Kresa Camille S.

Doromal
October 7, 2014
Education, almost always, the answer will be going to school in order to learn. Most
individual will say education is associated with learning that takes place in schools. This is the general
perception of the most tradition. This topic will give information about another kind of education that
does not need to take place in school but good as the formal education. This is the understanding of the
new system, the Alternative Learning System (ALS). The Department of Education provides this system
in order to address those needs of individuals who cannot go to school to learn because of some instances
that they are never gone to school or they have dropped out of school.
The source of an educational background such as ALS to the basic and fundamental law of the
land is The Philippine Constitution. This is the law that provide for free and compulsory elementary
education and free secondary education through the Department of Education (DepEd). This means that
all Filipinos have a constitutional right to basic education, and the DepEd is mandated to provide this
service to all Filipinos.
In concern to this new system, the Philippine governments made into place the following legal
measures and commitment that serves as basis for the introduction of ALS in the Philippine educational
system. Republic Act 9155: The Governance Act of Basic Education, this law recognized the ALS as
complement of formal education and a major component of basic education with a clearly defined role
within the overall educational goals. This is Alternative Learning System is a parallel learning system that
provides a viable to the existing formal education system. It compasses both the nonformal and informal
sources of knowledge and skills.
Executive Order No. 356: Renaming the Bureau of Nonformal Education (BNFE) to Bureau of
Alternative Learning System. Executive order signed by Her Excellency, President Gloria Macapagal-
Arroyo. By virtue of this Executive Order, the BALS has been given the authority to guide the
development of the countrys ALS.
Education for All (EPA) Plan for 2015 prescribes urgent tasks that will guide the Department of
Education in fulfilling the spirit of RA 9155 and EO 356 and ultimately the vision of the Philippine
Constitution. It embodies the various programs, projects and directions to achieve the goal of quality ALS
for Filipino learners.
Quality education is what teacher always wants to achieve in their teaching-learning situations
inside and outside the classroom. They had utilized different techniques, strategies and approaches in
teaching to cater different individuals having different learning styles and interest. Teacher must be
equipped themselves to the knowledge and skills that they have to apply in a classroom setting. Teaching
is a noble profession having different faces and field to work in. One of these challenges is to experience
the informal side of education which is the Alternative Learning System. This is the teaching of those out
of school youth and individuals who are deprived to have the opportunity to be educated for the long time
because of poverty and age discrimination.
If given the chance to teach, to be a mentor and a teacher someday, the possibilities and
responsibilities which cover by education will be realized first. Teaching has many aspects to deal with,
one of this is the regular class, a classroom that has the normal students that usually the general picture of
what education is. Another is the teaching of special students. They are students having learning
disabilities. In education, they are given also opportunities to experience being in school and be educated.
And also teaching in a multi-grade classroom, where in students is of different grade level and in different
level of competency and knowledge.
The Executive Order No. 356 is an order renaming the Bureau of Non-Formal Education to
Bureau of Alternative Learning System. This order addresses the learning needs of the marginalized
groups of population including the deprived, depressed and undeserved citizens. Having knowledge of
this order will help informed to its functions, scopes and its rights.
The fact that teacher will have a students with different learning capabilities, designing the
appropriate strategies and techniques will be the best thing to do in order to suit and cater this kind of
learners. Teacher can do it through knowing what kind and level of learning of the student the teacher has.
Through that observation and information, teacher can now vary his/her teaching strategies in order to be
effective. This particular strategies and techniques can be face-to-face, study groups, peer learning,
modular, self-learning, radio-based learning, tutorial, interactive learning and so forth.
The teacher will monitor the development and improvement of the student through evaluation and
assessment. This will test the student also to the mastery and knowledge of the topic and tasks that is
given to them. The knowledge of the content or the system will help the teacher to be confident while
they are teaching. This is because teacher cannot give what he/she do not have. Being knowledgeable
about the certain content or learning system will help the teacher teach well.
Teachers always thought of how their students become competent and knowledgeable to prepare
them for globalization and modernization. Being in an Alternative Learning System is one of the
challenges that will test the teachers loyalty, flexibility and responsibility to his/ her work. There are
possible situations or scenarios that will contradict to this kind of learning system.
Learners in ALS have a class schedule different from the regular class, but they are given the task
and learning competencies that will help them cope up to the formal class. In concern to this kind of
learning schedules, a teacher will give modular task to student in order for them to study and improve
their learning. This modular task can be a good way of practicing responsibility and improving learning of
the student while they are not in their class schedule. But if these tasks will not be perform and done
honestly by the learners, this educational system will not be successful to what is expected outcome or
result of this purpose. Because they cannot monitor by the teacher every day, they can give or let others
do their task, in that case students will not learn.
Another situation or scenario that will contradict to this kind of learning system is the eagerness
and interest of the learner to be successful in their studies. Because of their age and status in life, there are
some instances that will turn them on to job opportunities, lack of eagerness to study because of the
irregular class schedules. And because somebody may think that this program is a non-formal education
so they can decide whether to pursue or to stop. They are not well informed or lack of orientation about
the importance of Alternative Learning System.
ALS teacher also will be the problem to this Learning System. Teachers do not do their
responsibilities and duties to their learners, and do not have the enough knowledge and skills or not
equipped to what they will do in the field, cannot help the success and purpose of the program. Most
especially appropriate assistance should be given to BALS in order to address its primary purpose that is
to provide free and accessible education to the learners under this program. In particular of the problem
that is the enough transportation allowance to the mobile teachers to help them move around, especially
they travel a lot going to places of learning. Also the funds and support to the teaching and learning
materials to this system is another problem that contradicts this educational system. Teachers will be
visiting and teaching different barangays and different places which lead them to have more support on
the material that they have to use in teaching and also the materials that will be using by the learners.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bilbao, P., Corpuz, B., Llagas, A., & Salandanan, G. (2012). UNESCO.
In The Teaching Profession (2nd Edition ed., pp. 197-198).
Quezon City, Manila: Lorimar Publishing.
Internet Sources:
http://securitymatters.com.ph/alternative-learning-system-3861/
http://www.slideshare.net/knowellton/module-22-alternative-learning-system