The Department of Education (DepEd) is enthusiastic to find Iloilo City as an effective education partner especially for the training of out-of-school youths (OSYs).
DepEd Undersecretary Mario Deriquito said the programs open the door for school training for livelihood such as the “Abot Alam” program for OSYs in making education within the reach of all school-age children and reintegrate them into the main school system.
Deriquito said he is expecting expansive opportunity for partnership to cover more programs while the city government is already implementing some of these programs.
There are some 3 to 4 million OSYs in the entire country and one of the programs is to reintegrate them through the alternative learning system (ALS) with an accreditation test for high school students.
Deriquito acknowledged that the Iloilo City Community College is an excellent investment for education by the city government for college students while the Technical Institute of Iloilo City (TIIC) is a breeding training ground for technical and livelihood experts including the OSYs. By Lydia Pendon.
