A TOTAL of 3,146 passers of the Alternative Learning System (ALS) will receive a sum of P3.15 million cash award courtesy of the Pampanga Provincial Government as recognition for passing the ALS Accreditation and Equivalency (A&E) Test.

According to Jasmine Cordero, officer-in-charge of the Provincial Library, there were 202 passers from the first district; 1,278, from the second district; 560 from the third district; and 928 from the fourth district.

Aside from that, there were also 21 passers from the Central Luzon Drug Rehabilitation Center; 52 from the Guagua District Jail (GDJ); 49 from the Pampanga Provincial Jail (PPJ); and 46 from the Regional Rehabilitation Center for Youth (RRCY).

"Lahat ng nakapasa considered as high school graduate na sila. Hindi na sila kailangang mag undergo ng senior high school," Cordero said.

The awarding for the first and third districts passers will take place on January 30 at Santiago Elementary School, Sta. Ana; for the second district passers on January 31 at the Lubao Gym; and for the fourth district passers will be on February 5 at San Simon Covered Court.

ALS A&E is a program being implemented by the Department of Education, through the Bureau of Alternative System, aimed at providing a substitute mode of learning for out-of-school children, youth, and adults who have failed to attend or finish basic education in the formal school system.

Once an ALS taker passed the A&E test, he will be given a certificate or diploma which qualifies him to enter college. (PR)