USAID Helps 118 Out-of-School Youth Return to Formal Schooling

 

With assistance from the American people, 118 out-of-school youth from Mindanao have qualified to re-enter the formal school system as first-year high school or college students after having passed the accreditation and equivalency (A&E) test given by the Philippines Department of Education. 

 

The U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills (EQuALLS) project offered a 10-month Alternative Learning System program for the out-of-school youth to prepare them for the A&E exam. 

 

Due to widespread poverty and armed conflict in some parts of Mindanao, a significant number of predominantly Muslim youth are not attending school.  USAID’s EQuALLS project seeks to reintegrate these youths into the formal school system or provide them with relevant livelihood training. 

 

Pictured above is Saulah Taup, who never completed high school in her home province of Maguindanao and who is seeking to return to school by participating in a USAID-EQuALLS’ Alternative Learning System program at a local community learning center.

 

From 2006 to 2011, EQuALLS plans to help 120,000 out-of-school youth return to the formal education system or find sustainable livelihood opportunities.

 

# # #