a BENT ATES
Republic of the Philippfneaucms “F * co
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 942. CtW!
Quezon City
DATE: 4
SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS |, x oth

First Regular S.

——a— ee

House Bill No. 3292) sory ATION UNIT
pees Ea SERMICE

2 5 Vilinin and
Introduced by AKBAYAN Representative Torkasito S. Villarin and

1-PACMAN Representatives Michael L. Romero, PhD. and
Enrico A. Pineda

EXPLANATORY NOTE

According to the 2013 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media
Survey (FLEMMS), one out of ten Filipino children was out-of-school in
2013. This translates to about 4 million youth according to the survey that
covered around 36 million population aged 6 to 24 years.

The same survey revealed that in the Autonomous Region of Muslim
Mindanao (ARMM) out-of-school youth is at 14.4% - the highest across
regions. SOCCSKSARGEN, Davao, Central Luzon, Zamboanga Peninsula,
Caraga and MIMAROPA’s out-of-school children and youth ranged from 11.2
to 12.3 percent. This is higher than the national rate of 10.6%.

A number of reasons for the low school attendance of children and youth
were listed by the study. Marriage, insufficient family income to send child
to school and lack of personal interest were the top 3 reasons.

‘This bill seeks to address this predicament of the youth by creating a
comprehensive national framework with the following elements:

1) Data banking to enable the government to know the total percentage of
OSY in the country and where these OSY are through the Barangay Abot
Alam Targeting System;

2) A program mapping system to ensure that the initiatives and resources of
all government agencies, non-government organizations and institutions,
volunteer groups, and all other sectors mandated to solving the challenges
of OSY in the country are cohesive and efficient;

3) A focus on reintegration and equal opportunity through the program
matching system so that all OSY are given equal access to programs and
services of partner agencies and institutions.



‘This legislative proposal seeks to address the steadily growing number of
child and-yguth school drop-outs.

Torfasito S. Villarin igffel L. Romero, Enrico\A. Pineda
PhD.


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

999
House Bill No.__ 3292

Introduced by AKBAYAN Representative Tomasito S. Villarin and 1-
PACMAN Representatives Michael L. Romero, PhD. and
Enrico A. Pineda

AN ACT INSTITUTIONALIZING THE ABOT-ALAM PROGRAM

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1.Short Title.
2016”.

This Act shall be known as the “Abot-Alam Act of

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy.— The State shall protect and promote the
right of all citizens to quality education at all levels, and shall take
appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all:

(a) The State shall establish, maintain and support a complete,
adequate, and integrated system of education relevant to the needs
of the people, the country and society-at-large;

{b) The State shall encourage non-formal, informal and indigenous
learning systems, as well as self-learning, independent and out-of-
school study programs particularly those that respond to
community needs; and

(c) The State shall provide adult citizens, the disabled, and out-of-
school youth with training in civics, vocational efficiency, and other
skills.

SEC. 3. Definition of Terms.— As used in this Act, the following terms shall
mean:

(a) Abot-Alam Enlisted Leamers - individuals 15 to 30 years old who
are enrolled in any of the programs which are provided by the
Department of Education (DepED) or by any of the participating
agencies or organizations under the Abot-Alam Program;


(b) Accreditation and Equivalency (A&E) Program - a non-formal
education certification program for out-of-school children, youth
and adults that recognizes prior learning. It offers elementary and
secondary education equivalent to that of the formal basic
education;

(c) ALS Partner - an individual or group, organization or agency (e.g.,
LGUs, NGOs, private institutions/companies, religious groups,
etc.) that implements ALS programs in different areas using their
own resources and/or that provides technical assistance or other
resources in support of ALS programs at any level;

(d) Alternative Delivery Modes (ADM) - nontraditional education
programs that apply a flexible learning philosophy and a curricular
delivery program. ADMs may be utilized in both public elementary
and secondary schools to address the learning needs of the
marginalized students who are at risk of dropping out;

(e) Alternative Learning System (ALS) - a parallel learning system to
provide a viable alternative to the existing formal education
instruction. It encompasses both the non-formal and informal
sources of knowledge and skills;

(9 Basic Literacy Program (BLP) - a community-based program for
illiterate out-of-school children, youth, and adults to acquire basic
reading, writing and numeracy skills or the ability to read with
comprehension, write simple messages and solve simple numeracy
problems;

(g) Community Learning Center (CLC) - a learning hub in the
community similar to a school, a center for skills development and
a community facility for local events;

(h) Informal Education (InfEd) Program - an informal education
program of ALS for the out-of-school children, youth, and adults
that offers skills/livelihood training or short interest-based courses
for personal or community development and/or employment;

(i

Multi-sectoral Local Alliance - the consortium composed of
government agencies, non-government organizations, and other
stakeholders that expressed commitment to achieve the goals of
the Program. There will be a national multi-sectoral alliance led by
DepED and the National Youth Commission (NYC}. There will also
be provincial and city multi-sectoral alliances that will support the
Program on the ground; and

(i) Out-of-School Youth (OSY) - out-of-school individuals who have not
completed basic/higher education or who are unemployed

v


SEC. 4. Abot-Alam Program. —Under the leadership of the Department of
Education (DepED) and the National Youth Commission (NYC), there shall
be established a nationwide convergence program, involving various
concerned national government agencies and non-government organizations
and institutions, with the vision of helping out-of-school youth (OSY)
through opportunities for education, entrepreneurship, and employment.
‘This program shall be known as the “Abot-Alam Program,” hereinafter
referred to as “Abot-Alam” or the “Program.” Abot-Alam shall develop and
employ a national strategy to organize efforts in integrating programs for the
OSYs who are fifteen (15) to thirty (30) years old and who have not yet
completed basic/ higher education or who are unemployed.

An Abot-Alam consortium is also composed of other agencies and
organizations with expressed commitment to achieve the goals of the
Program.

More specifically, the Program aims to:

a) Create a comprehensive database of OSYs in the country by
organizing a barangay OSY targeting system;

b) Unify the efforts and resources of all agencies and organizations

directed to solving the problem of OSY in the country; and

Ensure that all OSYs have access to programs and services of

different agencies and organizations.

cS

SEC. 5. Program Components.— Abot-Alam shall have the following
program components: (a) Organization, (b) Preparation, (c) Implementation,
(a) Monitoring & Evaluation (Mé&E) and (e) Management and Assessment.

SEC. 6. Organization Component. — This component shall be
operationalized through the following activities:

a) Convening of the Multi-Sectoral Local Alliance

i, The Division Office (DO), in cooperation with Local
Government Units (LGU) shall convene a multi-sectoral
local alliance composed of government agencies and non-
governmental organizations and other stakeholders;

ii, ‘The local alliance shall come up with a, specific plan of
action based on the major components of the Abot-Alam
Program; and

iii, The commitment of agencies, relevant organizations, and
other stakeholders alongside the action plan, shall be
formalized through a Memorandum of Agreement or
Understanding (MOA/MOU) among them.

b) Data Gathering/ Community Mapping

2


iii,

With the leadership of the LGU, barangay officials, Public
School District Supervisors (PSDS) and Principals/School
Heads, the Mobile Teachers, District ALS Coordinators
(DALSC) and other volunteers shall conduct data
gathering activities to map the households in all
barangays and record information of OSYs;

Data on children 14 years old and below who are out-of-
school must be included in the list to be encoded into the
Abot-Alam OSY database;

Existing enrollees of ALS programs need NOT be included
in the Abot-Alam OSY database; and

The data gathering/mapping activity shall _be
continuously conducted until all the barangays have been
mapped out and until all OSYs have been registered in
the Program

¢) Mapping of Programs for OSY - The DO, in consultation with all
participating agencies and organizations shall map all the
programs of intervention that these groups offer for the OSYs.
‘This will determine the relevant programs available for the OSYs
during the program intervention phase. °

d) Program Matching

i

iii.

After data gathering, the DO shall conduct the process of
matching the OSYs' needs obtained from the OSY
database and the availability of programs applicable for
the targeted learners. ‘The goal is to ensure that each OSY
(15 to 30 years old) registered in the Abot-Alam Program
is enrolled in at least one program.

Data on OSYs matched with available programs shall be
prepared for necessary coordination between and among
the service providers. Program interventions shall be
categorized into 3 tracks, namely:

1. Basic education programs

2. Entrepreneurship or skills training and
development programs

3. Employment or livelihood programs

Matching shall be done through the convergence of all
participating agencies/ organizations and shall be
spearheaded by the DO and the LGU.


e) Initial Data Reporting

After the data gathering/ community mapping activity, all DOs shall
accomplish the Abot-Alam Data Gathering Report Sheet

SEC. 7. Preparation Component. —This component shall be
operationalized through the following activities:

a) Enrollment / Referral of OSYs

4

iii.

For OSYs who prefer to return to school, their enrollment
shall be facilitated either at the ALS CLC by the ALS
Mobile Teacher or the DALSC or at the public elementary
or secondary school by the teacher in-charge of ADM.

For OSYs who prefer to enroll in the Nonformal Education
(NFE) programs of ALS, they shall be issued a Learner
Reference Number (LRN) through DepED's Learner
Information System (LIS). Existing DepED guidelines and
procedures in the registration of learners into the LIS
shall be strictly followed.

For OSYs who prefer to enroll in the Informal Education
(InfEd) programs of ALS, they shall be registered in the
appropriate ALS Form from DepEd.

For OSYs who prefer entrepreneurship and employment
tracks, they shall be referred to TESDA, CHED, DOLE or
to other partner agencies and organizations that offer
various OSY programs.

For OSYs with special needs (e.g. PWDs), they shall be
referred to partner agencies or organizations that offer
appropriate program interventions.

b) Deployment of Teachers for the Abot-Alam Program

i.

iii.

Existing ALS Mobile Teachers and DALSCs shall assist in
the implementation of the Abot-Alam Program.

In order for the DOs to achieve the target number of
learners, additional ALS teachers may be deployed to
implement the Program subject to the IRR.

(c) To ensure that the target of 1 Million OSYs in 2014 is
reached, newly-hired teachers or those who will be
assigned full-time to implement the Abot-Alam
Program are required to serve a minimum number of 75
ALS learners each within the period of 1 year.


¢}) Capacity Building of Teachers for the Abot-Alam Program

3

ii.

iii

The Division Office shall conduct a training workshop to
capacitate all the teachers who will be engaged in the
implementation of the Program. For existing ALS Mobile
Teachers and DALSCs, a one-day orientation workshop on
Abot-Alam Program shall be facilitated. A more
comprehensive training workshop on the Program and on
ALS shall be conducted for the newly-hired / assigned
teachers. They shall be equipped with the knowledge and
skills needed in implementing ALS programs through
Abot-Alam (i.e. community mapping, organizing learning
groups, assessment of learning, conduct of learning
interventions, and data reporting, among others}

The ALS Regional Core of Trainers shall be utilized for this
purpose.

Funds for this activity shall be downloaded by the Central
Office.

d) Orientation of Abot-Alam Enlisted Learners and their Families

i,

ii.

With the supervision of the Division Supervisor for ALS,
all Mobile Teachers, DALSCs, and the other teachers
hired or assigned to implement ALS programs through
Abot-Alam, shall organize an orientation program in their
assigned community or district to inform the enlisted
jearners and their families of the program implementation
details, as well as of their responsibilities as beneficiaries
of Abot-Alam.

Local barangay officials, public school Principals/School
Heads and all the participating agencies and
organizations that will provide entrepreneurship and
employment interventions to the OSYs shall actively
participate in the said activity.

e) Initial Assessment

An initial assessment as to the Abot-Alam enlisted
learners’ preferred program intervention tracks shall be
facilitated by the concerned ALS teachers.

Abot-Alam enlisted learners who prefer basic education
through ALS NFE shall be assessed using the ALS FLT in
order to determine their literacy level, whether they will be
enrolled under the BLP, A&E Elementary, or A&E
Secondary.


iii. Participating agencies and organizations who will offer
entrepreneurship or employment programs for the Abot-
Alam enlisted learners shall facilitate their own
respective assessment procedures.

SEC. 8. Implementation Component. —This component shall be
operationalized through the following activities:

a) Program Intervention

i, DepED shall provide the Abot-Alam enlisted learners with
basic education either through ALS or through ADM.

1) Those who prefer ALS may avail any of these two (2)
programs, depending on the assessment result: (i)
Nonformal Education which offers Basic Literacy
Program (BLP) for the illiterates and Accreditation
and Equivalency (A&E) Program for those who have
not completed their elementary or high school
education. (ii) Informal Education Program that
offers skills/livelihood training or short interest-
based courses for personal or community
development.

2) Those who prefer ADM shall be handled by DepED's
public elementary or secondary schools following
existing guidelines and procedures of the ADM
programs.

ii, ALS partners who have programs for OSY shall provide
the relevant interventions for those who belong to the
entrepreneurship or employment track. Should there be a
proven need to create a special program for a substantial
number of OSYs, the relevant agency or organization shall
take the responsibility to create such program using its
own resources. ALS partners providing said interventions
shall submit the required data/ reports to the CLC in the
district where the OSYs were enrolled.

iii. Value formation shall be made an integral part of all
aspects of program intervention that partner agencies and
organizations shall provide to the Abot-Alam enlisted
learners.

b) Learner Assessment and Certification

i. After program intervention, Abot-Alam enlisted learners
shall have obtained specific skill sets for employment or

7


entrepreneurship, or shall have been equipped to take the
ALS A&E test.

ii. All Abot-Alam enlisted learners enrolled under the A&E
Program of ALS (Elementary and Secondary levels) shall
take the ALS A&E test to be able to acquire elementary or
high school diploma. The test shall be administered by
the CO at the end of program intervention. Those who will
pass the A&E test shall be referred by DepED to partner
agencies for further certification, higher education
scholarship grants, or employment, whenever possible.

iii. Abot-Alam enlisted learners who availed of the basic
education programs through schools shall undergo
appropriate learner assessment by taking the Philippine
Validating Test or the Philippine Educational Placement
Test (PEPT) administered by DepED. Those who will pass
the test shall be provided with appropriate subsequent
interventions.

iv. Other participating agencies and organizations shall also
implement their own assessment and certification
systems for the Abot-Alam enlisted learners after program
intervention, as applicable (e.g. National Certification of
TESDA)

¢} DepED offices or personnel shall NOT receive any funding in the

form of cash from any of the ALS partners. All assistance of
such sort (e.g. financial support, transportation or daily
allowance, etc.) shall be directed to the Abot-Alam recipient
OSYs or to partner organizations.

SEC. 9. Roles and Responsibilities of the DepEd Central Office.— The
DepEd’s Central Office shall perform the following:

a) Provide overall management and direction for the Program,

b)

¢

dq)

e)

including policy formulation and national goal setting;

Organize and lead a National Abot-Alam Consortium; Ensure
that Abot-Alam is incorporated in the Key Result Areas (KRA) of
local DepED offices;

Ensure equitable prioritization and selection of recipients of the
Abot-Alam Program Funds;

Allocate and mobilize necessary resources for program
implementation;

Create a national communication campaign strategy to increase
awareness of people and garner support from different
stakeholders;

f) Provide technical assistance to field implementors; and


g) Ensure that pertinent and accurate data are consolidated in a
timely manner as input to monitoring and evaluation and policy
formulation, among others.

SEC. 10. Roles and Responsibilities of the DepEd Regional Offices.—
‘The DepEd’s Regional Offices shall perform the following:

a) Ensure that national policies and directions on Abot-Alam are adopted
and implemented at the Regional and Division levels;

b) Spearhead the advocacy campaign in order to generate the much

needed support from other implementing agencies, partners and

stakeholders;

Ensure that the target number of learners to be given access to

relevant program interventions at the Regional level is attained; and

d) Ensure that pertinent and accurate data are consolidated in a timely
manner and program implementors, among others, provide
appropriate interventions.

¢)

SEC. 11. Roles and Responsibilities of the DepEd Division Offices.—
The DepEd’s District Offices shall perform the following:

a) Spearhead the advocacy campaign in order to generate the much
needed support from other implementing agencies, partners and
stakeholders at the Division level;

Ensure that all Barangays are mapped out and all OSYs in the locality
are registered in the Program, utilizing all Program implementors with
the support from the LGU and other stakeholders;

Ensure that the target number of learners to be given access to
relevant program interventions at the Division level is attained;
Ensure that school-age children who are not enrolled in the formal
school system, as reflected in the gathered data are provided with
appropriate interventions; Expedite the assignment of teachers who
were declared as "excess,” as well as their deployment as ALS teachers
to implement the Abot-Alam Program;

Facilitate effective capacity building activities to make sure that all
concerned teachers are prepared and equipped to implement the
Program;

) Ensure that Abot-Alam enlisted learners enrolled in ALS NFE
programs are registered at the DepED LIS and that appropriate
interventions are provided to them either through formal and non-
formal education;

Utilize and maximize the use of existing teaching and learning
resources and ensure that concerned teachers are provided with the
learning materials specifically allocated for them; and

Ensure that pertinent and accurate data are gathered, consolidated,
and reported in a timely manner at the Di ion and CLC levels,
among others.

3)

¢

d)

e)

8)

hl



SEC. 12. Roles and Responsibilities of the ALS Mobile Teachers and
District ALS Coordinators.— They shall perform the following:

al

Conduct data gathering/ mapping activities in the assigned district or
municipality;

b)

Encode data into the Abot-Alam Program OSY database in
coordination with the NYC;

°)

Facilitate the process of learner assessment, enrollment, and referral
of Abot-Alam enlisted learners at the CLC level;

d) Ensure that OSYs who prefer ADM are properly referred to the nearest
DepED elementary or secondary schools;

e)

Ensure that OSYs who prefer entrepreneur or employment
interventions are properly referred to partners and that the needed
information and data are obtained from them;

) Coordinate with the LGU and other stakeholders in the establishment
and maintenance of the CLC {school-based or community-based)
where ALS learning interventions are conducted;

2) Provide appropriate ALS learning interventions to Abot-Alam enlisted
learners enrolled in ALS programs and prepare those that are enrolled
in the A&E Program for the A&E Test;

h) Maintain close coordination with participating agencies and
organizations that provide services through their entrepreneurship
and employment programs for OSYs; and

Ensure that pertinent accurate data are gathered and reported in a
timely manner, among others.

SEC. 13. Roles and Responsibilities of the Public Schools District
Supervisors, Principals/School Heads and Teachers. They shall
perform the following:

a) Take the lead in the data gathering activity, together with the LGU
and other ALS implementors;

b) Ensure that appropriate learning interventions are provided to Abot-
Alam enlisted learners who prefer ADM;

c) Provide the necessary support and technical assistance _to newly-
hired or assigned teachers for Abot-Alam, including provision of
appropriate resources available at the school;


d) Ensure that school-age children who are out-of-school are
accommodated and provided with the needed intervention; and
Ensure that accurate pertinent data are gathered and reported in a
timely manner, among others.

SEC. 14. Roles and Responsibilities of the National Youth Commission
(NYC).— The NYC shall perform the following:

a) Serve as the lead agency, together with DepEDin organizing and
mobilizing the national Abot-Alam consortium;

b) Ensure that pertinent accurate data on OSYs from barangay to
national levels are gathered, updated and reported in a timely manner
through the national OSY database, making it available to all the
members of the Abot-Alam consortium for reference in the
implementation of OSY program interventions; and

Engage youth volunteers in the advocacy, social mobilization and data
gathering activities, among others.

Cj

SEC. 15. Roles and Responsibilities of the Local Government Units
(LGUs).— The LGUs shall perform the following:

a) Provide leadership to the local multi- sectoral alliance, with the
support from DepED; Undertake local level advocacy campaign to
generate support for the Program:

b) Spearhead the OSY data gathering activity at the barangay level
ensuring that all barangays are mapped out using the required
templates and that all pertinent data are encoded into the Abot-Alam
OSY database;

c) Ensure that relevant intervention programs are provided to the Abot-
Alam enlisted learners through LGU-sponsored literacy, skills
training, livelihood, entrepreneurship, and employment programs;

d) Deploy or sponsor teachers or Instructional Managers who. will
implement the Program, using their own resources, in support to
DepED; and

€} Allocate and mobilize resources for the Program, among others.

SEC. 16, Roles and Responsibilities of Other Partners.— Other partners,
such as non-government organizations and other stakeholders, shall
perform the following:

a) Ensure active participation in the multi-sectoral alliance and
undertake advocacy campaign for the Program;

b) Provide relevant intervention programs for the OSYs registered in
Abot-Alam during the intervention phase, specifically for the
entrepreneurship and employment tracks, utilizing their own
resources;

c) Deploy or sponsor teachers or Instructional Managers who will
implement the Program in support to DepED; and

i


a) Ensure proper coordination with DepED in program implementation
and in timely submission of pertinent reports, among others.

SEC. 17. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — Within sixty (60) days
from the effectivity of this Act, the Department of Education (DepEd) and the
National Youth Commission (NYC), in coordination with other relevant
government agencies and non-government organizations shall promulgate

the necessary rules and regulations for the effective implementation of this
Act.

SEC. 18. Appropriations. — The funds needed to initially implement this
Act shall be charged against the current year’s appropriation of the
implementing agencies. Thereafter, such sums as may be necessary for the
continued implementation of this Act shall be included in the Annual
General Appropriations Act.

SEC. 19. Separability Clause. —Should any provision herein be declared
unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity of the other
provisions of this Act.

SEC. 20. Repealing Clause. —All laws, decrees, orders, rules, and
regulations or other issuances or parts inconsistent with the provisions of
this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 21. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in the Official Gazette or in any two (2) newspapers of general
circulation in the Philippines.

Approved,