MILESTONE. Batch top notcher Marino Rosaceño receives his high school diploma in the graduation rites for Alternative Learning System in the Mandaue City Jail. (CDN PHOTO/Irish Maika R. Lam, Xavier University Intern))
Prison bars may have restricted their freedom, but this did not stop 21 detainees of the Mandaue City Jail in their quest for knowledge.
Shedding their orange prisoner shirts, they wore traditional white togas and caps for a ceremony to mark their graduation from the Alternative Learning System (ALS).
Of the 21 graduates, an inmate finished elementary studies while the rest got their secondary education (high school) diplomas.
According to Louie Patricio Batal, one of the ALS teachers, the graduates excelled in the program which started with 66 inmates aged 17 to 54.
ALS started in January 2013 and culminated with an accreditation test last October. However, of the 66, only 46 took the test.
The program utilized modules that cover subjects in five areas normally taught in regular schools.
Silver medalist and batch topnotcher, Marino Rosaceño told reporters that finally he is a step closer to his ambition. He looks forward to pursuing an engineering course once he serves his jail term.
“It is not what you did but who you are,” city Councilor Demetrio “Jun” Cortes said in his inspirational message. “It’s a joy that you have graduated. This is proof that it is not a hindrance to be inside here,” he added.
The five learning areas called “strands” are: communication skills; problem solving and critical thinking; sustainable sources and productivity; development of self and sense of community; and expanding of one’s world vision. /Irish Maika R. Lam, XU Intern