PASIG CITY, Philippines – The Philippine government through Department of Education (DepEd) has intensified a program that gives quality education to the country’s our-of-school youth.
The Education department recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with partners from the public and private sectors which elaborated the various ways by which the different groups could take part in Abot-Alam.
In a statement, Education Secretary Armin Luistro said that DepEd would make sure that no Filipino youth would be left behind in education.
For the year 2014, the Abot-Alam program targets to give education and livelihood skills to one million OSY in the country.
“The signing of the MOU solidifies our readiness to deliver Abot-Alam in different areas in the country. It is a sign that we are ready to take on the challenge of achieving ZERO out-of-school youth in the country,” Luistro said.
He added that the collective effort of different agencies, organizations, and individual Filipinos was crucial to the success of Abot-Alam.
“The success of Abot-Alam will depend on our ability to bring this partnership to the local level: to the provinces, to the cities, to the municipalities, and the barangays. As we go along, we should bring onboard our local government, our barangay, our academe, the military, the churches, and individual Filipinos. Dapat po lahat sila ay hikayatin natin na makialam sa bagay na ito,” he said.
Among the agencies and organizations that committed to work together for the success of the program were the National Youth Commission (NYC), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Welfare and Development (DSWD), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Presidential Commission of the Urban Poor (PCUP), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Arnold Janssen Catholic Mission Foundation, Inc. (AJCMFI), Catholic Media Network (CMN), De La Salle Philippines (DLSP), Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship-Go Negosyo (GO Negosyo NMBK), RockEd Philippines, Sandiwaan Center for Learning, SEAMEO Innotech, Smarts Communications, Inc., Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP), League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP), Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas (LnB), Philippine Councilors’ League (PCL), and National Movement of Young Legislators (NYML).
