The Senate has ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the bill institutionalizing the Alternative Learning System (ALS).

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chair of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture, hailed the ratification of the bicam report saying it is now a step closer for millions of “out-of-school” children in special cases and adults to complete their basic education.

The senator stressed that strengthening the ALS program is crucial to the education sector’s efforts to “build back better” amid the COVID-19 crisis.

“This pandemic caused the total number of 26.4 Filipinos to even increase by as much as 2.3 million –which represents the difference between the 2019 and 2020 total enrolment in the basic education sector. This brings the current total of out-of-school children and youth to around 28 million or more than one-fourth of the Philippine population,” Gatchalian said in a speech during the Senate plenary session.

“The law on ALS will be one of the government’s primary means of providing these millions of Filipino learners with a second chance to obtain accessible quality education, earn a decent income, and uplift their lives,” he said.

The bill primarily seeks to strengthen the ALS Teachers Program, by allowing the Department of Education (DepEd) in consultation with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Civil Service Commission (CSC), to create teaching positions and allocate corresponding salary grades.

The measure also ensures that ALS Teachers will also be entitled to promotion to the next higher levels based on the qualification standards of the CSC.

“Kung tuluyang maisabatas ang panukalang ito, masisiguro natin na ang pangalawang pagkakataong ibibigay natin sa ating mga kababayan ay talagang makatutulong upang matupad nila ang kanilang mga pangarap na magkaroon ng magandang kinabukasan, (If this bill finally becomes a law, we can make sure that our fellowmen can have a second chance in life and help them achieve their goals and find a better future),” Gatchalian said.

Under an ALS setting, teachers, community ALS implementors, and learning facilitators deliver a range of ALS programs to all out-of-school children in special cases and adults, including those who reside in the unreached, underserved, conflict-affected communities, and communities in emergency situations, compared to a formal education system.

Under the measure, every city and municipality will have their own ALS Community Learning Centers (CLCs).

Among those who are eligible for the ALS program are out-of-school children in special cases or children in the official school age who are not enrolled in the elementary or secondary schools due to special cases such as economic, geographic, political, and cultural factors, even social barriers.

The program also covers learners with disabilities or conditions, Indigenous Peoples (IPs), children in conflict with the law, and other marginalized sectors.