Manila: After three decades of being out of school, 53-year-old grandmother Rowena Taboso graduated with high honors from senior high school (SHS) on Tuesday. Taboso was among the few students recognized for achieving a general average grade of 95 during the graduation ceremony at Northern Tacloban City High School in New Kawayan village here.

According to Philippine News Agency, she achieved academic excellence despite juggling roles as a mother, wife, and student. "This is a fulfillment of my dream after I stopped coming to school in 1993. I am very happy that I am a senior high school graduate now. I am excited to take up a culinary course in college through a scholarship offering of a private school in Tacloban," Taboso said.

The grandmother was one of the 23 SHS graduates under the alternative learning system (ALS) program of the Department of Education (DepEd). She is twice as old as her teachers. A total of 329 senior high school graduates completed their schooling at the campus set up by the government mainly for learners living in Super Typhoon Yolanda (2013) resettlement sites.

Taboso has two children and three grandchildren. She married shortly after completing high school in 1993, or 20 years before the passage of Republic Act No. 10533 which established the Kinder-12 (K-12) program, adding Grades 11 and 12 to the basic education system. Her husband, Romulo, was present during the graduation ceremony to show support. He works as a butcher at the city government's slaughterhouse.

"I am very proud of my wife and I am willing to support her college education despite financial constraints," Romulo, who earns PHP5,000 monthly as a butcher, said. Taboso urged parents who have not completed high school to also enroll in ALS.

As an ALS student, Taboso was required to come to school two or three times a week and go through modular learning on the other days, according to Ariz Fritz Almaden, the school's ALS coordinator. "The challenge is their age, and some of them completed junior high school before the implementation of the K-12 basic education program. We must unpack their competencies and simplify their lessons for them to be able to catch up," Almaden said. Unpacking a competency means identifying the key skills and knowledge that must be explicitly taught and modeled.