South Korea-funded learning center to rise in Tacloban

LEYTE, Philippines — The groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a Girls Education Center (GEC) in Tacloban, which aims to help expand alternative learning system (ALS) in the country, was held on Wednesday.

The construction of the learning center is part of the “Better Life for Out-of-School Girls to Fight Against Poverty and Injustice in the Philippines” project funded by the Korea International Cooperation Office (KOICA) and implemented by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Department of Education.

“The government of the Republic of Korea through its development cooperation agency KOICA supports the enhancement of learning opportunities for young women in vulnerable communities around the world. In the Philippines, Korea is glad to partner with UNESCO to implement KOICA’s project to provide alternative learning opportunities for girls out of school in Tacloban City, an area where the Korean government has been providing various other assistance, including humanitarian and reconstruction, following Typhoon Yolanda in 2013,” South Korean Ambassador Inchul Kim said.

Launched in 2017, the project aims to increase the passing rate among out-of-school girls in Accreditation and Equivalency tests, improve ALS girl-learners and ALS mobile teachers skills as well as develop new teaching and learning materials.

“Placing importance on alternative learning system is all the more critical now in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic... We have to continuously create ways to ensure that learners, especially girls, who cannot commit to formal schooling due to various social, economic, geographic and even cultural factors, be given a chance to have access to a more flexible and appropriate alternative learning program,” Hans Dencker Thulstrup, officer-in-charge of UNESCO Jakarta, said.

KOICA acting country representative Jaesang Hwang said the construction of the GEC is a “great support to the vision of the government of the Philippines to expand the ALS program, especially in communities with high poverty rates and in areas that are intensely affected by disasters.”

Early this year, President Duterte signed Republioc Act 11510, which institutionalizes ALS in basic education.

The law guarantees augmented support and increased access to opportunities for out-of-school children in special cases and adult learners, including indigenous peoples, to acquire basic and functional literacy and life skills and engage in a parallel pathway to complete basic education.