ADI offers special night classes to individuals and students who find it difficult to return to school on regular basis.
In 2000, the program had 190 students and accommodated at least 90 each year thereafter, according to Frances M. Sablan, coordinator and independent contractor of PSS.
A trimester program, ADI’s current term started on Aug. 11 and will end Nov. 3 with only 70 students — the lowest recorded by PSS.
Sablan said majority of the enrollees are 19-year-olds who were referred by families in the community.
Some referrals were from the three biggest high schools on island — Marianas, Saipan Southern and Kagman.
Sablan said ADI serves individuals who are 16 years old and above and has already graduated 301 students since its inception.
Citing statistics, Sablan said early pregnancy and economic difficulty are the main reasons of individuals who avail of the program.
The program, which used to have seven teachers, now has five for class sessions scheduled at 5-7:30 p.m. and 6-8 p.m.
The program, which uses the classrooms of the public high schools, needs $50,000 in this fiscal year to pay for the salaries of its teachers.
Those who propose ADI’s suspension said it is merely duplicating the functions of Northern Marianas College’s Adult Basic Education program which get $300,000 in federal grant that used to be handled by PSS.
“I really expected this suspension proposal two years ago…because it has been the issue way before and we’re fortunate that every year we keep on serving this program,” Sablan said. “It is my hope that it will continue because it supplements what we already have at NMC and it assists our students by giving them a second chance.”
ADI remains an unbudgeted program of PSS. “I know the realities and I understand the constraints…but ADI is also a very good program that serves a significant number of individuals who need help,” Sablan said
