Aligned with its mission to serve its members and the community,an additional Committee was created in accordance with CDA’s regulations.It was June 12, 2018, Independence Day, a National Holiday when ZaNorTE-MPC conducted a regular Board Meeting, the date when ZaNorTE-MPC created GAD Committee. It was also presented and approved during the 2019 Annual General Assembly. BOD Rosa R. Articulo was appointed as Committee Chairperson for GAD and Ms. Daisy P. Basig and Ricky Tabad were occupied as members, both of whom are ALS teachers.

As part of the ZaNorTE-MPC GAD Committee’s functions and responsibilities; monitors and assesses progress in the implementation of GAD programs and projects towards Gender Equality. Attached is a report from the beneficiaries of a livelihood project awarded to an ALS class of Katipunan II District in the amount of Php 22,000.00. It consisted of 1 sewing machine, and a set of sewing materials and accessories.

This project has a beneficiary of 9 male and 16female learners. Here’s the success story of GAD implementation.

Thefore most objective of the Alternative Learning System teaching activities besides learning academic subjects is Skills Development. This is to ensure that while they are schooling they can also earn a living or when they are out of school they can help themselves financially as well as for their families. They develop self-reliance, responsibility, and self-respect since most of the ALS learners belong to the deprived families such as out-of-school youths and older people (male and female), single mothers and the vulnerable.

With the donation of the Zamboanga del Norte Teachers Multi-Purpose Cooperative, GAD Committee of the sewing machine, and sewing materials, we are very much thankful and happy because we were able to teach through the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) who conducted the training to the learners on how to use it with speed and more output rather than by hand what we used to do. We also teach them to use and recycle materials to save and minimize wastage. They learned to make pillow cases, pouches, face masks (very in demand as of this pandemic time) etc., for sale to their friends, relatives and outsiders at least they could earn and boost their feeling of accomplishment.

Now, with the pandemic of Covid-19, our activities in the Alternative Learning System have stopped. Yet, we are confident that our learners can survive the trauma it brought if they are industrious, persistent and patient enough to apply and continue what they have learned from the learning center.

The presence of sewing machines and sewing materials in our learning center have greatly improved the learning capacity of the learners to cope up with the quality work, enhanced their livelihood skills and augment their way of earnings.