"Balik-Aral" is not a slogan. It is a named enrolment category in DepEd's own policy, which means a school has a defined procedure for you rather than an opinion about you.
DepEd Order No. 017, s. 2025, the revised basic education enrolment policy, defines a Balik-Aral learner as a learner who went back to school and resumed study after at least a year or years of dropping out or discontinuing study. The same order states that its procedures apply to all public and private schools in basic education including ALS, that they apply from SY 2025-2026 onwards, and that all types of learners, whether school-age or out-of-school children, youth and adults, shall be accepted.
So the question is not whether you are allowed back. It is which of four routes fits your situation.
Route 1: re-enrol in a formal school as a Balik-Aral learner
This is the direct route if you left recently enough that your records still make sense and you can attend a regular schedule.
DepEd Order No. 017, s. 2025 sets out what a Balik-Aral learner at any grade level presents:
- a PSA or NSO birth certificate, or one of the accepted secondary documents where that is unavailable, and
- SF 9 (the report card), School Form 10 (formerly Form 137), or a PEPT or A&E Certificate of Rating, or a Presentation Portfolio Assessment certificate.
Two details worth knowing. The order is explicit that documents presented at early registration are for verification only and are not collected, so you keep your originals. And the same order lists people "no longer in school but interested in going back to school" among the groups the advocacy campaign for early registration is specifically meant to reach.
Timing. Early registration for learners entering basic education for the first time, including out-of-school children, youth and adults and potential ALS learners, runs from the last Saturday of January to the last Friday of February each year, or on a schedule determined by the Department, and the Schools Division Office may extend it. Note that this is the registration window, not the only door: ALS accepts learners who come later.
If you are unsure which grade you would return to, our guide on age and grade level in the Philippines explains how the ladder maps out.
Route 2: ALS
If a fixed weekday schedule is impossible, or you are well past school age, ALS is the route built for you.
DepEd Order No. 001, s. 2026, the Implementing Guidelines of the Enhanced Alternative Learning System, states plainly that learners who are above school age and who have dropped out of the elementary or secondary levels of the formal education system may enrol in ALS programmes. It also provides that learners who join later than the start of the school year, or in the middle of a class cycle, shall still be accepted, with duration depending on their entry-level assessment and recognition of prior learning.
Three features that matter to an adult:
- It is free, by law. Section 20 of Republic Act No. 11510, the Alternative Learning System Act, says all DepEd ALS programmes are free of charge and that collection of all kinds of fees, costs or charges shall not be allowed. DepEd Order No. 001, s. 2026 restates it as an operating rule. DepEd's A&E test guidelines add that no payment shall be collected for the test registration, the test administration, or the issuance of the Certificate of Rating. If anyone asks you to pay to enrol in ALS, to register for the A&E test, or to obtain an ALS certificate, they are not running a DepEd programme. Report it to the Schools Division Office.
- It credits what you already know. The order builds the programme around an entry assessment, recognition of prior learning, and an Individual Learning Agreement reviewed with your teacher at least monthly. Duration depends on your existing knowledge level rather than on a fixed calendar.
- It has an exit that other institutions recognise. Certification now runs through both a Presentation Portfolio Assessment and the A&E Test.
Our ALS enrolment guide covers finding a community learning centre and what the sessions look like, and ALS online classes covers the remote options.
One thing DepEd is firm about: if you are still of school age, ALS implementers are directed to refer you to the formal system first, in line with the objectives of RA 11510. ALS is for people the formal system genuinely cannot hold.
Route 3: the placement test
If your records are gone, or you learned a great deal outside school and do not want to repeat years, the placement test route exists for exactly that.
DepEd Order No. 017, s. 2025 defines the Philippine Educational Placement Test (PEPT) as a battery of tests covering five basic subjects, for validating and accrediting knowledge and skills in academic areas gained through informal and non-formal means, for re-entry into formal school, job promotion, entry to job training, employment, and self-fulfilment.
A PEPT result is one of the accepted means of verification for a Balik-Aral learner in that same order, and DepEd Order No. 001, s. 2026 lists over-aged Grade 10 PEPT passers among those who may enter ALS Senior High School. Our PEPT guide explains how the test works and when it is administered.
Route 4: the Open High School System
Republic Act No. 10665, the Open High School System Act, approved 9 July 2015, established the OHSS as part of DepEd's alternative secondary education programme, providing access to secondary education through an open learning modality using self-instructional materials, multi-channel learning, and school-family-community partnership.
Its enrolment rule is wide: the system accepts all youth and adults who have finished elementary education, as well as high school qualifiers of the PEPT and of the ALS A&E Test.
The honest caveat is availability. OHSS runs school by school, with divisions issuing memoranda designating which schools implement it. SDO Calbayog, for example, issued a division memorandum implementing the Open High School Program at Oquendo National High School effective school year 2025-2026. So the useful question is not "does OHSS exist" but "which school in this division runs it this year." Ask the division office.
Comparing the four
| Route | Best if | Schedule | Cost | What you end up with |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balik-Aral in a formal school | Records intact, can attend regular classes | Fixed school schedule | No tuition in public schools | Normal report card and diploma |
| ALS | Working, caring for family, above school age, or far from a school | Flexible, set with your teacher | Free by law | A&E certificate at elementary or junior high level |
| PEPT | Records lost, or learned a lot outside school | One test, then re-entry | Set by DepEd for each cycle | Placement into a formal grade level |
| Open High School System | Can study independently, cannot attend daily | Distance, self-paced | No tuition in public schools | Formal secondary credential |
Fitting study around work
Most adults returning are not choosing between school and free time. They are choosing between school and a shift.
- Ask about evening and weekend classes. Some schools and colleges run them specifically for working adults; see night classes in the Philippines.
- Stack a skills credential alongside. TESDA courses are short, practical, and in many cases scholarship-funded. Its scholarship and student assistance programmes include the Training for Work Scholarship Program, the Private Education Student Financial Assistance programme, the Special Training for Employment Program and the Tulong Trabaho Scholarship Program, listed on TESDA's own scholarships page. Start with our TESDA courses guide.
- Set a target cycle, not a vague intention. A&E registration opens on an announced schedule each cycle and closes; early registration for formal school runs its own window. Put the date your division gives you in writing somewhere you will see it.
Where to go on Monday
Two addresses cover almost everything. Your Schools Division Office handles Balik-Aral enrolment questions, the ALS focal person, PEPT information, and which schools run the Open High School Program. Your barangay hall usually knows the local ALS teacher by name.
Bring whatever documents you still have and do not let a missing one stop you from asking. The enrolment policy accepts secondary documents where a PSA birth certificate is not available, and the whole design of ALS and PEPT is for learners whose paperwork does not match their learning.
Sources
- DepEd Order No. 017, s. 2025, Revised Basic Education Enrollment Policy (PDF), Department of Education: https://www.deped.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/DO_s2025_017r.pdf
- DepEd Order No. 001, s. 2026, Implementing Guidelines of the Enhanced Alternative Learning System (PDF), Department of Education: https://www.deped.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/DO_s2026_001r-1.pdf
- Republic Act No. 11510, Alternative Learning System Act, LawPhil Project: https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2020/ra_11510_2020.html
- Republic Act No. 10665, Open High School System Act, LawPhil Project: https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2015/ra_10665_2015.html
- Division Memorandum No. 242, s. 2025, Implementation of the Open High School Program of Oquendo National High School effective SY 2025-2026, SDO Calbayog: https://calbayogcity.deped.gov.ph/dm-242-s-2025/
- 2025 Accreditation and Equivalency Test Registration and Administration Guidelines (DepEd Memorandum, PDF as disseminated by SDO Bohol/Tagbilaran City): https://depedtagbilaran.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/DM-NO.-795-s.-2025-ACCREDITATION-AND-EQUIVALENCY-TEST-REGISTRATION-AND-ADMINISTRATION-GUIDELINES.pdf
- Scholarship and Student Assistance Programs, TESDA: https://www.tesda.gov.ph/about/tesda/1279
- ALS Frequently Asked Questions, Department of Education: https://www.deped.gov.ph/als-frequently-asked-questions/
