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PUSO-SA-PUSO EDUKASYON INC.

Puso-sa-Puso Edukasyon Inc. is a non-government organization managed by the Society of the Divine Savior based in Payatas, Quezon City and Parola, Manila that offers social and education support to the disenfranchised. Through their ALSA BUHAY programme, they implement DepEd's alternative learning system.

Vision

Puso sa Puso Edukasyon, Inc., envisions a caring and nurturing society wherein each individual is given a fair chance in self-development and to achieve the peak of his potential, irregardless of personal circumstance. Special attention is given to the young in this endeavor, especially to those who have less in life from those who have more. Thus ennobled and developed, each individual then shall more readily and ably perform the unique task and duty assigned to him by His Creator in the building up of the Kingdom of God.

Mission

Embark into awareness and advocacy programs among the different sectors of society of the need to educate, develop and empower all individuals, particularly the youth and disadvantaged;
Make available to such persons education, training programs, workshops and seminars that impart not only the needed skills, knowledge and attitudes in the work place, but also authentically human values which shall always provide the base and context of technology and knowledge;
Develop, collaborate with and if necessary operate programs that uplift the human condition, alleviate poverty, and impart unto the individual the dignity he has as a child of God; and
Link up and collaborate with schools, NGO's, corporations, foundations, civic society, religions and individuals who share our Vision, to harness their goodwill and resources towards the achievement of this Vision.

PUSO SA PUSO

Puso-sa-Puso Edukasyon Inc. is a non-governmental and faith-based organization that leads multiple programs that offer social and educational support to the disenfranchised. It shares its mission statement with the Society of the Divine Savior, an international religious community based in Australia whose mission is to proclaim and serve Jesus as the Savior. Puso-sa-Puso began as a small Christmas Party run by the Society on December 5, 2009, when they gave out food for about 5000 needy children. Gradually, it became an Alternative Learning System (ALS) institution that offers elementary and junior high school education for the disenfranchised, situated in Parola and Payatas. Through their ALSA BUHAY program, the organization implements the ALS of DepEd, which is a parallel educational system targeted for out-of-school youth and adults (OSYA).

STUDY INTRO

In order to provide an overview of the situation at Puso-sa-Puso Payatas Center the following are the specific goals that must be achieved:

Identify the problems experienced in formal education that contributed to student dropouts
Identify how the students learned about and enrolled in ALS
Understand the Students' motivations for attending ALS
Identify the teaching methods used in Payatas
Discover the aspects of ALS that develop the holistic aspect of students
Find out the aspirations of students after ALS

Puso-sa-Puso Payatas Center serves as a case study on why individuals may opt into ALS and the positive steps that schools or other ALS institutions can take to ensure that they provide an environment conducive to their students' education. By identifying the students' experiences and studying the methods used by Payatas, recommendations can be made to improve the teaching methods used in Payatas or to apply their philosophy and system to other ALS institutions.

CONCLUSIONS

This experience has given us the opportunity to dive into the world of informal education in the Philippines and the challenges that come alongside it. Firstly, we have learned that the issues we face in education are at the center of all the issues we face as a society. For example, many students of ALS cannot attend school regularly because of work and familial responsibilities. So that these students can devote more time to studies, they need to be provided with employment opportunities that leave ample time for leisure and studies and can sustain themselves economically. However, since many of these students come from poverty, they are not afforded these opportunities.

This all speaks to how societal issues are intertwined and dependent on each other, all coming together as the system in which we live. On the surface, the issues preventing students from succeeding in ALS seem unrelated to education (e.g. lack of interest, dysfunctional families, conflict with work), however, beneath the surface, these issues are a shining example of how we cannot expect to advance consistently in our educational goals as a nation without addressing the socio-economic needs of the people. Witnessing this reality throughout our community project, we hope that through our interviews and recommendations, we are able to set an example that it is imperative to understand the needs and stories of the community to be able to build a school that supports their needs even if the ALS system does not.

We’ve noticed how the staff is extremely dedicated to engaging with and adjusting to students’ needs. This has allowed us to distinguish the two kinds of issues that impede the success of ALS learners in Puso-sa-Puso Payatas Center: social issues outside of the ALS system (e.g. conflict of studies and work in students’ lives) and inherent issues of the ALS system (e.g. prematurely assigning an advanced curriculum for students). In the continued implementation of the project, students could help Puso-sa-Puso pinpoint a specific issue to focus on and could assist in systematically analyzing this issue or the impact of Puso-sa-Puso’s efforts to alleviate this issue.

Recommendations

There are a number of issues Pisay students can focus on, but we recommend that they hone in on the attendance problem, as inactivity of students is the primary hurdle the staff faces in guiding students throughout their stay in ALS. This would entail conducting home-visits to interview inactive students to understand why they did not push through with ALS. Another approach to solving the attendance problem could be helping Puso-sa-Puso effectively reach out to inactive students or network with the students’ close contacts.

The ALS system is rife with issues that are rooted from the flaws of the ALS structure itself, to the intersectionality of education with social issues. All these issues come together to manifest themselves on the classroom level; they cannot be easily solved but steps can be taken towards properly addressing these issues. From conducting needs assessments, feedback-gathering, to impact evaluation, Pisay students have several avenues to guide Puso-sa-Puso and potentially other ALS centers in carving out a path to a brighter future.

Sustainability Plan

In the short-term, the recommendation paper and the results of the interviews will be able to give some insight to the areas of improvement of the center at present. Thus, the center may be able to immediately apply this information to developing their services. In the long-term, the paper will always be available as a reference for other ALS institutions as a guide to the possible directions they can take in improving their services. One center that can easily make use of this is the partner center of Puso-sa-Puso located in Parola. The paper contributes to the overall body of knowledge on the situation of ALS centers across the nation.

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