Senator Win Gatchalian is urging the Department of Education (DepEd) to implement an aggressive back-to-school campaign targeting the country’s almost 11 million out-of-school children and youth (OSCY).
Gatchalian’s call followed the release of a report from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), which revealed that 10.7 million children and youth aged 5 to 24 are OSCY. The PSA defines OSCY as individuals who are not attending formal school.
The PSA added that 68.5% of these 10.7 million OSCY are aged 20 to 24, 15.6% are aged 15 to 19, 12.3% are aged 5 to 9, nang and 3.7% are aged 10 to 14. Gatchalian pointed out that they can enroll in the Alternative Learning System (ALS), a parallel learning system that provides a viable alternative to the existing formal education instruction.
The Alternative Learning System Act (Republic Act No. 11510), which Gatchalian authored and sponsored this 19th Congress, institutionalized the ALS to give out-of-school children in special cases and adult learners a second chance to complete basic education.
Gatchalian added that school-age children, except those in special cases, should be brought to the formal school system. Under the ALS law, out-of-school children in special cases are school-age children who are not enrolled in elementary and high schools because of economic, geographic, cultural, and other barriers. Out-of-school children in special cases include learners with disabilities, indigenous peoples, children in conflict with the law, learners in emergency situations, and other marginalized sectors.
“Mahalagang tiyakin nating maaabot natin ang ating mga kabataang wala sa mga paaralan upang mabigyan sila ng pagkakataong makatanggap ng edukasyon. Para sa ating mga nakatatandang mga mag-aaral at sa mga out-of-school children in special cases, maaari silang mag-enroll sa ALS upang hindi mapag-iwanan pagdating sa pagkakataong makapagtapos at magkaroon ng magandang kinabukasan,” said Gatchalian, Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Basic Education.
