Mga Sugo ng ABaKaDa

Mga Sugo ng ABaKaDa

This was the title of a documentary I recently watched sponsored by the Bureau of Alternative Learning System (BALS). The documentary described the rigors of the Mobile Teacher Program of the ALS. It also featured three teachers hailed as the Best Mobile Teachers of 2003: Cerelina Mulato, Arnel Marte and Jasmin Molo, all teaching in remote areas of Compostela Valley, Surigao and Romblon, respectively.

ALS is a parallel learning system that provides a viable alternative to the existing formal education instruction. It encompasses both the non-formal and informal sources of knowledge and skills. The Alternative Learning System (ALS) Mobile Teacher Program was conceptualized because of the DepEd’s desire to make education accessible to out-of-school youth and adults who live in remote barangays of the country, in line with the concept of bringing education where the learners are. The ALS Mobile Teachers are bachelor degree holders and are duly licensed professional teachers. The mobile teachers then live among the people in remote barangays of the country to conduct intensive community-based training for illiterate out-of-school youth and adults who are willing to learn basic literacy skills.

The ALS mobile teachers will not teach subjects from the textbook, instead, they teach practical reasoning skills, entrepreneurship and hone natural talents outside the formal school. This is primarily because as the Philippine Human Development Report said, out of the 120 Filipino who actually finish college from a starting number of 1,000 pupils in Grade 1, only one will come from the poorest of the poor, those who belong to the bottom 10% of the income ladder. Thus, there is a need for mobile teachers to help the deprived, depressed and underserved citizens of the country, an estimate of 11 million plus out of school youths and adults.

Initially, 600 mobile teachers have been deployed and assigned to areas where the unreached and underserved population of the country are. Learning sessions take place in the community using ALS learning modules for at least 3 months or until such time that the learners have become literate (for Basic Program) or has acquired necessary competencies (for Accreditation and Equivalency Program) before moving on to another barangay.

Carolina Guerrero, director for Bureau of Alternative Learning System, in an interview with the Philippine STAR said it is very necessary for them to train their mobile teachers so they would know what to do in case they were placed in a compromising situation during their tour of duty in rural areas. “Sometimes mobile teachers will have to go upland to meet the indigenous people which is so hazardous, that’s why we have to train them in basic survival techniques,” she said.

How very noble for teachers to ensure the expansion of access to educational opportunities for an education for all. How very dedicated of them to undertake this extraordinary task of walking upland for at least five hours to meet the indigenous people of their designated rural areas. What a show of commitment and passion for the job to be spending time away from family and loved ones just to fulfill a mission. How selfless of these mobile teachers to renounce the benefits of a regular job, a promotion, a comfortable every day journey to school just to teach ALS learners to read, write and compute. And this does not even guarantee a fixed schedule since mobile teachers follow whatever is the available time of the ALS learners. Plus, the lack of budget cripples the entire system since BALS is only getting less than 1% of the DepEd’s budget. The lack of materials and lack of support from the community and the government just makes the task more difficult. Also, mobile teachers do not enjoy a good career path as Guerrero said that “they (mobile teachers) don’t receive any promotions, if they wish to have a promotion, they need to go back to the formal school system to acquire it.”

The prospect of a five-hour walk every day to go to an indigenous area that is probably inhabited by insurgents and fugitives from the law is not all that inviting, but it may be the ultimate test of a teacher – to go forth unwavering in passion, dedication and commitment. Frankly, I would like to experience being a mobile teacher at one point in my life. I assume it will not be a heavy ordeal to walk those several kilometers to an assigned rural area since I am used to that in our town. Besides, it’s healthy for our body to exercise; although this ten-hour every day walk is a bit too rigorous for exercise. However, Mother Nature has its benefits of cool air accessible anytime. More importantly, this is an opportunity to experience what teaching in the Philippines really is like. I know this kind of teaching is not for an impatient and city-oriented person like me. This noble job is for better, more dedicated, more selfless teachers. But I still want to try. Who knows, I will find something very useful to me as a teacher, plus I’d be able to help those who really need my help. After all, as a teaching quote said, “A teacher is like a candle that consumes itself to light the way for others.” I would like to add that the teacher is also a star that explodes after it has shined enough light to the world, but in this explosion, its particles scatter to form part of other stars, other celestial bodies, so that the exploded star never really dies, but lives on through the lives of others. Kudos to the mobile teachers who are truly in service of the Filipino people and are real teachers in the extreme sense of the word!