Thursday, March 06, 2008 Alternative learning system benefits dropouts
MORE than 3,000 school dropouts in the Cordillera region are looking forward to having another chance of going to school under the Department of Education (DepEd) Alternative Learning System (ALS) program.
Gloria Felipe, chief of DepEd Alternative Learning Division, said the number speaks for those who have taken the Accreditation and Equivalency Test (A&E) administered by the agency last month.
A total of 3,103 school dropouts, both from the elementary and high school levels took the examinations.
The examiners must perfect the test to be able to get the certificate, which is equivalent to the graduate school diploma of the formal education system, Felipe said.
The A&E test is administered yearly by the DepEd to give chance for the school dropouts to go back to school. Those who will pass the test will qualify to go back to the formal education system.
Aside from this, the certificate issued to passers are also used in seeking employment, particularly those headed overseas, who are required to present a high school diploma.
In Cordillera, there are around 4,000 school dropouts, based on the 2006 data of the DepEd.
Felipe said this data only speaks for dropouts from the public schools. "We have no data yet on the private schools," he added. (JC)
