A total of 69 out-of-school youths (OSYs) and adults were among the first batch of students who completed the e-Skwela bridge course of Barangay Mabolo in Cebu City.  One student finished elementary, 30 finished high school with 38 completed the basic computer literacy course.

The closing exercise, held last April 11, 2011, at the barangay cultural center, was attended by Cebu City Councilors Alvin Arcilla and Edgardo Labella, barangay officials, and representatives of e-Skwela supporting agencies and organizations.

Aboitiz Land, Inc. (AboitizLand), through its Corporate Social Responsibility Committee, provided 15 units of personal computers and refurbished an area in the barangay hall to be used as a classroom.  The Department of Education, on the other hand, provided the e-skwela curriculum, teachers and licenses to the graduates.

The graduates should pass the Accreditation and Equivalency (A&E) Exam of the Department of education-Bureau of Alternative Learning System (BALS), so they can get the ICT license equivalent. They will obtain a certificate and diploma of learning achievement comparable to formal education. They will also acquire a Civil Service Sub-Professional Certificate.

Corazon Baybay, AboitizLand’s Community Relations Officer, said the ceremony was not just a celebration of the “efforts of the stakeholders” but also a way of “giving hope to the graduates and showing other out-of-school youth and adults that education can be attained with sheer determination.”

Dubbed “Ang Kwelang Eskwela” or the cool school, e-Skwela has been conceptualized to provide OSYs and adults the opportunity to earn diplomas, regardless of age or circumstance.  It is a pilot undertaking of the barangay and supported by AboitizLand, Aboitiz Foundation, Inc., Mabolo Elementary School, Cebu City Government, Department of Education through its Alternative Learning System, Commission on Information and Communications Technology, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

The information-communications technology-based curriculum takes nine months to finish.  It is composed of 89 modules and requires students to report to two three-hour sessions every week.  Graduation from the course is equivalent to completing the curriculum of a regular elementary, high school or Basic Computer Literacy Course.