Alternative Learning System (ALS) may soon eradicate illiteracy in the city

By PIA Samar
July 11, 2012

CATBALOGAN CITY  –  The Alternative Learning System (ALS) program in Calbayog has helped reduce the number of illiterate Calbayognons, according to DepEd-ALS Program Supervisor Ricky Cano.

Cano, in an interview over Radyo ng Bayan-DYOG bared that illiteracy rate has declined, as he compared the data in 2010 to 2011.

“In 2010, there were more than 5 thousand illiterate folks in Calbayog City out of the 160 thousand population or some 3.48%; in the year 2011, the number declined to 5,046 as against the population of some 201 thousand Calbayognons or 2. 50%,” Cano explained.

The program added Cano, helps the out-of-school youth get education while doing other responsibilities, like earning a living.

“They can go to school when they have the time,” Cano said.

The ALS Basic literacy program targets those who have not attended formal schools.

Cano added that most of their students are parents who attend classes anywhere they agreed upon, be it under the trees, or in the comforts of their homes – where the family is also involved in the so called family literacy program where they teach each other reading and writing.

“Often literacy problems are passed from one generation to the next. By involving the family with literacy objectives, this education pattern can be changed,” an education official said.