Nonformal education programs in the Philippines provide alternative pathways to education for out-of-school youth and adults. They include the Nonformal Education Accreditation and Equivalency System which assesses literacy levels and issues certificates equivalent to elementary and secondary school levels. The Bureau of Nonformal Education oversees various programs including the Army Literacy Patrol System which uses soldiers as literacy facilitators, and Community Learning and Resource Centers that provide basic education in remote areas. Nonformal education aims to expand educational access through flexible, localized programs concentrated on practical, lifelong learning outside of the formal school system.

1. Characteristics and Basic
Differences between
Formal and Nonformal
Education
UNESCO (International Institute for Educational
Planning

2. Categories and dynamic of
Non-formal education
O The term non-formal education is rarely used
in the North.
O The term “life long learning” is increasingly
gained currency when referring to the totality
of educational activities outside the school
system. (Field, 2000)
O Covers education (and training) activities as
far apart as extension services for
farmers, HIV/AIDS peer group
support, community schools, youth skills
development projects and in-service courses
for teachers.

3. Types of non-formal education
O Para-formal education
run parallel to the formal system and
often serve as substitute for formal
provisions, in which they mirror themselves.
O Run by NGOs

4. Types of non-formal education
O Popular education
proposed by Carron and Carr-Hill
(1919)
located at the other extreme of the
educational field.
activities that explicitly try to stand
aloof from the formal school system

5. Characteristics
O Concentration on the poor
O A learning- by- doing approach
O High levels of structural flexibility
O Constant pre-occupation to adapt the
learning activities to the changing needs
of the users.

6. Types of non-formal education
O Personal development
Education programmes covering a
range of learning practices organized by
cultural institutions to promote leisure-time
activities (Carr-Hill, et al, 2001)

7. Types of non-formal education
O Professional and educational training
covers all training outside the formal
and non-formal forms of initial skills training
leading to recognize national diplomas.
includes on-the-job learning,
apprenticeship, agricultural or industrial
extension services.

8. Structure and Management of
NFE
O Non-Formal Education Management
Information System (NFE-MIS).
O responds to the demand for a practical
approach to NFE monitoring and evaluation
which is adaptable to local contexts and
information needs and can generate
meaningful and reliable information and
statistics for use by policy-makers and
planners at both national and sub-national
levels.

9. Structure and Management of
NFE
O Non-Formal Education Management
Information System (NFE-MIS).
O comprehensive system which brings together
people, processes and technology to
map, coordinate, and improve the delivery
and management of NFE at sub-national
level, by collecting, processing, and
disseminating information on NFE
providers, NFE programmes and
courses, educators and learners. well as the
findings of statistical analysis and the
corresponding policy recommendations.

10. Structure and Management of
NFE

11. Implementing Agencies
O - NGOs with national and regional affiliate members
O - Association for Non-Traditional Education in the
O
O
O
O
O
Philippines (ANTEP)
- Notre Dame Foundation for Charitable Activities,
Inc. – Women in Enterprise Development
(NDFCAIWED)
- Philippine NGO Council on Population, Health, and
Welfare, Inc. (PNGOC)
- Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human
Resources in Rural Areas (PHILDHRRA)
- Total of 177 service providers are involved in this
scheme and the numbers of learners cared by the
Government are 975,662, while 340, 838 learners are
financially cared by the outside assistance.

12. Literacy Education in the
Philippines, a Host Country of
the Capacity Building Workshop
Bureacu of Non-Formal Education
(BNFE) Programs and
Projects: GO-NGO Collaboration
Dr. Rosario J. de Guzman
Director IV
Bureau of Nonformal Education
Department of Education, Culture, and Sports
(BNFE-DECS)
Philippines

13. The Nonformal Education
Accreditation and
Equivalency (NFE A & E) System
O a) Provide a system for assessing levels of
literacy and nonformal education learning
achievement based on the National Literacy
Standards and NFE Accreditation and
Equivalency Curriculum Framework; and
O b) Offer an alternative means by which out-of
school youth and adults may earn an
educational qualification comparable to that of
the formal elementary and secondary school
system.

14. The NFE A&E Framework is characterized
by
the followings:
O a) Entry Level Assessment:
O This involves placement and counselling
of individual learners interested in seeking
alternative pathways to attain a
qualification comparable to elementary
certificate and/or secondary certificate;

15. O b) Learning Interventions:
O This includes the NFE A&E Curriculum
Frame-work (incorporating National
Literacy Standards)Learning Materials,
and Delivery System before seeking
certification through equivalency testing;
O c) Learning Assessment and Evaluation:
O This is used to assess learning progress,
conduct equivalency testing and issue
elementary and secondary level
certification; and

16. O d) Accreditation of Learning Programs:
O This includes the accreditation of service
providers involved in the delivery of A&E
related learning support training programs
based on compliance with minimum
prescribed national standards and
evaluation of the effectiveness of their
A&E-related training programs.

17. NFE Equivalency Testing, Certification and
Accreditation
O a) Certification of Outcomes of
Learning of Individuals:
O b) Accreditation of learning
programs:

18. Target Clientele of the Nonformal
Education – A&E
System includes:
O OSY and Out-of-School Adults (OSA),
O functional illiterates, functional education
and literacy
O program (FELP) completers, unemployed
OSY and
O adults, elementary and secondary
education drop –outs;
O and industry-based workers.

19. Programs
O The Army Literacy Patrol System (ALPS):
O In collaboration with DECS, soldiers serve as
literacy facilitators to people in areas
threatened by insurgency and those our of
reach of the formal school system.
O Community Learning and Resource Center
O (CLARC): It is operated with funding assistance
from UNESCO PROAP and gives access to
basic education in remote and hard to reach
areas. It nerves center where community
members converge.

20. Programs
O b) Capability Building Programme
O Training is provided to: Nonformal
Education Facilitators for Cultural
Communities (TNFECC), instructional
managers, service providers, DECS
officials, and so forth. BNFE has a library,
learning resource center, and
clearinghouse that have access to vital
information, learning materials, technical
and communication infrastructure,
technical assistance, and capability
building initiatives.

21. Programs
O The Army Literacy Patrol System (ALPS):
O In collaboration with DECS, soldiers serve
as literacy facilitators to people in areas
threatened by insurgency and those our of
reach of the formal school system.