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By Jonathan M. Hicap, Reporter
Three deaf out-of-school youth
made history on Sunday when they took the Accreditation and
Equivalency test given by the Department of Education.
Macie Estores, Paul Jester Pineda
and Quincy Heinz Samonte, all deaf, were among the 250 who
registered to take the test at the Cavite National High School,
according to Soledad Jaime, coordinator of the Education
department’s Alternative Learning System at the high school and
the testing registration officer for the examination.
Jaime said this is the first time
that the deaf took an Accreditation-and-Equivalency test since it
was started in 1981 during the time of then Education Minister
Onofre Corpuz.
But it was not easy for the three
before they were allowed to take the test.
Originally, 10 deaf students
registered to take the test but only Estores, Pineda and Samonte
passed the initial screening. The three underwent a 10-month
training to prepare them for the examination.
“The
Accreditation-and-Equivalency test certificate is comparable to the
elementary certificate and high-school diploma whereby an elementary
school student who passes the examination can apply for entrance to
high school. On the other hand, a high school student who passes the
examination can apply for entrance to college,” said Director
Carolina Guerrero of the department’s Bureau of Alternative
Learning System in a statement.
The three who took the test are
between 18 and 20 years old and were past the high-school age. They
were trained and guided by their mentor, Leopoldo Quilaquiga, who
wrote “Good English for the Deaf (and the Hearing, too!).”
Another problem was taking the
test itself. Deaf people are taught English-based sign language. The
problem was that most of the questions in the
Accreditation-and-Equivalency test were written in Pilipino.
Quilaquiga acted as the
interpreter of the three during the test. He translated the
questions from Pilipino to English so the three could understand
them.
After the test, Jaime told The
Manila Times that she hopes that the three would pass.
If they pass the 100-item test,
Estores and Samonte are planning to enroll in college while Pineda
will apply for a job at the Export Processing Zone Authority in
Rosario, Cavite.
The Education department
administered the test in 188 divisions nationwide this February.
Under the rules, qualified to register in the elementary level are
elementary-school dropouts who are not enrolled in June of the
current school year, 11 years old and above, and those who were born
before December 1997. Qualified for the secondary level are
high-school dropouts who are not enrolled in June of the current
school year, 15 years old and above, and those who were born before
December 1993. Non-passers in previous Alternative-Learning-System
and Accreditation-and-Equivalency tests, and learners and those who
have completed the Alternative-Learning-System programs are also
qualified to register.
According to the Education
department, of the 51,979 who took the Accreditation-and-Equivalency
test last year, 12,424 or 24 percent, passed. Of the 51,979
registrants, 10,141 were from Metro Manila.
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