REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 3982

Introduced by Representative TYRONE D AGABAS

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill seeks to institutionalize the Alternative Learning System in
the basic education for out-of-school children, youth and adults, persons
with disabilities, indigenous peoples, and marginalized sectors of our
society. This bill has already been approved by the House of
Representatives on its 3" and final reading in the 17% Congress.
Considering however its significance in realizing equal access to
education, this bill is being filed.

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 (Section 1, Article XIV, 1987
Constitution). 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 (Section 2 [4], Article XIV, 1987 Constitution).

The Alternative Learning System (ALS) program for many years has
been proven effective in integrating the out-of-school children, youth and
adults, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, and marginalized
sectors in mainstream education. The ALS has taught us that an out-of-
school youth, regardless of age, as long as he is willing to learn can
become a graduate. Celebrities like Senator Emmanuel Pacquiao, Jessy
Mendiola, Angel Locsin, Gerald Anderson, and Kim Chui were
beneficiaries of the ALS program. To date however, the ALS program has
not yet been institutionalized hence the vulnerability of it being
withdrawn anytime from our educational system. To ensure a sustained


implementation of the ALS program, there is a need to institutionalize
the same.

Accordingly, the approval of this bill is earnestly sought.

a

ATTY. TYRONE D. AGABAS
Representative
6% District, Pangasinan


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City
EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

HOUSE BILL NO. 3992

AN ACT

INSTITUTIONALIZING THE ALTERNATIVE LEARNING SYSTEM IN
THE BASIC EDUCATION FOR OUT-OF-SCHOOL CHILDREN, YOUTH
AND ADULTS, PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES, INDIGENOUS
PEOPLES, AND OTHER MARGINALIZED SECTORS OF SOCIETY, AND
APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

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

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the
“Alternative Learning System Act”.

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. ~ It is hereby declared the policy of
the State to promote the right of all citizens to quality education at
all levels and shall take appropriate steps to make such education
accessible to all. The State shall likewise give the highest priority to
the enactment of measures that promote human development and
the acceleration of social progress, thereby reducing social,
economic and political inequalities.

Towards this end, the State shall provide the out-of-school
children, youth and adults, persons with the disabilities,
indigenous peoples, and other marginalized sectors of society with
opportunities to improve their knowledge, technical and
vocational efficiency, and other skills through a system of informal,
non-formal, and indigenous education which are tailored to meet
their limited schedule and their incapacity to attend to formal
classroom learning experience due to time, physical, emotional,
economic, and other constraints.

SEC. 3. Objectives. - This Act aims to achieve the following
objectives:

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(a) Provide adequate attention to the learning needs of the
out-of-school children, youth and adults, persons with
disabilities, indigenous peoples, and other marginalized
sectors of society;

(b) Guarantee equal opportunity for learners in every
barangay, including residents of unreached, underserved
and conflict-affected communities, to avail of systematic and
flexible alternative basic education program outside of the
formal school system;

{c) Promote lifelong learning in all streams of education to
ensure the learners’ sustainable future; and

(d) Institute a mobile teacher program especially in far-flung,
unserved, underserved, and conflict-affected communities;

SEC. 4. The Alternative Learning System. - The Alternative
Learning System, hereinafter referred to as “ALS”, is hereby
established as a parallel learning system that provides an
alternative learning arrangement to learners, who, for acceptable
reasons to be determined by the Department of Education (DepEd),
can not be admitted to the existing formal basic education. It
includes both the non-formal and informal sources of knowledge
and skills.

‘The ALS shall cover out-of-school children, youth and
adults, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, and other
marginalized sectors of society, who either have none or limited
access to formal schools, and who are usually located in far-flung
communities, including those in areas with armed conflict.

SEC. 5. Implementation. - The Secretary of Education, through the
appropriate DepEd office, shall exercise general supervision and
administration over the ALS programs. It shall:

(a) Establish an appropriate governance mechanism, to
ensure the efficient and effective coordination and
management of the ALS covering policy, curriculum, learning
program delivery, learning materials, learner assessment and
certification, quality assurance and support systems;

(b) Provide the appropriate ALS curriculum assimilating

culture and gender-sensitive formulations that meet the
minimum requirements of basic education, training of

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teachers and coordinators, and the mechanism to implement
the program in every city and municipality throughout the
country;

(c) Coordinate with local government units (LGUs),
nongovernment organizations (NGOs), and other government
agencies on matters pertaining to community mapping
activities and come up with a centralized database for out-of-
school children, youth and adults, persons with disabilities,
indigenous peoples, other marginalized sectors of society
who have not yet completed their basic education;

(d) Address the learning needs of the marginalized groups of
the population including the deprived, depressed, unserved,
and underserved citizens through non-formal and informal
education programs;

(e) Ensure access to educational opportunities for learners of
different interests, capabilities, demographic characteristics
and socioeconomic origins and status;

( Promote certification and accreditation through
alternative learning programs, both non-formal and informal
in nature, for basic education;

{g) Coordinate with various agencies for skills development to
ensure the learners’ employability, efficiency, productivity,
and competitiveness in the labor market; and

(h) Establish minimum quality standards for ALS program
implementation and management including certification of
learning outcomes, accreditation of service providers,
competency standards for ALS personnel, and requirements
for ALS learning environments, among others, to help
promote quality assurance of the ALS.

SEC. 6. The ALS Program. - The DepEd shall strengthen the
implementation of Non-Formal Education (NFE) and Informal
Education (InfEd) Programs.

(a) The NFE Program shall be modular and flexible in nature,
which means learning can take place anytime and in any
place depending on the convenience and availability of the
ALS learners. This program is subdivided into a:

(1) Basic Literacy Program (BLP), for illiterates; and

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(2) Continuing Education Program, —_ called
Accreditation and Equivalency (CE: A&E) Program, for
elementary education dropouts.

(b) The InfEd Program includes skills and livelihood training
entrepreneurship, personal interest, and community
development sessions.

To deliver ALS programs, the DepEd may utilize the following
learning resources:

(1) Learning modules which contain learning activities,
and pre- and post-assessments; and

(2) Supplementary materials like text and non-text based
modules, self-learning instructional materials, learning
activity packages, online and digital modules, textbooks, e-
modules, or blended technology learning materials from
various sources.

SEC. 7. Duration of ALS Programs ~ The DepEd shall prescribe an
appropriate minimum number of session hours or days required
for the completion of ALS programs to ensure that the learners
enrolled therein are provided with adequate and quality schooling
and training at par with the formal education system.

SEC. 8. Accreditation and Equivalency Examinations for ALS
Learners. - The ALS Accreditation and Equivalency (ALS A&E) Test
shall be a paper and pencil test designed and administered by the
DepEd to measure the competencies of those who have neither
attended nor finished elementary or secondary education in the
formal school system. Passers of the ALS A&E Test are given a
certificate or diploma _ bearing the DepEd seal, and the signature
of the Secretary of education, certifying their competencies as
comparable graduates of the formal school system. Passers are
qualified to enroll in junior high school or senior high school
education as appropriate.

SEC. 9. Admission to Senior High School. - Learners, who
successfully complete the required ALS program and pass the
appropriate ALS A&E Test for junior high school level, may be
admitted to senior high school to pursue courses of their own
choices: Provided, that they comply with the other basic

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documentary requirements set by the school as requisite for
enrollment.

‘The DepEd shall develop supplemental learning programs
for the passers of the ALS A&E Test to help the learners cope with
and be acquainted with the kind of academic, technical or
vocational subjects being offered in senior high school education.

SEC. 10. The Technical Education and Skills Authority (TESDA) -
The TESDA, in coordination with the DepEd, shall assist ALS A&E
Test passers equivalent to Grade 10 in taking up Technical
Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programs. This shall
serve as an option to enrolling in senior high school.

The DepEd shall also encourage ALS graduates in
possession of skills to undergo competency assessment and
certification being administered by TESDA.

SEC. 11. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). - The
DOLE, in partnership with the DepEd, shall promote gainful
employment opportunities to ALS passers, who will eventually
graduate from senior high school education, through coordination
with prospective employers for job placement in the industry
sector.

SEC. 12. Hiring and Training of ALS Learning Facilitators. - The
DepEd shall hire ALS Mobile Teachers, Literacy Volunteers, and
Instructional Managers, who shall serve as ALS Learning
Facilitators, in order to augment the manpower resources needed
in the implementation of the ALS programs throughout the
country.

The ALS Learning Facilitators shall undergo the necessary
training regularly throughout the calendar year to upgrade their
teaching skills to the standards expected for the ALS
curriculum.

SEC. 13. Establishment of ALS Community Learning Center. -
There shall be established at least one (1) ALS Community
Learning Center (CLC) in every municipality and city throughout
the country. As much as possible, the ALS CLC shall be situated at
the place within the municipality or city that is conducive for
learning and accessible to the public.

Each ALS CLC shall be constructed in accordance with the
specifications, criteria, and other details provided and approved by

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the DepEd, in consultation with the municipal or city mayor or a
duly authorized LGU representative, to ensure the orderly
implementation of the project.

SEC. 14. The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
= The DILG shall help enlist the support of the LGUs as DepEd
partners in the operation of the ALS. It shall coordinate with the
DepEd on matters requiring LGU participation and shall issue and
disseminate to the LGUs concerned ALS-related memoranda or
advisories, as necessary.

SEC. 15. Participation of LGUs. - The Secretary of Education shall
initiate partnerships with the Chief Executives of LGUs to
encourage them to contribute available resources to the ALS
programs within the LGUs’ respective areas of jurisdiction.

SEC. 16. Local ALS Committee. - The Local School Board may
create a local ALS Committee and provide for its composition, as
necessary. The local ALS Committee shall perform the following
functions:

(a) Oversee the ALS implementation at the city or municipal
level, including the identification of priority ALS programs,
establishment of ALS CLC, provision of technical assistance
to ALS Learning Facilitators, program monitoring and
evaluation, and coordination with government and non-
government partners for post- program support activities;

(b) Recommend to the local school board, in accordance with
criteria set by the DepEd, the determination of the annual
supplementary budgetary needs for the operation and
maintenance of ALS within the city or municipality and the
supplementary local cost of meeting such needs, which shall
be reflected in the form of annual ALS budget corresponding
to its share of the proceeds of the special levy on real
property constituting the Special Education Fund and such
other sources of revenue as this act and other laws or
ordinances may provide;

(c) Ensure the implementation of community literacy
mapping activities within the city or municipality and
coordinate with the barangays, non-government
organizations and other agencies in the identification of out-
of-school children, youth and adults, persons with
disabilities, indigenous people, and other marginalized

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sectors of society who have not yet completed their basic
education;

(d) Coordinate with the DepEd in regard to the
establishment, operation and maintenance of ALS CLC; and

(e) Serve as an advisory committee to the Sangguniang
Panlungsod or Sangguniang Bayan concerned on the ALS
implementation in the city or municipality.

SEC. 17. Special Education Fund Allocation - Notwithstanding the
provision of Section 272 of Republic Act. No. 7160, otherwise
known as the “Local Government Code of 1991” the local school
boards shall set aside a portion of the proceeds of the Special
Education Fund for the utilization of ALS programs within the
LGU’s respective areas of jurisdiction.

SEC. 18. Private Sector Participation. - The Secretary of Education
shall encourage and promote close partnerships with the private
sector whose support in the form of cooperative or collaborative
arrangements may be harnessed to ensure the sustainable
implementation of ALS programs.

SEC. 19. Unlawful Fees. - It shall be unlawful for any DepEd-
administered ALS CLC, its officers, or Learning Facilitators to
solicit or require the payment of admission, enrollment and other
kinds of fees from any interested learner as requisite for
admissions.

SEC. 20. Appropriations. - The amount necessary for the
implementation of this ACT shall be charged against the current
year’s appropriations for the Flexible Learning Options of the
DepEd. Thereafter, such amount as may be necessary for the
continuous implementation of this Act shall be included in the
General appropriation Act.

SEC. 21. Implementing Rules and Regulations - Within ninety (90)
days from the approval of this Act, the secretary of education, in
consultation with the DILG, TESDA, DOLE, the Coordinating
Council for Private Educational Associations, NGO, and other
concerned government agencies, shall formulate the rules and
regulations implementing the provisions of this Act. The
implementing rules and regulations issued pursuant to this
section shall take effect thirty (30) days after its publication in the
national newspaper of general circulation.

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SEC. 22. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this act is held
invalid or unconstitutional, the other provisions not so declared
shall remain in force and effect.

SEC. 23. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, orders and rules
and regulations contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of
this Act are hereby repealed or amended accordingly.

Sec 24. Effectivity. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after
its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general
circulation.

Approved,

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