ALS Teacher Program (ATP)

INTRODUCTION The Mobile Teachers are the key players in the delivery of Alternative Learning System programs in the Philippines. At present, there are 664 of them deployed in various parts of the country with the main task of reaching the out-of-school youth and adults to provide them with basic literacy and continuing education and assist them to become functional and responsible members of the society.

RATIONALE The Bureau of Alternative Learning System recognizes the multiple and challenging tasks of a mobile teacher. Unlike an ordinary teacher in the formal school, a mobile teacher operates in the community and does more than mere teaching. A Mobile Teacher goes through a whole cycle of tasks that starts from literacy mapping and recruitment of learners until their completion rites. Central to these responsibilities include house-tohouse visitations, determining literacy levels of learners, conduct of actual learning interventions, materials development, counseling, tutorials, networking, research, reporting and many others. For the past three years, the Bureau of Alternative Learning System has subsidized the annual basic and enhancement training of the mobile teachers. The national training program was focused on the delivery strategies distinct to the alternative learning system. However, a 5-day once a year training is not sufficient to address the numerous and multifaceted training and development needs of the mobile teachers.

What is the ALS Teacher Program? It is a wholistic support package for ALS teachers designed to enable them to perform their task more efficiently and effectively. It consists of programs for their personal welfare, professional advancement and well-being.

What is the ALS Teacher Program? It is a delivery mode of ALS programs where specialized teachers called the ALS Mobile Teachers live among the people in remote barangays of the country to conduct intensive community-based training for illiterate out-of-school youth and adults who are willing to learn basic literacy skills.

What are the objectives of the Program? The objectives of the program are as follows: Make education accessible in remote areas; Raise the level of literacy in the target areas; and Improve the quality of life of individuals and families in remote and underserved Communities

The Department of Education desires to make education makes education accessible to out-of-school youth and adults in the remote, deprived, depressed and underserved (DDU) difficult to reach communities of the country. It is in this context that the Alternative Learning System (ALS) Teacher Program was originally conceptualized as the ALS Mobile Teacher Program in line with the concept of bringing education where the learners are.

The generic term Mobile Teacher is used to suggest the movement of the teacher from one area to another to serve different communities of learners.

Who is an ALS Teacher? There are different types of ALS Teachers: The ALS Mobile Teachers are bachelor degree holders in education and are duly licensed professional teachers. They perform various duties and responsibilities to develop functional literacy and other related skills of learners in community learning centers. They are DepEd employees and civil servants. The District ALS Coordinators refers to the formal school teachers who are locally designated as ALS implementers. They are also DepEd employees and civil servants. Literacy Volunteers are private individuals who handle ALS programs within their community. Minimal allowance is provided by DepEd for their service. Instructional Managers and Literacy Facilitators are private individuals who handle ALS programs under contract with DepEd.

Who will benefit from the ALS Teacher Program? The target sites and communities for this Program are those with high illiteracy rate, big number of out-of-school youth and adults and identified Strong Republic Schools (SRS) barangays. The ALS Mobile Teachers help improve the quality of their lives and help them become useful members of their communities by helping them read, write and compute

Basic Literacy Program (B L P)

3 Major Programs of ALS BLP (Basic Literacy Program) A & E (Accreditation and Equivalency Test) Indigenous People education (IP)

What is the Basic Literacy Program (BLP)? The Basic Literacy Program (BLP) is a program aimed at eradicating illiteracy among out-of-school children (OSC), out of school youth (OSY) and adults who cannot read and write.

GOALS of the BLP: Reduce basic illiteracy and increase functional literacy Increase the economic productivity of beneficiaries; and Improve beneficiaries participation in the community where they live.

THE MOBILE LITERACY PROGRAM an educational intervention program for out-of-school youth and adults who live in remote barangays of the country it is in line with the concept of bringing education to where the learners are

 Mobile teachers goes to the barangay to conduct learning sessions until such time that the learners have become literate before going to another barangay.

GOALS OF MOBILE LITERACY Make education accessible to OSYs and adults Raise the level of literacy in the target areas; and Improve the quality of life of individuals and families in remote and underserved communities

FUNDING: Funds in the implementation of this program are sourced from the Bureau of Alternative Learning System (BALS), Local Government Unit and other stakeholders . Other stakeholders help the ALS Program implementation by providing materials such as modules and facilitators guide.

What are the basic literacy skills that the BLP addresses? Ability to read with comprehension Ability to compute and solve simple numeracy problems Ability to express ideas in writing and speaking in ones language

Who are the target learners? The TARGET LEARNERS are the illiterate out-of-school children, youth and adults. 15 years old and above from the poorest segments of society to learn basic literacy skills.

Three Levels of Literacy Basic Literacy Illiterate Level

Elementary Level Semi Literate Level (Transition to Self Learning Level)

Secondary Level Self Learning Level Capability

How are the BLP learners categorized? Basic reader - Basic reading skills include language, concentration, visual processing skills, auditory processing, memory and reasoning. Each of these skills needs to be practiced and applied in order for a person to become a proficient reader. Neo-literate reader - is an individual who has completed a basic literacy training program and has demonstrated the ability and willingness to continue to learn on his or her own using the skills and knowledge attained without the direct guidance of a literacy teacher. Post literate reader - is a concept used in continuing education and Adult education programs aimed at recently illiterate or "neo-literate" adults and

communities. Post literacy programs provide skills which might otherwise be provided in Primary education settings.[1] Post literacy education aims to solidify literacy education, provide resources and media aimed at the newly literate, and also may create systems of non-formal education to serve communities. Projects include providing formal continuing education, providing written materials (the Literate environment) relevant to economic development to newly literate members of developing societies, and leveraging radio and other non-written media to increase access to educational material in informal settings.[2]

How do learners access BLP? Step 1: Recruitment - the Service Provider, Literacy Facilitator and Mobile Teacher, District ALS Coordinators will go to the target community (house-to-house) to recruit learners. Step 2: Screening and Placement - the recruited learners will undergo screening and placement test using the Functional Literacy Test (FLT) Step 3: Enrolment - learners who are qualified will be enrolled to BLP - Learners will prepare their Individual Learning Agreement (ILA) ENROLLMENT REQUIREMENTS BIRTH CERTIFICATE NSO OR, BRGY. CERTIFICATE INDICATE BIRTHDATE OR, SSS/GSIS ID OR PASSPORT 2X2 PIC, 2PCS

What are the learning resources used by BLP learners? The following are the available learning resources for BLP learners: 21 modules for the basic reader stage 32 modules for the neo-literate stage 15 modules for the post literate stage 33 modules are in Braille Each learning module is accompanied by a Facilitators Guide. Languages used are: Tagalog, Ilocano, Pangasinense, Kapampangan, Bicolano, Hiligaynon, Cebuano,Waray, Maranao, Tausug, Maguindanaoan 33 modules are in Braille What is Braille? NOUN: A system of writing and printing for (people who are blind) blind or visually impaired people, in which varied arrangements of raised dots representing letters and numerals are identified by touch. Braille is a technique for enabling (people who are blind) blind and visually-impaired people to read and write.

What happens to the BLP COMPLETERS? enroll to A&E Program mainstream to formal school enter the world of work enroll to TESDA training