By Dominic B. dela Cruz
Staff reporter
Batac City— Education Undersecretary Atty. Nepomuceno A. Malaluan addressed of 429 pupils and students of the Alternative Learning System (ALS) from the entire province of Ilocos Norte during the 10thDivision Alternative Learning System graduation exercises held at the MMSU Teatro Ilocandia this city on July 27, 2018.
Mr. Malaluan in his speech lauded the graduates, their parents and the ALS implementers for emphasizing the importance of education to every individual.
He said their diploma or certificate is a testament that they have completed the basic education and that they now have better opportunities in the years to come.
The education official challenged the teachers to believe and aim high in the educational system to think critically, to be entrepreneurial in capacities in any endeavor and to be successful leaders.
Ilocos Norte DepEd ALS-EPSA Jacobino Galzote said that there were eight males and nine females who graduated from the elementary level; while 128 males and 284 females are secondary graduates for Class 2016-2017.
Of the 429 graduates, Mr. Galzote said a 68-year old senior citizen is the oldest.
He added that ALS graduates are continuously increasing every year.
He also mentioned that all ALS graduates has the chance to move directly to college instead of going to senior high school because their curriculum is still considered to be the old one, or the pre-K-12 curricula.
ALS-EPSA Maricel Bagundol also announced that an ALS graduate in the person of Johnwell Baradi Balbag, Teacher I of Pasaleng National High School shared his testimony as a successful passer of the Accreditation and Equivalency Program in the secondary level during the graduation.
Aside from Mr. Balbag, Ms. Bagundol said there are other ALS passers who gave their testimonies during ALS programs to inspire other students.