AMID the Covid-19 pandemic, many students in the CNMI are still working toward their educational goals. Northern Marianas College’s Adult Basic Education program reported that 101 students are enrolled in its 2021 session, an increase of 10% when compared to last year’s session.
“Our team continues to work hard in reaching out to our students to make sure they meet their educational goals,” said Lorraine Maui, state director for the college’s ABE program. “We’d like to thank the CNMI Department of Labor’s Workforce Investment Agency Program and the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation for their assistance in referring their clients to NMC’s ABE program.”
Ever since the pandemic hit the CNMI, the ABE program said it has worked diligently to migrate its classes to an online format.
The program’s instructors use Google Classroom and Google Suite for classroom instruction. The program is also working on procuring loaner laptops for eligible students who lack devices in order to complete their online learning.
Even with instruction online, the program was able to graduate 51 students in 2020 — a 13.33% increase compared to the previous program year’s graduating class of 45 students.
Jaedryen Deleon Guerrero, one of the 51 who graduated from the program during the pandemic, said the experience was “challenging but worth it.”
He added, “I am lucky that the staff and instructors for ABE are so helpful and great to communicate with. The program not only gave me [the] key to [open] more doors but also helped me find myself and what I am capable of doing. The program made me stronger, smarter, and well prepared to take action for my bigger goals.”
For more information about the Adult Basic Education program at NMC, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 237-6713. The ABE office is located at Building M on NMC’s As Terlaje campus.