For comedy king Dolphy, nothing is ever too late.
Dolphy, Rodolfo V. Quizon in real life, is this year’s celebrity taker of the Department of Education’s Accreditation and Equivalency (A&E) Test, previously known as the “Pep” test.
Education Secretary Jesli Lapus broke the news yesterday when he spoke at the 1st Biennial National Congress on Education at the Manila Hotel.
Lapus said that if the 2007 A&E test had world boxing champion Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao as its most famous examinee, “this year it will be Mang Dolphy.”
The comedian was among the 80,000 people who have registered with DepEd’s Bureau of Alternative Learning System (BALS) to take the test scheduled this February.
The A&E Test is administered by DepEd’s Bureau of Alternative Learning, to individuals who did not have formal elementary and high school education.
The A&E Test will be conducted in all 188 divisions of DepEd in the four Sundays of February.
The test will be held on Feb. 3 for Mindanao region; Feb. 10 for Visayas and Bicol regions; Feb. 17 for DepEd’s Luzon Cluster I (Regions I, II, III and CAR); and Feb. 24 for Luzon Cluster II (Regions IV-A, IV-B and NCR).
The DepEd-BALS’ nationwide registration period was from Sept. 3 to Nov. 23, 2007.
Dolphy, turning 80 this year based on his birthdate in his application papers, will most likely ace the test as Pacquiao did, said Dr. Carol Guerrero, DepEd-BALS director.
“I don’t see why he would fail it,” Guerrero told The STAR. “Surely, he already has the life skills which the test seeks to find from an examinee.”
Among the life skills sought in the A&E Test are one’s ability to communicate effectively and think critically and creatively.
Dolphy, she added, would not be the oldest to take the exam.
“Last year, we had an 84-year old man from Bacolod who took the test. He passed it,” Guerrero said.
The A&E Test offers an opportunity for individuals who were unable to obtain an elementary or high school diploma, to get a DepEd certificate equivalent to that.
The equivalency certificate can then be used as a passport either to high school, or to a college education or technical-vocation training courses.