Report

2008/ED/EFA/MRT/PI/36

Country profile prepared for the

Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2008

Education for All by 2015: will we make it?

Philippines

Non-formal education

Carolina Guererro

2007

This profile was commissioned by the Education for All Global Monitoring Report as background

information to assist in drafting the 2008 report. It has not been edited by the team. The views

and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and should not be attributed to the

EFA Global Monitoring Report or to UNESCO. The profile can be cited with the following

reference: “Country Profile commissioned for the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2008,

Education for All by 2015: will we make it? For further information, please contact

efareport@unesco.org1

Global Monitoring Report on Non-Formal Education

(P H I L I P P I N E S)

By Carolina Guererro

Part I. Country Level Information on NFE

1. How is NFE conceptualized in the country?

At the turn of the century, major changes in the field of Non-Formal Education in the

Philippines occurred such as the change in the concept, the approach, the focus, and the outcomes.

Consequently, various programs evolved as did problems and issues related to these reforms in

Non-Formal Education. The principal area of reform was the shift in the concept from Non-Formal

Education to the Alternative Learning System (ALS) which is generally recognized now as “the

other side of basic education” (where the one side is the formal education).

Presently, Non-Formal Education is viewed as one of two components of the Alternative

Learning System, the other being Informal Education. However, informal education is a very new

program unlike non-formal education. Therefore, the major programs now in operation which are

the Basic Literacy Program, the Accreditation and Equivalency Program and the Indigenous

Peoples Education Program are all nonformal education interventions. These are future Alternative

Learning...