by Katherine Reyes
When we think of professions, we usually think of people in uniform attending 9-5 jobs and sitting behind desks decorated with post-it-notes and office memos — at least that’s how it is for most professionals. However, there are those who work more than the normal hours employes usually spend at work, and there also those who, for people who cannot go to the place they work at, bring their work to the people who need them most. Such is the story of ALS Teachers.
ALS teachers are teachers who teach under the Alternative Learning System of the Department of Education. Through this program, they help students who have either dropped out of school or have not been able to attend any kind of formal schooling at all to finish their studies.
Sounds like a typical teacher’s job? Maybe, but not quite. Unlike regular teachers who conduct lessons in traditional classrooms, ALS teachers teach where their students are — literally. This may be anywhere from a public school, a barangay hall, a covered court, a makeshift classroom under a bridge or an open field, or sometimes even a prison compound.
Aside from the challenge of teaching in unusual locations, ALS teachers also have to contend with unusual work hours. After all, most of them are full-time teachers who also teach regular classes during the day, so instead of running home to prepare their lesson plans or check their students’ test papers after the bell has rung, they go and see how their ALS students are doing first then assist them in any way they can.
Since most of them are working students or housewives who are trying to balance their time between studying and fulfilling their familial or work responsibilities, they have to rely on the willingness of their teacher to rearrange their schedule according to their convenience, and willing they are, indeed.
Not only do some teachers stay for hours in their “classrooms” waiting for students to come, some even go as far as visiting their students at their workplaces to personally hand out modules that they can study and answer at home.
To exert this much effort to teach students you might think they are getting a lot of money from this, but the truth is except for a little honorarium, they don’t get any special pay for it.
On the contrary, some teachers end up using their own money or money they have been able to get from charitable groups or individuals to pay for additional teaching materials or cover transportation expenses when the allocated budget proved not to be enough or has not been released yet.
Might be more trouble than it’s worth if you’ll ask some people, but for these teachers, the hope they are able to give their students by giving them an opportunity to do something they would not have been able to do before is already a big reward in itself.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Katherine Reyes would like to thank Mrs. Norma J. Ayala, ALS Coordinator of the East District of Lucena City and Mr. Arvin Severa, ALS Coordinator of the South District of Lucena City for sharing their time and knowledge with us. This article would not have been possible without their help.
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