At 67, a grandmother finally fulfills her childhood wish to study again; a young man who lost his way gets a second chance to complete his studies; a teen-age mother develops her capabilities and confidence through learning. They have all taken the opportunity offered by Alternative Learning System to have a chance at a better future.
ALS is the flagship program of the Department of Education that offers non-formal education to out-of-school youth and adults who have failed to complete basic education.
In Valenzuela City, ALS is a component of the local government’s 360 Degrees Program in Education, a holistic approach to upgrading the city’s public school system with the involvement of the community.
The program is getting a further boost with the use of Smart School-in-a-Bag portable digital classroom kits, which the city received as part of the incentives for earning a Seal of Good Education Governance in 2017 and in 2018.
Another “Seal” recipient, a first-timer, Navotas City, also received a digital kit.
The recognition is given by Synergeia Foundation, with the support of USAID and in partnership with digital services provider PLDT Inc. and its wireless subsidiary, Smart Communications Inc.
The foundation is dedicated to ensuring quality basic education for every Filipino child, and acknowledges local government units that are able to sufficiently provide children with access to good education.
Smart’s portable classroom kit utilizes mobile technology coupled with an innovative, 21st-century teaching pedagogy and educational content to facilitate learning.
Each backpack contains a laptop, tablet, Smart pocket wifi, and LCD projector for the teacher and tablets for pupils. Installed in the tablets are #LearnSmart Mother Tongue-Based Literacy mobile applications developed by Smart in partnership with local communities nationwide.
With the digital kit, ALS learners are able to experience learning with the use of modern gadgets and technology they otherwise would not have access to, says Valenzuela Vice Mayor Lorie Natividad-Borja.
“This also becomes an added skill that works to the advantage particularly of ALS working students,” she adds.
“ALS learners who pass the high school Assessment & Equivalency (A&E) Test are given the opportunity to pursue college at our local universities: Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela and Valenzuela Polytechnic College, tuition-free,” she said.
Navotas Rep. John Rey Tiangco says, the city received a high score from the local school board “due to our expanded participation – with principals from different departments and NGOs – that allowed us to work together more efficiently and execute education programs more effectively.”
Under the three-term mayor’s leadership, the LGU sent over 700 scholars and children of fisherfolk families to school, provided scholarships to some 3,000 college students, facilitated programs such as Kindergarten on Wheels and Computer Outreach Learning (COOL), and donated school appliances and supplies under Balik Eskwela.
The Smart portable classroom kits will be useful because ALS facilitators can take them to different communities around Navotas, Tiangco says.
“Kids these days prefer to watch videos and use interactive apps, so we’re sure they will be more eager to learn now that they have these modern educational tools,” he added.
PLDT-Smart also awarded the two NCR Seal recipients with an Infocast, a web-based SMS solution for sending out public service announcements.
“The Infocast will help us with official announcements of emergencies and class suspensions,” Tiangco says, noting how critical high tide is to the city along Manila Bay.
“We can also use Infocast to announce youth projects such as our weekend clean-up activities and leadership programs,” he added.
As the saying goes, “it takes a village to raise a child.” The Synergeia Foundation aims to enable communities to work together to provide children quality education.
This is aligned with PLDT and Smart’s direction to build strong partnerships with community stakeholders to develop innovative and sustainable programs that bring real value to all Filipinos.
For more details on Synergeia Foundation, email [email protected]. Those interested in the School-in-a-Bag can email [email protected] or follow Smart Communities on Facebook.