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Alternative learning system (ALS)

Many people have asked me “After your students graduate from your Goducate literacy program, where do they go?” This is a very needful question to ask, seeing that we presently have almost 1000 undocumented alien children (ie, illegal immigrants) in our Goducate literacy programs in East Malaysia. As almost all of these kids are originally from the Philippines or descendants of Filipinos, we hope to help them to get an education that will allow them to go back to the Philippines to finish their education and hopefully get gainful employment there or in other countries.

We hope that all our graduates who have already learned to read and write and mastered elementary mathematics will be able to continue their education through a program that has been developed by the Philippines Department of Education (DepEd). This system called “Alternative Learning System” (ALS) was developed because only 65% of Filipinos who enter Grade 1 finish Grade 6 and only 45% finish high school. A major reason for this is poverty and the need for children to help earn income for their families. Many children in farming communities are pulled out of school by their families to help during harvest season, and are then unable to return to school because they have fallen out of the formal schooling system.

ALS allows children to catch up according their own abilities and diligence using modules produced by DepEd. These modules are made available in soft-copy for the user to download. Past experience has shown that matured students can cover much ground at great speed because of their motivation, more matured minds and prior non-formal learning experiences. For example, one of our Goducate students was able to go from illiteracy to Grade 9 in just over a year!

ALS students can take DepEd approved tests that qualify them for a Philippine nationally recognized high school diploma, which will allow them to apply for college entry.

Our dream is to see our first Goducate student from Sabah enter a college in the Philippines in the near future. A kind Filipino businesswoman has promised to sponsor Goducate students who gain entry into college.

The dream of helping every poor child get a decent education is fast becoming a reality!

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I’m afraid they won’t enrol me; I want to go to school

In the village there was a story of this young fellow. The trained parents and teachers were collecting a contribution for the school house to be built in that particular place.

They went to the house of this 8 year old child and asked “where are your parents?” The kid told them “work” They told the kid about the contribution for their school house and for him to tell his parents about it.

Five minutes later this kid went to them running with one ringgit on his hand saying “teacher this is my contribution” so the teachers wrote the name that the family gave this amount. A man came and saw the list of names. He went to the parents because he knew them and they work on the same fast food store.

He asked the mother of this child “ how come you gave only 1 RM?” The mother went home angrily and ashamed, asking herself who gave this little amount. She talked to her son angrily, the son was crying saying “Mom, I gave my last ringgit that I kept for so long.. They teachers came here to ask for contribution and you were not here. I was afraid if I don’t give they won’t enroll me.. I want to go to school.” The mother and the teachers were touched to the willingness of this child to go to school. And this really blesses my heart.

Well, from the other side of the khampung I went back, of course in my little boat. It was 5:00 pm that I went out the Khampung because Auntie is calling me to go home. I will never forget this adventure.

Previous post:
The poor children in Sabah

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Jean’s diary – a new village

I was in a bit of fear. I don’t know this man, I am alone, I need to ride in a boat to reach their khampung and the water is so black in all sense of the color wherein it was the drainage of all the waste of the factories around the area.. It was totally a mess what if I fall from the boat what will I do? Yet I go, with 2 trained parents; while I was in the middle of the river I screamed within myself.. Screaming without a voice because of fear that I will fall.

A good visit actually, It was another community of 20 to 25 houses.. and children who are willing to study. I saw some children I asked them “what is your name?”( in there native dialect) they just answered me the name that they are normally called. Then I ask “ how old are you?” every children has the same answer “ I don’t know”. It really crushed my heart..

But the man that brought me there was a blessing.. God uses this man – he was bitter that he had education because of what had happened to him for me to see that there are so many children who need help. It ended with him willingly enrolling his daughter and son into the new literacy center.