OPEN HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM Working full-time as house help did not stop Rodora Rodriguez, 27, from earning a high school diploma, graduating at the top of her class at QuezonNational High School in Lucena City. ARNOLD ALMACEN
At 19, with only an elementary school diploma to her name, Rodora T. Rodriguez left Camarines Sur to work as a “kasambahay” with a couple who were also from the same province.
Rodriguez, the 11th of 16 children, decided there was not enough money in the family for her to continue her studies and, after graduating from elementary school in 2001, made getting a job her priority to help in the upkeep of her siblings. A family friend, who was related to
Jason and Maria Cristina Terrenal, who were starting a family, recommended her for the job of kasambahay to help with the housework and the care of their newborn son.
Then a few years ago, an acquaintance told Rodriguez of Quezon National High School’s (QNHS) Open High School (OHS) Program. With her ward starting his schooling, Rodriguez considered the idea of getting a high school diploma.
The Terrenals were all for it. “I was encouraged to study by my employers. They told me I could not be a household help forever,” Rodriguez said in Filipino. Her parents also encouraged her to take advantage of the opportunity to study through the OHS, as it was for her own good.
Rodriguez returned to school as a high school freshman four years ago and, on March 27, at 27 years of age, she graduated at the top of her OHS class of 75 students and marched with the more than 1,900 members of Class 2015 of QNHS. It was the last graduation for QNHS, as the country shifts to the K to 12 (Kindergarten to Grade 12) basic education curriculum starting next year.
Doing modules
Rodriguez said the OHS program was ideal for working students like her. “We met once a week then worked on modules at home. I could do my job, as I studied,” she said. “I was determined to finish so I could aspire for a better life.”
The Terrenals not only supported and encouraged her but even helped her with the modules if she was having trouble understanding her lessons. Rodriguez said she would do the modules after she finished her household chores—cleaning, washing the laundry, cooking and caring for the now 8-year-old boy—setting aside a few hours each evening for every subject in class.
She said she studied a different subject every day although she spent more time, three hours, on Mathematics, which she found difficult. Rodriguez said, “It is not hard to find time for studying even if you are working.” And the OHS program, she said, was very convenient for working students like her.
QNHS of Lucena City is among the more than 20 pilot schools for OHS, implemented starting 2006 under Education Secretary Jesli A. Lapus.
Alternative mode
In a department order, Lapus described OHS as “an alternative mode of delivering secondary education … It puts premium on independent, self-pacing and flexible study to reach learners who are unable to start or complete secondary education due to problems of time, distance, physical impairment, financial difficulties, social or family problems.”
According to the department order, “Learning in the Open High School Program shall be flexible, multichanneled and essentially learner-directed.”
The program aims to retain in school potential dropouts, encourage out-of-school youth (aged 12-16) to return to school and contribute to the achievement of the Education for All goal of 100 participation rate and zero dropout rate by 2015.
Participants are given the Independent Learning Readiness Test to assess their capacity for self-directed learning and Informal Reading Inventory to measure the reading level for “class grouping.” Parents and/or guardians are interviewed to get “a complete profile of the learner’s socio-economic health and psycho-social background.”
Basic curriculum
OHS follows the existing basic high school curriculum.
A draft report of an evaluation study funded by Seameo Innotech (Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Center for Educational Innovation and Technology), with technical support from the Bureau of Secondary Education of the Department of Education, concluded that “the OHS program is a viable alternative delivery mode for students who are at risk of dropping out and the out-of-school youth who want to finish their high school education. It has been identified as a solution to high dropout rates by providing an attractive option to those who, for some reason, cannot attend regular school.”
The study even found no significant difference between knowledge gained by regular students and OHS enrollees. “Comparison of academic performance of OHS program and regular high school students indicated that across four year levels and five subjects (English, Filipino, Mathematics, Science and Araling Panlipunan or Social Studies), the OHS program students were not very different from their regular high school counterparts. About half of the comparisons made did not show statistically significant differences between the two groups. In a few comparisons, OHS program students had higher grades than regular high school students,” it said.
The report offered various suggestions to further strengthen the program, including aligning it with the new K to 12 basic education curriculum (Kindergarten to Grade 12).
Off to college
With her newly minted high school diploma in hand, Rodriguez, who thought an elementary education was all she could get, has set her sights on an even bigger goal. With the Terrenals’ full support, she is going to college and hopes to become an elementary school teacher in Bicol (region).
“There are many students there who are like me, unable to pursue their studies. I want to help them,” she said.
In the meantime, she relishes her accomplishment, proud to have finally earned a high school diploma. The Terrenals are just as proud of Rodriguez’s accomplishment and attended her graduation.
Rodriguez, who tried to learn even when she was out of school by reading, including the dictionary to learn new words, and watching educational programs on National Geographic and Animal Planet, said age should not keep people from going back to school to complete their education. She said anybody could manage the OHS schedule as he/she did not have to attend regular classes. “Ma-alwan ang oras” (the schedule is convenient), she would tell people who showed interest in the program.
Rodriguez had already inspired a fellow kasambahay. Her neighbor’s household help was given permission by her employer to attend OHS.