The Philippines has made remarkableprogress in improving the quality of basic education inrecent decades. Even so, despite significant improvements inprimary and secondary education, the number of students whodrop out of school remains worryingly high. More than fivemillion youths have failed to complete a basic education.Alternative Learning System (ALS) is a second-chance,informal education program operated by the Department ofEducation (DepEd) for out-of-school youths and adults. Thisreport aims to assess the current implementation of ALSusing a variety of sources , including recent surveys, andanalyzes (a) the target populations, (b) currentbeneficiaries, (c) delivery modes (with a focus on learningfacilitators’ contracting schemes), and (d) labor marketreturns to ALS. Key messages are as follows: (i) Only asmall proportion of the target populations are enrolled inthe ALS program, (ii) the first target groups for ALS arestudents who drop out of high school for financial reasons,(iii) performance-based payment is expected to improveperformance, (iv) the current arrangement for monitoringactivities within the ALS program can be improved, (v) labormarket returns to ALS are significant only when learnerssuccessfully pass the secondary A&E exam, and (vi) smallclass size (fewer than 40 learners per facilitator) is moreefficient. The report concludes that a holistic approach isrequired for a socially efficient solution for students whodo not complete school and those who are at high risk. Anexpansion of ALS may distort incentives among studentscurrently in school, and coordinated efforts with otherprograms such as the Alternative Delivery Mode are becomingincreasingly important. Earlier intervention guaranteesgreater returns.
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