ASSISTANT regional directors and Schools Division superintendents from the regions of Visayas and Mindanao participated in the Batch 2 of the series of orientations to brief and get the support of the top level officials of the Department of Education (DepEd) in the implementation of Alternative Learning Systems (ALS) version 2.0 conducted at Ritz Hotel, Davao City on August 20 to 23, 2019.
The activity which was conducted after all regional directors were also called for the purpose a month ago is in line with its efforts to improve the quality of non-formal education in the country as DepEd will soon roll out the enhanced ALS curriculum.
DepEd Secretary Leonor M. Briones in invoking the content of DepEd Order No. 3, s. 2019, announced previously the roll out of the “ALS Version 2.0” which according to her is “substantially different from the existing ALS Program.”
To successfully implement ALS 2.0, Secretary Briones created ALS Task Force and its members led by DepEd Assistant Secretary G.H. Ambat with Dr. Marillete Almayda as the Task Force head.
Mentioned positively during the President’s State of the Nation Address, “strengthened and expanded” ALS is noted by DepEd as one of the major enhancements” to the K to 12 Basic Education Program of the government and also included in the 10-point agenda of DepEd under Briones’ leadership entitled “Quality, Accessible, Relevant and Liberating Basic Education for All” which was released in November 2016.
Aside from the transformation of ALS, changes will also be applied to the learning materials, learning delivery system, learning environment, and learner assessment and certification system and changes in the system support components of ALS which include capacity building, financial management, advocacy, social mobilization, and partnership strategy.
DepEd “is now engaged in rolling out” a new version of the ALS curriculum and noted that “a comprehensive five-year ALS Roadmap has been developed” under the supervision of Ambat, who has been assigned to oversee the ALS Program.
As to the creation of ALS Task Force, Briones pointed out that it is needed “in order to provide a coordinated leadership of ALS as a priority program” of the DepEd and to “ensure continued delivery of inclusive, accessible, relevant and liberating learning opportunities to out-of-school children, youth, and adults.”
The Task Force “will act as a focal point for the coordination and integration of the range of activities under the ALS roadmap towards the full development and operationalization of the new ALS 2.0 program.”
This Corner hopes that the enhanced ALS and its curriculum will serve its purpose as an alternative to formal schooling but still not shortchanging the quality of education being offered as the formal and non-formal setup belong to one DepEd.