Koronadal City – A total of 567 out of school children and youth (OSCY) are graduating from a 10-month alternative learning system (ALS) program this Thursday and Friday, March 13-14, in the towns of Paglat, Maguindanao; Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat; and Malapatan, Sarangani province.

With assistance from the USAID-funded Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills (EQuALLS2) Project, these OSCY were provided free alternative learning classes by Notre Dame of Marbel University’s (NDMU) Champagnat Community College.

Paglat, Esperanza, and Malapatan are part of the target areas of the EQuALLS2 Project that aims to provide alternative education to 100,000 OSCY in the next four years in selected municipalities and barangays in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and Regions 9 and 12.

In Partnership with NDMU and the local government units, EQuALLS2 helped construct and renovate 21 community learning centers in the three towns to serve as classrooms for the OSCY.

In Malapatan, Sarangani, the local government unit donated a total of Php 100,000 for the construction of a community learning center in the Poblacion, a counterpart share that surpassed the expectations of project implementers.

“We want to work in partnership with local government leaders who are dynamic, approachable, and eager to take a proactive role in improving the state of education in Mindanao,” says Bill Potter, chief of party of the EQuALLS2 Project.

In ARMM, it is estimated that children and youth who are in formal elementary and high schools and those who are out of school equal in number. Only four out of ten children who enroll in grade 1 finish grade 6 in the ARMM and six in Region 12.

The 10-month ALS program provided a combination of literacy and livelihood skills trainings for OSCY who have been mostly idle during the years they dropped out of school or worked menial jobs for lack of skills.

The livelihood skills training are packaged according to the present socio-economic needs of the town. In Paglat, Maguindanao, trainings include banana chip making, reed (bagombong) weaving, native hat (salakot) making, handicraft (kalakat) making, and sugar making.

In the more busy towns of Esperanza and Malapatan, the OSCY were given more choices on trainings on food processing, small engine repair and house wiring installation, fashion jewelry making and cosmetology. The project also included personality development training for the often aloof and withdrawn OSCY.

“These OSCY have been deprived of a chance to pursue formal education for many reasons, it is important that they get to have training options that they think they can benefit best from,” explains Agnes Reyes, director of NDMU’s Champagnat Community College.

The ALS program aims to assist OSCY in passing the Department of Education’s Accreditation and Equivalency (A&E) test and the Philippine Education Placement Test (PEPT)- a path that an internationally acclaimed boxing champion Manny Pacquiao from General Santos City, this region, blazed by passing the A&E a year ago.

While most OSCY may not be able to pursue college education and earn their degrees after completing the ALS program, EQuALLS2, through the livelihood skills trainings will empower them to become skilled workers and productive community members in Mindanao.

Last update : 13-03-2008 22:57

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