DepEd adopts CNN hero’s learning program, launches own

2009 CNN Hero Efren Penaflorida. AFP file photo

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Taking the lead of a global hero, the Department of Education on Saturday launched an alternative learning program that adopts 2009 CNN Hero Efren Penaflorida’s “kariton” (cart) classroom system to reach out to street children.

DepEd and Penaflorida’s Dynamic Team Company, with the help of local government units, the social welfare department and the police, will bring the kariton classroom to Metro Manila to bring literacy to street children aged 5 to 15.

“The goal of the “kariton” classroom is not replace formal schooling but to help kids on the streets who have shied away from school because of poverty, lack of interest in studying, and negative elements in their surroundings,” Penaflorida said at the launch Saturday morning.

“The kariton classroom is here to encourage the street children to go back to formal education,” he said.

Called K4 or Kariton, Klasrum, Klinik, Kantin, the program aims to bring a holistic learning experience for those who cannot go to school through providing a an alternative classroom, healthcare and feeding.

Like Penaflorida’s program that has seen success in his native Cavite City, the K4 system hopes to eventually bring informal learners into the mainstream education system.

“One of our goals here is for the targeted learners to understand and appreciate learning, which they can apply in their own families and to the community,” Luistro said.

The program will first debut in barangay (villages) in Manila, Caloocan, Quezon City and Pasig.