Twenty-First-Century Skills of Alternative Learning System Learners

Education plays a very important role in the development and progress of a certain nation. With the advancement of science and technology, it is indeed that globalization and internalization of education are considered as challenges that every country must uphold. And one of the emphases of today’s challenges in education is the promotion of 21st-century skills among students. However, it is also a reality that a huge number of the world population are dropouts, out-of-school youth, and even individuals who do not go to formal schooling. And as a result, these individuals who do not go to formal schooling have difficulties in understanding and learning 21st-century skills which enable them to cope with and to compete in the globalized world. And to cope with these challenges given by the changing world and knowledge economy, alternatives were presented and implemented by the countries around the world such as the Philippines to help individuals attain education through nonformal and informal education such as the Alternative Learning System (ALS). This study was conducted to determine the 21st-century skills of ALS learners of Northern Philippines. In all, 150 ALS learners across five schools in Northern Philippines participated in the study through descriptive survey method. Results revealed that the ALS learners have a low level of acquisition of 21st-century skills. Furthermore, results of the independent-sample t test and one-way ANOVA test revealed that sex, age, and employment status affect the acquisition of learners on 21st-century skills.