Learning Centers – Goducate … Go And Educate!

2019-11-222019-11-25

Community Pangil, Laguna, learn about leadership, drug addiction, and premarital sex

Last month, Goducate Laguna held a Student Leadership Program at Pangil, a municipality in Laguna. The one-and-a half-day event, held in partnership with Pangil’s Youth Organization, covered not only leadership training but also education about pre-marital sex and illegal drugs.

We believe that leadership training is important for students because they are the next generation that will be leading the nation.

The event was attended by 34 community people on the first day. On the second day there were 40 community people, some of whom had come from other communities. The community people were mainly teenagers attending elementary and secondary school.

Users of illegal drugs in the Philippines are getting younger and younger, and it is important that the students are made aware of how use of these drugs can destroy their futures and ruin their lives and families.

Pre-marital sex is also a worrying issue in the Philippines. Data collated by the Philippines Statistics Authority show that over a third of Filipinos aged 15-24 have engaged in pre-marital sex, and that most of them do not use any form of protection.

The sessions consisted of presentations and discussions. These were followed by recounting of stories of Marvel Comics wizards Nico and Tina, and playing games related to the topics of drug addiction and pre-marital sex. More small-group discussions ensued, during which the students shared their stories, problems and struggles.

Donnalyn leading session on premarital sex

2015-08-212015-08-26

Goducate candidates in Laguna pass ALS exams

Part of Goducate’s literacy program in Laguna, Philippines, is to help people through the Philippines Department of Education’s Alternative Learning System (ALS). The ALS allows those who have not completed their conventional schooling to continue their education. Those who pass the secondary level ALS examination can qualify for tertiary education.

In 2014 Goducate Laguna had 8 students preparing for the ALS, 6 at secondary and 2 at elementary level. From June 2014, they met twice a week for 4 hours each time, under the instruction of Mechie Decinal, a Goducate volunteer who had just qualified as a certified ALS instruction manager.

The students took their examinations in December. The results were announced in June this year. 2 of our students passed, both at secondary level. They were 2 of the 27 in the town of Bay who passed, out of 102 who took the examination at secondary level. In the 2013 exams, Goducate candidates also did relatively well—4 of the 19 successful candidates in Bay were Goducate students (see Feb 28, 2014 blog).

One of the successful candidates was Jelmar Lobusto, aged 25, who had been brought up in an orphanage and had completed his secondary schooling there, but the academy at the orphanage was not one accredited by the Philippines Department of Education.

The other successful candidate this year was Bernardo Endonila, aged 42, who had to drop out of school at 15 to help his parents earn a living for the family. He has 5 children (2 of whom are in the Goducate music program), and drives a rented jeepney. A jeepney is a highly decorated jeep-like vehicle used as a form of public transport in the Philippines.

Both these men are planning to take courses held by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). Goducate will continue to assist them in fulfilling their dreams.

Jelmar (in white at back) and Bernardo (in blue in foreground) during tutorial

2015-02-13

Goducate community development workers are now certified as ALS facilitators

Illiteracy in rural areas is one of the major concerns in the Philippines. Many Filipinos do not have a chance of going to school for their basic education, or they have to leave school early, because of poverty or lack of schools and teachers in their communities.

Goducate’s mission is to Go and Educate people who otherwise have no access to education, so that they can escape lives of hopelessness and uselessness. In Laguna Goducate has been helping people who have not finished their schooling to complete it through the Philippines Department of Education Alternative Learning System (ALS).

ALS is a parallel learning system in the Philippines that provides a practical option to the existing formal system of instruction. It includes both non-formal and formal sources of knowledge and skills. Through ALS, Filipinos have the chance to access complete basic education in a mode that fits their distinct situations and needs. Its programs are modular and flexible. Learning can take place anytime, anywhere, depending on the convenience and availability of the learner.

On Jan 20-22, the Goducate Training Center in Iloilo partnered with the Department of Education’s Bureau of Alternative Learning System (BALS) to run a three-day training on ALS. The training was attended by 69 participants composed of Goducate community development workers, the new batch of Goducate trainees, and some members of the San Miguel community whom Goducate has helped. The participants received a certificate of completion and are now officially recognized as ALS facilitators.

With our community development workers now certified as ALS facilitators, Goducate Training Center is hopeful that more poor rural communities in the Philippines will be reached and offered the gift of free and convenient access to education.

Newly qualified facilitators with their certificates

*Our guest writer is Joanna De Leon, a Goducate volunteer