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CAMIGUIN, May 5, 2022 – The Department of Education (DepEd) reported during the EduAksyon Press Conference on April 28 that there are more than 4-million out-of-school youths and adults (OSYAs) enrolled in the Alternative Learning System (ALS) program during the Secretary Briones’ administration.

“We are happy that the enrollment rate of the Alternative Learning system has gone up through the years. The ALS is an important legacy of the Duterte Administration. This is the first program that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte gave his full support and special attention to,” Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said.

“The numbers have shown that the Department has been putting concerted effort to reach out OSYAs nationwide and give them a chance to have a diploma in all basic education levels,” she added.

Based on the report of Assistant Secretary for Alternative Learning System G.H. Ambat, the enrollment numbers during the current administration are 80.32% higher than the past two administrations on a yearly average.

The Department also highlighted that 288 public schools and two private schools from 10 regions are now implementing the ALS-Senior High School program to provide more opportunities to the OSYAs to elevate their professional careers in the long run.

In 2019, DepEd Region V launched the pilot implementation of the ALS-SHS program in four schools, wherein after two years, 62 learners were able to complete the course and obtain their diplomas.

It was also noted that through the partnership with UNESCO Jakarta and Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Philippines, the country developed and launched the new K-to-12 aligned learning modules. The said project will address the need to develop 21st-century skills among its learners and bridge the gap in updated learning resources for ALS learners in the next few years.

DepEd also emphasized the improvement of the passers for the Presentation Portfolio Assessment (PPA), where 71.42% of qualifiers from School Year 2019-2020 passed the said assessment while 87.55% were able to pass in School Year 2020-2021 for Elementary Level. On the other hand, 83.56% of the qualifiers from the School Year 2019-2022 succeeded in the PPA, while 93.51% of qualifiers from School Year 2020-2021 received their certificate in the Junior High School Level.

Last December 23, 2020, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11510 institutionalizing the ALS program and creating the Bureau of Alternative Education (BAE), which will ensure that no learners are left behind by providing a parallel learning system for non-formal education.

“DepEd would like to extend its gratitude to our partners in the legislature, especially the Senate Committee on Basic Education chaired by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, House Committee on Basic Education and Culture Representative Roman Romulo, House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, and Tingog Partylist Representative Yedda Marie Romualdez, for championing the right of every Filipino to quality basic education, whether through formal or non-formal means of instruction,” Briones said.

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