By Merlina Hernando-Malipot
The Department of Education (DepEd) ensured that education will continue for learners affected by the Marawi siege by accommodating them in the basic education system in June.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
In an effort to ensure that the students will be able to continue learning this coming school year, Education Secretary Leonor Briones has given instructions for the promotion of learners displaced by the Marawi siege as stated in DepEd Memorandum No. 61 series of 2018.
Briones has instructed undersecretaries, assistant secretaries, bureau and service directors, ARMM regional secretary, regional directors, schools division superintendents, and heads of both public and private elementary and secondary schools, on how to deal with the affected learners by the months-long siege last year.
The DepEd, Briones said, “remains committed to ensuring that education continues for the learners” who were displaced by the Marawi siege in 2017. “In recognition of the precarious circumstances for any of these learners, DepEd ensures that these learners continue to be accommodated in the basic education system with minimal disruption as they receive quality, accessible and liberating education,” she added.
Briones noted that while the basic learner’s profile and academic status for each learner in the DepEd “are linked” to their Learner Reference Number (LRN) stored in the Learner Information System (LIS), “the system does not store detailed information on the learner’s grades, which serve as the basis for determining promotion/retention decisions.”
Owing to the destruction of data located in schools and other government facilities in Marawi, Briones said the “permanent records of many learners are currently missing and will take time to be reconstructed.”
In view of this, all schools were instructed that for Grades 6, 10 and 12 learners, their academic performance for school year (SY) 2017-2018 – as defined in Section V of DepEd Order No. 8 s. of 2015 or the “Policy Guidelines on Classroom Assessment for the K to 12 Basic Education Program” – shall be “used as a basis for promotion to the next level.”
As stated in DO No. 8, section V, the K to 12 used a standards- and competency-based grading system. “All grades will be based on the weighted raw score of the learners’ summative assessments.” Thus, the minimum grade needed to pass a specific learning area is 60 “which is transmuted to 75 in the report card.”
Briones said the learners will also be “entitled to awards, honors and other forms of recognition upon meeting relevant qualifications” as stated in DepEd Order No. 36 series of 2016 or the “Policy Guidelines on Awards and Recognition for the K to12 Basic Education Program.”
Meanwhile, Briones noted that “learners without LRNs shall be registered in the system and given LRNs.” Class advisers of these students were directed “to prepare a supplemental report on promotion for this purpose.”
In preparation for SY 2018-2019 and issuance of LRNs, Briones directed schools divisions hosting displaced learners to “consolidate the list of all displaced learners” while host schools divisions shall then “request the certification of the Schools Division of Marawi City” stating the learners “were previously studying in the said schools division.”
Then, the Office of the School Division Superintendent of Marawi City shall issue a certification upon verification of concerned schools heads. “Learners shall provide a birth certificate or other equivalent documents as prerequisite for the issuance of their LRNs,” Briones said.
Briones also noted that “while private schools have their own guidelines on admission and enrollment,” DepEd encourages these schools to “provide consideration for displaced learners who intend to enroll in light of the situation.”