Edline Joi as she receives her ALS Certificate during the Commencement Exercises held at the Philippine Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand on May 16, 2012. Photo from left to right: Ms. Daye Escanlar, Ambassaor Linglingay Lacanlale, Edline Joi, and Dr. Carolina S. Guerrero, BALS Director IV
It is a pleasure to feature Edline Joi Manongdo in this section of ALS Reviewer Philippines. Joi came to Thailand in 2007. She finished grade 4 in the Philippines. She stopped for a year when she came here in Bangkok, Thailand to learn and adjust first with the language. The next year she studied in a bilingual school using Thai and English languages. Because she performed well in English, her teacher recommended her to take an accelaration test to find out her actual English grade level. She passed the test and was accelerated to first year high school after finishing grade 5. She continued in this school until she was in second year or Grade 8. Finances got tighter so we decided that she will take the ALS test to complete her secondary education. With the help of modules from the Bureau of Alternative Learning System of DepEd, Philippines she was able to make it during the first A&E test administration at the Philippine Embassy in Bangkok. This was a pilot project during that time.
Joi enrolled in the university and she was accepted with the help of the Philippine Embassy Certification that ALS is equivalent to the Grade 12 graduates in Thailand. Her course BA English is still in progress but she left her university for a while to give way to an opportunity to be employed at the Philippine Embassy here in Bangkok. Without the ALS, she would have been stucked in the Thai School for six years and learned mostly Thai subjects that are not so competitive in the international job market. Now, she is happily serving our fellow Kababayans in Thailand. We can say that ALS really played a very important role in her quest for education and employment in a foreign country like Thailand. Check out the video of her ALS graduation at the Philippine Embassy by clicking the link below.