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REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 2018 a
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Quezon City, Metro Manila

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session

House Bill No. 8452

Introduced by Kabataan Party-list Representative Sarah Jane |. Elago

EXPLANATORY NOTE

It is a truism that learning should not be confined within the four walls of the
classroom. Even the 1987 Philippine Constitution recognizes this as Article 14, section 2
provides that the State shall encourage nonformal, informal and indigenous learning
system, as well as self-learning independent, and out-of-school study programs
particularly those that respond to community needs. Students should not only learn
through formal learning instruction and textbooks, but also through immersion into the
larger society that exists beyond their private lives.

Pursuant to the foregoing, we now file a bill to institutionalize student-led
alternative classes in secondary and tertiary educational institutions at least once a
semester or term.

The bill was inspired by the student council-led activity in UP Diliman called the
Alternative Classroom Learning Experience or ACLE. The ACLE is a one-day alternative
classes festival organized by the student council and participated in by student
organizations who invite speakers, conduct trainings, and similar activities. The ACLE
aims to educate the students with additional learning not usually taught within the
classroom—a radical departure from the academic-based curriculum of schools. It is a
venue wherein the students are given the opportunity to eam various skills and knowledge
through thematic for a, symposia, film showings, and workshops. With its success in UP
Diliman, the ACLE has since then been institutionalized in other UP campuses.

Alternative classroom activities are also held in other schools such as Ateneo de
Manila High School (KLIK or Klaseng Ibang Klase), University of Santo Tomas, and
Polytechnic University of the Philippines.


During the 3 National Youth Parliament of the National Youth Commission, the
delegates approved a resolution urging the Commission on Higher Education to
institutionalize the ACLE to all universities and colleges.

The Alternative Classes bill was originally filed and refiled under the 15" Congress
and 16" Congress by then Kabataan Party-list Representatives Raymond V. Palatino and
Terry L. Ridon, respectively. In our commitment to holistic development of the youth, we
refile it under the present Congress, and urge the House of Representatives to see
through the p: of the bill



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REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES,
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

8452
House Bill No.

Introduced by Kabataan Party-list Representative Sarah Jane I. Elago

AN ACT
INSTITUTIONALIZING THE ALTERNATIVE CLASSROOM LEARNING EXPERIENCE
(ACLE) PROGRAM TO ALL SECONDARY AND TERTIARY EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTIONS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY

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 Classes Act”

SECTION 2 . Alternative Classroom Learning Experience. - The Alternative
Classroom Learning Experience (ACLE) Program is a student-led and -organized activity
that fosters academic freedom inside our nation's campuses. It aims to provide students
with alternative viewpoints, perspectives, ideas, and concepts not usually discussed
through formal learning instruction and not usually found in textbooks and official
educational materials. Activities related to the ACLE Program shall include but not limited
to the following: workshops, educational discussions, training, fora, symposia, film
showing and/or audio-visual presentations, lectures.

SECTION 3 . All secondary and tertiary educational institutions are mandated to
conduct an Alternative Classroom Learning Experience (ACLE) activity at least once
every semester or term, as the case may be. Student councils or student governments
shall be primarily in charge of organizing the said activity. School administrations shall
provide the necessary assistance to the student body to carry out the aim of this activity.


SECTION 4. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — The College Editors Guild of
the Philippines as the oldest, broadest and only-existing alliance of tertiary student
publication in the Asia-Pacific region and the National Union of Students of the Philippines
as a nation-wide alliance of student councils/governments/unions committed to the
advancement of the students’ democratic rights and welfare, and both are Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC)-registered national formation of student councils and
government, in coordination with youth groups and organizations, shall promulgate the
necessary rules and regulations to enforce the objectives of this Act.

SECTION 5 . Effectivity. — This act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after the
completion of its publication in the Official Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of general
circulation.

Approved,