social and political activity" (UN, 2002) This

landmark declaration paved way to the rights-based discourse of education to be

asserted by marginalized groups like children, women, people with special needs,

and Indigenous People communities (Caoili, 2007; Hoppers, 2006; Rogers, 2004).

These marginalized groups when denied access to education are most likely to be

left behind and unable to benefit from the gains of globalization. Many studies show

that globalization has increased inequality and, in the equation-- the educated,

skilled and the mobile workers are the winners (Nesvisky, 2015; Pavcinik, 2009).
The greater premium for education in a globalizing world provides the impetus for

inclusive and more accessible education. In 1990, the international development

community birthed a massive global education initiative called Education for All 2015

(EFA 2015). The Philippine government has signified its commitment to EFA goals in

EFA assembly in Jomtien, Thailand in 1990 and Dakar, Bangladesh in 2000.

The Philippines also supported the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in

2001, and the Decade for Literacy in 2003. In the first EFA decade (1991-2000), the

Philippine government made explicit the urgency of addressing school attrition

through strengthening student retention measures and the provision of Alternative

Learning System that will address illiteracy and promote continuing education. In

EFA-Dakar, the revised EFA goals identified particular sectors like girls, children in

difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities to be given special

attention for the provision of accessible education. Young people and adults are to

be given “equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes.” And

adult illiteracy should be halved by 2015 (Guerrero, 2003). To decentralize the

education sector, policies were created towards a tri-focalized educational system --

the Department of Education (DepEd) is to manage Basic Education (Kindergarten

to high school and Alternative Learning System), the Technical Education and Skills

Development Authority (TESDA) to manage technical-vocational training and

Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to manage Higher Education.

At present, The Alternative Learning System (ALS), a flagship program of the

Department of Education (DepEd), is offering non-formal education to out-of-school

Filipino youth and adults who have failed to complete basic education (i.e. school

drop-outs). Being one of the Secretary’s priority projects, ALS is included in the Ten-
Point agenda to intensify DepEd’s efforts for extensive positive outcomes on ALS by

better

targeting of beneficiaries, broader coverage, prioritization of these program by

implementing units, partnerships, and modalities that would fit the circumstances of

target learners.

As mandated by DO 46, S. 2017, Framework for the Pilot Implementation of

the Alternative Learning System-Education and Skills Training, the Department of

Education (DepEd), through the Office of the Secretary (OSec), is piloting a

complementary initiative to the regular ALS. The program, known as ALS-Education

and Skills Training (ALS-EST), integrates a skills training component with the

existing Basic Literacy Program (BLP) and Accreditation and Equivalency (A&E)

interventions. It aims to produce completers who are not only able to catch up with

basic academic education but have also acquired technical competencies suitable

for immediate employment.

Last June 22, 2018, the DepEd - Office of the Secretary and BEST program

conducted a workshop to establish a Project Management Team (PMT) that will

oversee the program development, implementation as well as the monitoring and

evaluation component. During this workshop, the PMT’s functions and terms of

reference were identified. Budget, downloading of funds, and project implementation

parameters for ALS-EST implementing schools were also discussed.

In November 2018, a series of coordination meetings in three clusters —

Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao —was organized to have a common appreciation,

understanding and alignment in implementing an ALS-EST program. The said

meetings brought together ALS-EST implementers from Regional Offices, Division

 Offices and Pilot Schools, and provided them with the opportunity to share

their learnings and best practices, clarify the implementing guidelines, and provide

inputs for further enhancement for ALS-EST program and the ALS-EST Handbook.

The government’s vision for nonformal education is revitalized and epitomized

through an Executive Order No. 358 S. 2004, renaming and reinventing of the

Bureau of Nonformal Education to Bureau of Alternative Learning System (BALS)

whose vision is to view the Philippines as a nation where all the citizens, especially

the marginalized individual or group of learners who could not equitably gain access

to formal education because of unwanted conditions, be given equal access to

quality education by taking an alternative learning system that will enable them to

become productive workforce and members of the land.

The Jomtien Declaration of 1990 was a landmark because it stated that initial

basic education was an absolute priority in order to ensure equity for all, and that this

was impossible without expanding nonformal approaches to education. It stressed

that complementary policies were needed to take into account adult learning, basic

education for children and school leavers. Basic Education for All means that people,

whatever their age, have an opportunity, individually and collectively, to realize their

potential. It is not only a right; it is also a duty and a responsibility both to others and

to society as a whole. It is essential that the recognition of the right to education

throughout life should be accompanied by measures to create the conditions

required to exercise this right.

Researches on citizenship and democracy are pointing that contemporary

society cannot function effectively without adult basic education. The informed and

effective participation of men and women in every sphere of life is needed if

humanity is to survive and to meet the challenges of the future. Adult education thus

becomes more than a right; it is a key to the twenty-first century. It is both a

consequence of active citizenship and a condition for full participation in society"

(Hamburg Declaration: 1-2)

The Alternative Learning System 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 alternate

or substitute. Alternative learning system includes both the non-formal and informal

sources of knowledge and skills.

The Alternative Learning System only requires learners to attend learning

sessions based on the agreed schedule between the learners and the learning

facilitators.

The program has two different schematics for conducting instruction: school-

based and community-based. On the school-based program, instructions are

conducted in school campuses while in the community-based program, formal

instruction are conducted in community halls or on private places. The ALS program

follows a uniform lesson modules for all academic subjects covering the sciences,

mathematics, English, Filipino, social studies, current events among others. Delivery

of instructions are provided by government-paid instructors or by private non-

government organization.

Aside from schematics, the program has two levels: elementary and

secondary. Students have to start from elementary level, then proceed to high school

level. If a student is a graduate of elementary under a formal classroom system, the

student is automatically admitted to the secondary levels depending on which year

level the student stopped schooling.

The ALS evolved from the non-formal education that has been conducted by

the government of the Philippines. Previously, non-formal education was mostly

concentrated in instructions in livelihood skills training with basic reading and writing

incorporated in the module. Under the current system, skills training and livelihood

training have been excluded and established as a separate education system. Skills

training had become a stand-alone program with Technical Education and Skills

Development Authority (Philippines) taking charge of the program.

The ALS is a way for the informal and busy students to achieve elementary

and high school education without need of going to attend classroom instructions on

a daily basis just like the formal education system. Secondary education has now

become a prerequisite in vocational technology and college education in the

Philippines. Livelihood trainings, however, do not need formal or non-formal

education in the Philippines.

In the Asian region, initial attempts in adult education were primarily focussed

on imparting basic literacy skills. Basic literacy is a foundational part of lifelong

learning. Literacy is seen as a tool for self-empowerment and a step in lifelong

learning. Lifelong learning is not an abstract concept but the daily practice of

ordinary people. It is context and culture specific, and relevant not only to rich

countries but also to developing and least developed countries of the South.

There are commitments in several Asian countries to re-organize their

educational systems from the perspective of lifelong learning and to systematize the

learning which is already reflected in traditions, knowledge, experience and personal

fulfillment that are rooted in the daily lives of the ordinary men and women.

Alternative learning systems are being set up in every country. Non-formal education

to continue post primary and post-secondary education is being offered to out-of-

school and disadvantaged youth and adults who have been deprived of access to

the formal system for various socio-economic reasons. Programmes have been

established to focus on improving access to education for women, cultural minorities,

rural and remote communities, the ageing population, street children, and persons

living in conflict areas and in poverty conditions.

There is also a shift to a creation of literate societies and networks of lifelong

learning in which many factors other than school come into play, such as the practice

of writing integrated into the daily living and working environments, celebration of

oral traditions in print media, and reflection of community life in newsletters. The

focus is on making learning more relevant, maintaining an ongoing relationship with

learning content and life experience, revitalizing local cultures and learning in the

mother tongue and giving special attention to community participation.

All Asian countries, including the Philippines is putting education as their

priority. Their goal is to eradicate illiteracy and make each citizen literate functional

and productive. In this regard, they came up with alternative learning systems to

address the educational needs of the citizens especially to those who cannot afford

education due to their condition.

The Philippines has been targeting the Education for All. This goal of the

government in terms of the education of the Filipinos cannot be addressed alone by

the formal systems of education, those who cannot afford to go to formal schools

are addressed to by the Alternative Learning Systems and Programs implemented

by the Department of Education. The ALS has been of great help in the literacy

program of DepEd. Those drop-outs from formal schools were accepted in the ALS

and were mainstreamed to the formal schools, while others were qualified to work as

a result of their trainings provided by the ALS programs. At present, the ALS in our

country is not yet successful in the attainment of its goals. To compare it to other

ALS in other Asian countries, I would say they are at the same wavelength. The ALS

programs of the Asian countries may have helped in addressing the educational

needs of the less privileged citizens but still there are more citizens who were not

able to avail of the education provided by the formal schools or even the alternative

learning systems. Much effort has still to be done. The formal schools should tie up

with the alternative learning systems to fully address the needs of all the citizens of

each country.

Moreover, it may be true that the ALS of the Philippines as well as other Asian

countries have been of great help, but the education that they offer to the learners

cannot suffice the educational needs for them to qualify for higher education and

even to land in good and decent jobs. The students may have acquired the basic

literacy but that is not enough for them to qualify for pursuing higher education

especially if they go back to formal schools. The quality education is at risk. They

may have learned the basics of education but then again, in our current society

wherein it is very competitive, the need for higher education is the demand to qualify

for jobs.

It was also noted that more male students drop out from schools, be it in the

formal schools or in the alternative schools. The cited reason why more male

learners drop out from school than female is due to poverty. More male students are

asked to look for jobs that would contribute to the income of the family. This has to
be addressed, or else time will come when more male will not be qualified to work

due to being uneducated or worst being illiterate.

In summary, most of the regions in our country have performance classified

as “falling further behind” or with performance getting lower each year. While

substantial investments have been poured into the establishment of basic education

facilities, these were not enough to ensure that those who finish the ALS programs in

elementary and secondary levels complete basic education with satisfactory

achievement level. The basic education system should be responsive to the

differentiated needs of learners where a “one-size-fit all” or conventional

interventions are not enough or will no longer work.

For the country to achieve its target in 2015, the various basic education

stakeholders should focus their efforts and resources in assisting the regions,

divisions, schools or groups of learners who are lagging behind. In addition, the

following are highly recommended as policy of actions and programs:

 Operationalize the Joint Circular on establishing local literacy

coordinating councils and literacy implementing units.

 Fast track the introduction of methodologies to incorporate basic and

functional literacy skills development in existing community

development programs of various partners.

 Increase DepEd’s budget for the Bureau of Alternative Learning

System to enable it to continuously undertake policy/standard setting,

national coordination and quality assurance (providing technical

support and monitoring and evaluation.)

  Redesign the ALS program viz. Ladderized Technical and Vocational

Skills Program of TESDA.)

 Intensify the Parent or Adult Education program to develop parents’

functional literacy and to advocate the value of being “educated.”

In addition, ALS help the people to become more educated and accessible to

knowledge through this program many dropouts and out of school youth continue to

follow their dreams and hoping for a better future where mostly they continue their

education and trying to get a degree in college in order to have a good and decent

job.

Moreover, it may be true that the ALS of the Philippines have been a great

help to anybody, but for my insights the education that they offer to the learners

cannot suffice the educational needs for them to qualify for higher education and

even to land in good and decent jobs. The students may have acquired the basic

literacy but that is not enough for them to qualify for pursuing higher education

especially if they go back to formal schools. The quality education is at risk. They

may have learned the basics of education but then again, in our current society

wherein it is very competitive, the need for higher education is still the demand to

qualify for jobs. But then again ALS is still a great help for only getting the basic

knowledge and it’s up to the learners on how to cope up the lessons and compete in

college to have a more good and decent jobs in the future.