Teachers' Essay

1. Poverty – Pupils living at or below poverty level tend to have the highest dropout rates. Poverty also causes pupil’s absenteeism and forces them to work and earn a living to sustain their daily needs. Pupils who do not get enough food or sleep are less likely to perform at their full academic potential in school.
2. Family Factors – Issues at home has an impact on pupil’s academic performance. Issues like annulled/divorced parents, single parents, poverty, and violence are challenges that a pupil bring to school.
3. Technology – Pupil’s love of technology like I pad, laptop, computer and other gadgets also tends to distract pupils from school work. It is difficult for the teachers to keep pupils interest and attention to properly teach new concept without using technologies. Teachers are engaged in Computer Literacy Training Program to bring education and technology together to attain quality education.
4. Bullying – Some pupils experience different types of bullying in school. It can be physical or verbal bullying. It is not a new problem but it is one that has a strong impact on the learning of many pupils today. Bullying also affects pupil’s sense of security, health and sometimes victims are suffered from depression. They also experience psychological distress and can’t concentrate on schoolwork.
5. Parent Involvement – Some parents won’t be seen for the whole school year, no matter what problems about their children might encounter. Lack of parent’s involvement in school was one of the most serious school problems because they don’t even monitor their child’s situation/problem in school.
6. Pupils attitudes – Disrespect for teachers is the one of a major problem facing schools today. Issues like absenteeism, tardiness, and disrespect were seen more frequently on higher level than in primary level. It is the right time for the principals, teachers, parents to work together to find solution for the benefits of all pupils.
7. School distance from Home – Being late or number of absenteeism caused by far distance of home from school. Some leave in far distant hills or mountains and took several hours walking or riding a bicycle or motorcycle. Some needs to ride a boat or trek a cliff and river.
8. Hygiene and Nutrition – you will notice the student in poor nutrition is inactive in school activities even in discussions. Some of them finished the day just sitting and listening without any participations. Lack of personal hygiene even it was taught in the school. Parents should always consider it as their daily routine for their children before coming to school.
9. School Supplies and Resources – being in a modern technology of teachings and many new gadgets and equipment invented still many of public school are not evenly received or distributed. Some still doing the old style one book for two or three students. A common chair for two person but three, a share room with blackboard in the middle as a division.
10. Teachers and Pupils Ratio – A big size of 55 students in one teacher do you think a perfect ratio for a good quality of education? A teacher cannot accommodate the inquiry or questions of the students in this size. You cannot even hear the voice of the teacher at the back row and the focuses of discussion was not equally heard and understand. In some case blurred visions and with hearing impaired should be given a sit in the front.

The enjoyment of the right to education is not fully realized for most indigenous peoples. The Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples says that without access to quality education indigenous communities will not be able to fully enjoy their rights. The Expert Mechanism is a group of five independent specialists who provide expertise on the rights of indigenous peoples to the Human Rights Council.

In their report to the Council on the right of indigenous peoples to education the experts say, “Deprivation of access to quality education is a major factor contributing to social marginalization, poverty and dispossession of indigenous peoples”.

The report makes the case that designing education programs for indigenous communities must take into account many factors that acknowledge the special needs of these communities. Indigenous students cannot be forced into mainstream education systems which do not integrate indigenous culture, it says.

An approach using a single model is inappropriate because of the diversity of indigenous peoples.

Promoting “indigenous perspectives, innovations and practices in an environment that replicates traditional ways of learning” is another interest of the Expert Mechanism. This includes having mother-tongue based bilingual and multilingual education at the primary as well as at higher levels. Indigenous languages should be integrated into the teaching programs. The report proposes that community members be trained as language teachers and the development of indigenous literacy material. Continue reading “Quality Education For Indigenous People”

Abot-Alam is a convergence program under the Cabinet’s Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster (HDPRC) that envisions a Zero OSY Philippines. Through the collective effort of national government agencies, local government units, civil society organizations, the private sector, and community-based groups, Abot-Alam aims to map out all country’s out-of-school youth aged 15 to 30 and match them with appropriate government or civil society programs that will give them opportunities for education, employment, and entrepreneurship.

The success of Abot-Alam will depend on four things: a comprehensive database on the out-of-school youth generated on the community level which contains specific individual information such as names, birthdates, addresses, highest educational attainment, reasons for being out of school, etc.; a wide range of programs that will respond to the diverse of the out-of-school youth, programs that can be tweaked or modified to make them more appropriate, responsive and accessible to the OSY; a multi-sectoral alliance on the local level consisting of the local government, barangay leaders, DepEd, other government agencies, civil society organizations, civic groups, companies and business associations, and community-based groups that agree to work together to map out all the OSYs in their area and pool their resources and programs together to address the needs of the OSYs; and the participation of the ordinary citizen, who adopts as his/her personal mission the task of ensuring that at least one OSY gets access to this opportunity being provided by Abot-Alam. Continue reading “Be Part of Abot-Alam for a Zero OSY Philippines”

The Bureau of Alternative Learning System (BALS) in partnership with the Southern Broadcasting Network (SBN) piloted the implementation of Radio-Based Instruction is an alternative delivery mode utilizing ALS Accreditation and Equivalency (A&E) System through radio broadcast.

Accreditation and Equivalency System is designed to meet the objectives of Education For All (EFA) and thereby increase access of marginalized learners to basic education.

The RBI program was launched on November 4, 2004. The program provided more opportunities for the OSY and Adults to gain more knowledge, attitudes, values and skills needed to improved their quality of life and increase the level of their participation in community activities.

The specific objectives of the program are: to provide learning opportunities for listeners who are out-of-school youth and adults and to enable learners/listeners acquire equivalency in basic education.

The preparatory activity is to conduct orientation/training of Mobile Teachers/District ALS Coordinators and Instructional Managers in the Division Office by BALS and Regional staff.

Target learners are all OSY and Adults in the communities within the project sites. However, for the purpose of monitoring the DepEd Personnel of the concerned division will identify two (2) specific learning groups to be monitored and evaluated for pilot implementation.

Regular schedule of broadcast will depend on the available time to be given by the radio station. If necessary, broadcast time should be three times a week from 11:00-11:30 in the morning and with repeat broadcast in the evening of the same days. Continue reading “Implementation of Radio-Based Instruction (RBI) Utilizing The Local Community Radio Stations”

The ALS-Madrasah Education Program is designed to respond to DepEd’s Education for All (EFA) Plan whose goal to make every Filipino functionally literate by year 2015. It also makes reference to the policy recommendation of the BESRA-endorsed. Technical Report on Strengthening the ALS in the Philippines: Issues and Challenges which recommends the development at the Madrasah Education for OSY and adults.

Muslim OSY’s and adults are part of the marginalized sector of society who are the target beneficiaries of DepEd’s ALS. As a result of various push factors, notably the peace and order situation in Mindanao, this group has moved into other regions, provinces and cities. They are now in National Capital Region, Metro Cebu, Iloilo and Bacolod, and in other cities up north in Lingayen and Baguio City. This mass migration of unskilled and oftentimes illiterate Muslim youth and adults has resulted in other socio-economic problems among the Muslim migrants and in the receiving areas of migration. Continue reading “Alternative Learning System-Madrasah Education For Muslim Out-Of-School Youth (OSY) And Adults”

The ALS A&E System is an alternative learning system which provides an alternative means of learning and certification for out-of-school youth and adults aged 15 years and above, who are unable to avail of the educational opportunities of the formal school system or who have dropped out of the formal elementary or secondary education. Its vision is to empower the Filipino out-of-school youth and adults to continue to learn on their own so they may improve the quality of their life and that of their family, community and country. Its mission is to provide out-of-school and adults with learning opportunities by which can gain knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that will enable them to think critically and creatively; act innovatively and humanely and achieve their learning goals in order to become a contributing member of Filipino society.

Accreditation and Equivalency System aims to:

1. Provide a system for assessing levels of literacy and other non-formal learning achievement covering basic and functional education skills and competencies designed to be comparable to that of the formal school system;
2. Offer an alternative pathway by which out-of-school youth and adults earn an educational qualification comparable to the elementary and secondary school system, and
3. Enable the out-of-school youth and adults to gain reading, writing and numeracy skills to meet their learning goals as they define them to gain the skills they need to improve their economic status and function more effectively in society.

The target learners of the A&E System are 15 years old and above out-of-school youth and adults who are basically literate. Most of these target learners live below the poverty line predominantly coming from the depressed, disadvantaged, underdeveloped and under served areas and it also the needs of the differently abled, the prisoners and the cultural communities. Continue reading “Alternative Learning System Accreditation And Equivalency Programme”

The Alternative Learning System (ALS) is a free education program implemented by the Department of Education (DepEd) under the Bureau of Alternative Learning System (BALS) which benefits those who cannot afford formal schooling and follows whatever is their available schedule. The program provides a viable alternative to the existing formal education instruction, encompassing both the non-formal and informal sources of knowledge and skills.

It was first launched in 1984 under the name Non-Formal Education and was primarily focused on helping its learners acquire technical skills that they can use to earn a living. After getting it name changed into Alternative Learning System in 2004, its focus widened to include literacy classes that are aimed at eventually granting Elementary and High School diplomas to deserving learners who were forced to drop out of primary and secondary school.

ALS aims to open more educational opportunities for Filipino citizens of different interests, capabilities of demographic characteristics, socioeconomic origins and status as well as addressing the needs of marginalized groups.

The program cuts the time needed to finish elementary and high school, hence, significantly cuts the expenses as well. Aside from giving hope to the less fortunate, it also provides opportunities to Out-of-School Youths (OSY) and Adults elementary and secondary school drop-outs; industry-based workers; housewives; maids; factory workers; drivers; members of cultural minorities; indigenous people and disabled/physically challenged.

Classes are conducted at Community Learning Centers. Each municipality or city has a number of CLCs that interested learners can go to. These CLCs can either be a public elementary or secondary schools, a barangay hall, a room or building lent by a government agency, private company, organization, or any other vacant space where learners can gather together. In ALS, learners have to attend 10 months of school or 800 hours in the classroom. Continue reading “Alternative Learning System”