Non-Formal Education in the Philippines

Non-formal Education is one of the means to spread• Development of Livelihood Skills
literacy and employable skills to the people and it• Expansion of Certification and Equivalency
covers a much larger audience than the formalProgrammes
system. The NFE in Philippines is designed to assistOne of the main aims of NFE is to bring about a
the out-of-school youth and adults who have beendecrease in the poverty levels among the
deprived of formal education. There may be varyingcommunities.To attain this goal, the bureau provides
reasons for this.It may include the economic, socialleadership and technical assistance in the
and geographical limitations which have hindered theimplementation of literacy programmes, projects,
path of literacy and employable skills.trainings, workshops etc.This process includes the
The mission of the NFE program in Philippines is tofollowing features:
empower the people with "desirable knowledge, skills,Female Functional Literacy & Parent Education: This
attitudes, and values that will enable him/her to thinkprogram majorly involves the mother and provides
critically and creatively, act innovatively and humanelythem with essential skills and competencies to
in improving the quality of his/her life and that of hisperform better in the fields related to child survival,
her family, community and country."protection and development.
The main objective of NFE in Philippines is to reduceLiteracy Project for Cultural Communities: The target
the number of illiterates in the country and providegroup for this program is that section of the society
them with need-based literacy programmes and alsowhich is unable to attend the formal education
develop basic employable skills.Activities like vocationalsystem.This may include the cultural communities in
training, adult reading classes, family planning sessionsgeneral and also the hill tribes in particular.
as well as leadership workshops for communityDevelopment of Literacy Measures: The Bureau of
leaders.Non-formal Education in Philippines has developed
This branch of education is looked after by thesome literacy parameters through a series of
Bureau of Non-Formal Education which has its historyseminars and workshops.At the moment there are
dating back to 1829 when civic educational lecturesseven literacy measures which decide the functional
were introduced in the country.Non-formal educationliteracy of the target group.This is also accompanied
was formally started in 1973 and is now an integralby a Manual of Instructions for using the Measures
part of the developmental activities.There is aand its scoring.
3-pronged approach in this method which focuses onDevelopment of Resource Material: It also focuses on
literacy, continuing education and staff development.the development of the curricula for various levels of
The main thrust of NFE is on the acquisition of skillsliteracy and also the resource material needed for the
needed for earning livelihood and to survive thesame.This includes booklets, posters and the
competitiveness in the labor market.The horizons offacilitator's guide.
non-formal education are far wider as compared toActual Implementation on the Field: This is the most
the formal system.important component of the whole project.Efforts
NFE reaches out to a greater audience irrespectiveare made to implement the literacy and livelihood
of demographic characteristics, socio-economicdevelopment programmes in the actual field with the
conditions and varied general interests. In a fewtarget group in order to eradicate illiteracy and
words, this system reaches out to all those peoplethereby alleviating poverty.
who might otherwise never get a chance to haveThus, the Bureau of Non-formal Education in
any sort of education.Philippines works on four major action points - family
The Non-formal Education Program of Philippines layslife skills which also includes health, nutrition, childcare,
thrust on the following aspects:household management, family planning; vocational
• Literacy Programs for numeracy and functionalskills, functional skills and enhancing livelihood skills.
literacy of each individual