BY: ROI ANTHONI B. LOMOTAN
BAIS CITY, Negros Oriental, Aug. 7 (PIA) – Philippine Ambassador to Portugal Philippe J. Lhuillier led the inauguration of a community learning center (CLC) for Alternative Learning System (ALS) students in Bais City today.
The CLC is a product of the partnership between the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Cebuana Lhuiller Foundation Inc., (CLFI) that aims to boost the ALS program of DepEd through additional support from the private sector.
Both parties signed a memorandum of agreement in November 2013 to establish 16 CLCs, two for each Cebuana Lhuilller’s eight business regions throughout the country.
CLFI has also set aside P2 million for the procurement of teaching equipment and reproduction of learning materials for the program.
Ambassador Lhuiillier believes that through public-private partnerships the government will be more efficient in delivering the educational services and opportunities to the people which will help in improving their lives.
“We greatly believe that the answer to poverty is education. For us, committing to education is committing to poverty alleviation and also committing to wealth creation,” Ambassador Lhuiller said.
DepEd Bais City Division Superintendent Bianito Dagoton then thanked CLFI for identifying Bais City as a site for CLC.
Dagoton mentioned that partnerships like this contribute to the betterment and improvement of educational and eventually, economic status of out-of- school-youths (OSY) and other citizens of Bais City.
Meanwhile, the P2 million budget allocated for this program will be divided among the 16 CLCs nationwide with P125 thousand available to each CLC.
Mobile teachers from DepEd can accessed these funds by submitting a requisition form containing the list of necessary teaching equipment and modules that are needed to be reproduced to the divison supervisor and superintendent.
Once approved at the DepEd level, the request will be forwarded to CLFI for final approval.
The DepEd and CLFI’s partnership for ALS program also aims to provide holistic development to out-school-youths by offering them not only academic but also livelihood, spiritual and social support as well.
“With the additional components of livelihood and spiritual and social development we are certain that this DepEd-CLFI ALS-CLC will really make a different in the lives of youth and adult out-of-school learners,”said Atty. Cesar Vidal, Executive Director of CLFI.
Vidal also said that if this partnership becomes successful they will also encourage other private institutions to partner with DepEd to help the department realize its goal of bringing education for all.
Aside from Bais City other province with DepEd-CLFI ALS-CLC sites are Pampanga, Tarlac, Benguet, Rizal, Cavite, Kalinga, Leyte, Davao, General Santos City, Palawan, Aklan and Laguna as well as in Pasig City and Quezon City in Metro Manila. (mbcn/ral/PIA7-NegOr)