BJMP inmates earn ALS diplomas
WHO said detention in jail deprives one of opportunities for education? That may have been true in the past but not anymore.
Last Thursday, another batch of forty-eight inmates at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) facility in Dagupan City earned their diplomas for completing primary and secondary education despite being in detention.
They proudly received their diplomas through the Alternative Learning System (ALS) of the Department of Education (DepEd).
Some 99 inmates have already benefitted from the ALS education program from 2009 to 2013.
Dr. Liberty Roxas who is in charge of ALS in the DepEd Dagupan City Schools Division said of the total inmates who attended ALS, 75 were male while the remaining 24 are female.
The youngest who took ALS here was 19 years old while the oldest was aged 47 in the high school level.
For elementary, a 64-year old inmate was the oldest student.
The “graduates” were test takers of the Accreditation and Equivalency under ALS, Roxas said.
A 21-year old inmate from Dagupan City who requested anonymity was named most outstanding in her class for excelling in five subject areas like English, Math, Science, Filipino, and Aral Panlipunan.
Those who join the ALS program undergo functional literacy test to gauge their intellectual level and would be categorized accordingly, and when qualified, they are given modules to be completed in 10 months.
Two mobile teachers teach the inmates regularly.
“They have perfect attendance and they are even more disciplined than those in schools,” Roxas said.
She attributed it to the strict discipline and guidance inside their imposed by BJMP personnel under the direction of Jail Warden Kenneth Bid-ing.
She added that DepEd and BJMP plan to discuss continuation of the ALS graduates’ development with Technical Education and Skills Development Authority. (Tita Roces)
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