CEBU, Philippines - A total of 274 out-of-school youths, including school dropouts, graduated today under the Alternative Learning System in Dumaguete City after 10 months of attending formal classes in different competencies.
City DepEd division superintendent Ramir Uytico said the program prepared the students to take the accreditation and equivalency tests, the diplomas of which were given after passing these.
Of the total graduates, 22 were detainees at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Bajumpandan, Dumaguete and the Negros Oriental Detention and Rehabilitation Center (NODRC).
Among them were 33-year-old farmer, Jessie Ogahayon of Brgy. Camanjac who was into organic farming, the oldest student, 57-year-old Fidelina Torres of Brgy. Junob, and a person-with-disability, Mae Pauline Aragones.
Despite her age, Torres wanted to take up culinary arts course in college and manage her own business, while Ogahayon, who was happy to finish elementary education after 20 years, said he will pursue high school education also through ALS.
Uytico said, over the years, the passing rate in ALS has been increasing and that the city DepEd division has been working by delivering competent instructions.
This year’s passing rate was 56 percent, of which 274 out of 488 ALS students passed. Twenty-seven of them got diplomas in elementary and 129 in high school.
There are 42 ALS centers around Dumaguete which is being manned by 14 teachers. Two of these are inside the BJMP and the NODRC. (FREEMAN)