In 2007, the partnerships of different organizations, namely ERDA, the Christian Children’s Fund (CCF), and World Vision Development Foundation, Inc. (WVDFI) won the bidding for a funding project the goal of which is to contribute towards the sustainable reduction of exploitive child labor in the Philippines, specifically to withdraw and prevent the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labor through education. Thus, the ABK  Initiative : Pag-Aaral ng Bata para sa Kinabukasan (ABK) (Education for the Children’s Future ) was collectively and simultaneously implemented under the the funding and supervision of the United States - Department of  Labor ( US-DoL).

Child labor has been defined by the ILO as work or labor that is forced, exploitative, hazardous and that which deprives the child’s rights to health and education. Poverty has been pointed out as the main cause of child labor. In the Philippines, the National Statistics Office survey of 2000 bares that thirty-four percent (34%) or 15.2 million families live below the poverty threshold. The effects of child labor on children can be lasting as they are exposed to physical, biological and chemical hazards thereby negatively affecting their health, education, development and ultimately their very own survival.

Education, not work should be the center of attention of children in their early years. ERDA Foundation has a unique and comprehensive alternative learning program called pag-Aaral ng Bata para sa Kinabukasan (ABK). ABK represents the first three letters of the traditional Filipino alphabet system.

ERDA ABK covers 12 municipalities in the provinces of Camarines Norte, Leyte, Iloilo, Negros Occidental and Davao. It also holds office in the National Capital Region (NCR) in the ERDA Development Center.

Taking advantage of the Department of Education’s Alternative Learning System (ALS), out-of-school youths experience a different but more appropriate pedagogical experience. The DepEd, through ALS seeks the assistance of different organizations in the country to provide alternative modes of teaching to directly aid marginalized and impoverished children, most of whom are out-of-school youths (OSY). The heart of the program involves life lessons that focus on skills that students need to acquire for immediate employment. Passing the equivalency tests would be the equivalent of a diploma in the formal education system thus allowing students to apply for college or professional jobs.

These learning activities include literacy-enhancing activities such as show and tell, drama/role playing, storytelling, reading storybooks and film viewing. It also includes practical learning through food preparation, tree planting and various experiments. Students are also exposed to awareness-raising activities through advocacy concerts, children and adult forums, orientations on rights and responsibilities, laws, child labor situations and the importance of education. Overall, the holistic education aims to imbibe to our youth, self-awareness and development, value re-orientation, organizational mechanisms and documentation and advocacy and networking.

While child labor and poverty may seem to be complex and unsolvable problems, ERDA, through partnership with different organizations and in line with government programs undertakes small-scaled yet effective programs as answer to the communal call for nation building. It won’t be soon before a better life for these out-of-school youths will be as easy as ABK.