Learning for Life

MANILA, Philippines - Among the victims in the decades-old military conflict in Mindanao are the youth whose futures are compromised before they ever get started. Recognizing the need to give the displaced and disadvantaged Muslim youth a a fighting chance in life, the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority (TESDA), in cooperation with private organizations, came up with the Arabic Language and Islamic Values Education and Technical Vocational Education and Training (ALIVE-TVET).

Now on its second phase since it was conceptualized in December 2007, the program targets Muslim out-of-school youth living outside the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Following a survey conducted by the DepEd, TESDA and the Office of Muslim Affairs with the help of concerned local governments, the agencies have identified an initial 18,000 out-of-school youth in 38 Muslim communities all over the country who need attention.

“Fleeing a conflict area is traumatic. Lack of confidence and education makes it even more painful as you worry about your future,” says former presidential spokeman Rogelio Peyuan, who was among the pioneers of the project.

With an initial budget of P15 million, the nationwide ALIVE-TVET program has so far helped 3,000 beneficiaries, including Muslim women. The program is conducted all over the country in TESDA centers. Each student is given a P100 allowance daily, t-shirts, learning materials, and a starter tool kit. 

Through the ALIVE program, students are taught Arabic and the basic tenets and values of Islam.

The program helps young Muslims to better understand their faith. ALIVE fills the need for spiritual and cultural guidance since many young Muslims, especially those living in urban areas like Metro Manila, have forgotten the real meaning of Islamic values because there are no madrasah schools in their communities.

“Islam teaches you that you have to work to earn a living and just waiting for dole-outs or waiting for the politicians to give you things is not acceptable. You have to work to support yourself and your family,” then DepEd secretary Jesli Lapus said in an earlier speech.

Furthermore, Leo Pinlac of TESDA says ALIVE also ensures that the out-of-school youth, who are vulnerable to radical or extremist teachings, get the correct interpretation of Islam.

Learning the Arabic language could also increase their chances of landing jobs in countries all over the Middle East. “We expect that they will learn what is not only in the Koran, but what is also taught of the basic culture of the Arab world,” Peyuan says.

Beneficiaries of the TVET component of the program choose among various skills training programs including welding, automotive servicing, dressmaking, food and beverage services, call center courses, and flower arrangement, among others.

Popular among young males are mobile phone repair and construction, while females gravitate toward computer and call center courses, Pinlac says. 

After graduating from the program, the students receive a certification from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) that is internationally-recognized and accredited with foreign employers and agencies. They can also opt to continue studying under the TESDA’s ladderized education program, leading toward a college degree.

Attesting to the success of the program, many of the graduates have landed jobs abroad, mostly in the Middle East, and in local call centers as well.

One successful beneficiary of the program is Alioden Kiram, who fled with his family from Maguindanao when he was still in his early teens. As a tambay (bum) in a poor Muslim community in Quezon City for years, he was slowly drawn into the criminal underworld that almost always preys on poor and aimless youth.

Now in his early 20s, Kiram is currently working in a tire company in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and his employers have only good words for him, thanks to the values and skills he learned under the ALIVE-TVET program.

Pinlac recalls that Kiram was insecure and shy when he first started with ALIVE-TVET. “I’m sure he’s happy and confident now that he has a job and that he is able to help his family financially.”

ALIVE-TVET has likewise forged successful partnerships with different organizations such as the Gawad Kalinga Foundation, with students in various construction courses working on housing projects for the poor with the help of the Association of Construction and Informal Workers (ACIW). A more formal agreement with the Gawad Kalinga Foundation and ACIW is in the works, officials say.

In the next five to ten years, the program hopes to reach out to 25,000 Muslim out-of-school youth, and Pinlac estimates that in Metro Manila alone, there are already about 10,000 of them.

Officials say the continuation of the project appears to be assured for this year as funding for ALIVE-TVET is included in the 2010 General Appropriations Act.

Peyuan says he expects the incoming administration of President Benigno Aquino III to further boost the program as the new leader appears to be serious in helping poor Muslims. He adds that there are efforts to have governments in the Middle East help fund the program.

“The Philippine government has put up the seed fund and maybe generous foreign institutions can contribute their share,” he says.

“The continuing armed conflict in Mindanao, the search for greener pastures outside of Mindanao, the lure of trade and business – these are a few of the push factors that brought about the massive migrants of Muslims to other parts of the country. These resulted to the problem of a big number of Muslim out-of-school youth who have not been provided access opportunities to the government’s basic education system,” an ALIVE-TVET primer says.

“…this education project is a big leap forward in the country’s unending search for a more lasting and permanent peace with our Muslim brothers and the growth and development that follows after it.”