IT WILL be back to school for the hundreds of thousands of drug users and pushers who have surrendered to the authorities, as education is coming to government drug rehabilitation centers.
The Department of Education (DepEd) yesterday said it was introducing its Alternative Learning System (ALS) to drug users across the country as part of the program’s expansion and reach Filipinos not normally reached by the formal education system.
In a press conference, Education Secretary Leonor Briones said the DepEd had asked the Philippine National Police for more information on those who had turned themselves in in the war against illegal drugs.
“All we have is the total, how many have surrendered—we want to know how many are youths and of school age,” Briones told reporters.
She said a cursory look at those who surrendered showed many were young adults.
She said a census would have to be taken so the youths could be classified and the DepEd would know what level and what kind of skills they needed.
The ALS program for drug users will be established along with rehab centers around the country, particularly in urban centers where there have been big turnouts of drug users, Briones said.
“We will not wait until the centers are built, we have to do it simultaneously,” she said.
The DepEd, she said, had P2.5 billion in unspent ALS funds from last year. This would be augmented with P700 million next year, she added.
Briones said the DepEd created an assistant secretary post dedicated solely to the program.
“We have an undersecretary for formal reforms of education and an assistant secretary who will focus on ALS alone and this has been given more budget support by the President himself,” she said.