THE Department of Education will give out-of-school youth and adults another chance to get the equivalent of an elementary or high school diploma by administering a special Alternative Learning System Accreditation and Equivalency (ALS A&E) exam on June 12, 2008 in 189 testing centers nationwide.

Spearheaded by DepEd's Bureau of Alternative Learning System (BALS), the A&E exam, formerly known as the Non-Formal Education A&E test, is designed to provide learners with a range of alternatives to allow continuity in learning outside the formal school system. The test targets mostly out-of-school learners with a desire to either pursue college or work without a college diploma. It aims to assess the examinees' basic life skills such as literacy, numeracy and problem solving, and offers successful test takers a certification which is equivalent to an elementary or high school diploma.

"We want to free our learners from illiteracy through the A&E Exam," said DepEd Secretary Jesli Lapus. "This is part of our commitment to pursue Education for All which we are mandated to uphold."

The 2008 A&E exams had already been given last Feb. 3, 10, 17 and 24. The June 12 exam is a special one scheduled in response to Lapus' directive to give the celebration of Independence Day a practical meaning for learners, BALS Director Carolina Guerrero said.

The tests will be conducted in 189 testing centers or DepEd divisions nationwide. Registration and evaluation of accomplished A&E registration forms by ALS field personnel on the examination day itself will start from 7 to 11 am while the test will run from 1 to 6 pm.

DepEd, which wants to increase public awareness of its A&E program, earlier tapped boxing champion Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao to serve as a its poster boy after Pacquiao passed the A&E exam held in his hometown in Gen. Santos City on Feb. 4, 2007. Pacquiao's brother Bobby, also a boxer, flunked the tests, but the Pacman himself promptly enrolled in a college course after his victory in the classroom.