Baclaran Elementary School Unit I always prioritize education for all. It always been part of the program to support the best of all the students. And because of this, BES I addressed not only the needs of those who go for formal schooling but also for those who wanted to go back and continue their education. That’s why we support the Alternative Learning System (ALS) which aims to reach out to the out-of-school youth and help them to achieve their dreams in life by letting them pursue their study by enrolling them in this program.
Since 2018 up to the present, the learners who enrolled in ALS was good. In fact, there are 50 students who are enrolled in 2018. In 2019, there are 28 students who are all completers of the ALS and this year even we are facing pandemic, the school enrolled 30 learners and the enrolment is still going on. Despite of the challenges happened to us due to CoVid-19, the learners are slowly but coping to the changes happened in the field of teaching. Instead of having face-to-face which we usually do was change by the synchronous and asynchronous.
Alternative Learning System in our school was not only focusing on their mental ability but also, we have some outdoor activities such as going to museum and exhibits that developed their social awareness and helped them to explore the knowledge that was written in their modules. Aside from the face-to-face which was done before the pandemic, the year 2020 was a challenging year because we use messenger and google meet as our platform in talking to our learners in order to follow the safety protocol given by the government to protect each one of us from the virus.
Like the formal school, in order to pass the ALS program and graduated the learners need to pass the A and E tests. In 2018, there are 2 passers who passed the test and they graduated. But the schools always have passers since the program was introduced. Due to pandemic, there is no A and E test happened but instead, the portfolio of the students is the basis of their performance in order to determined whether they pass. And we have 12 completers and passers this year.
Even there are challenges and changes, the Baclaran Elementary School Unit I will always be supportive of the ALS program and ready to reach out to learners who are left behind. We will be part of the betterment of our education system that no one will be left behind. Our school will always be the second home of those out-of-school whose looking to have a better future not only for themselves but for their family.
