Some 128 persons deprived of liberty (PDL) in the Quezon City Jail Female Dormitory (QCJFD) have completed elementary and junior high school under the Alternative Learning System (ALS) program.
The QCJFD said that the graduation and moving-up ceremony was held inside the facility on Saturday, Aug. 6, where 32 elementary graduates and 96 junior high school learners received their certificates of completion.
The ALS program was initiated by the Quezon City government, QCJFD, Deparment of Education-ALS, and Schools Division Office-QC, to provide opportunities for the PDLs to become better versions of themselves.
The QCJFD said that the ceremony is a concrete evidence that deprivation of freedom is not a hindrance to stopping oneself from growth and development.
Present at the event were Jail Supt. Maria Ignacia Monteron, QCJFD warden, Jail Senior Insp. John Micheal Alcoy, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology- National Capital Region (BJMP-NCR) Regional Welfare and Development Division (RWDD) officer-in-charge, and other guests.
“Sa ating graduates at completers, isang pagpupugay ang gusto kong ipaabot sa inyo. Hindi kayo nawalan ng pag-asa bagkus ginamit ninyo and sitwasyon sa makabuluhang buhay habang andito kayo. Ang paggising ng maaga at pagpapagal niyo sa maghapon a nagkaron ng saysay (To our graduates and completers, I would like to extend a salute to you. You did not lose hope, instead, you used the situation for a meaningful life while you are here),” Monteron said.
The ALS is a parallel learning system in the country that provides opportunities for out-of-school youth and adult learners to develop basic and functional literacy skills , and to access equivalent pathways to complete basic education, according to deped.gov.ph.