To guide all of its offices and schools, as well as other stakeholders in the recruitment, selection, and engagement of teaching assistants, the Department of Education (DepEd) has issued the guidelines on Learning Support Aides (LSAs) for this school year.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones issued DepEd Order No. 32, Series of 2020, or the “Guidelines on the Engagement of Services of Learning Support Aides to Reinforce the Implementation of the Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan in Time of COVID-19 Pandemic” to guide the selection and recruitment of LSAs in all public elementary and secondary schools, including senior high schools, this school year (SY) 2020-2021.
“The mechanisms, procedures, and standards stipulated in this policy shall guide all DepEd offices and schools, as well as other stakeholders in the recruitment, selection, and engagement of Learning Support Aides in all public elementary and secondary schools, including senior high schools, in school year 2020-2021,” Briones said.
To ensure that education will continue even amid the COVID-19 crisis, DepEd issued the Basic Education-Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP) in which multiple learning delivery modalities are employed in lieu of face-to-face classes.
“The implementation of the BE-LCP demands for a holistic approach and a stronger partnership among schools, households, and communities,” DepEd said. As its teachers and other personnel tackle additional tasks, challenges, and new expectation in the new normal, DepEd said that the BE-LCP “necessitates the complementary and broader roles of parents, guardians, and other household partners, and members of the community to support learning process of the students at home.”
DepEd noted that need for additional human resource at the school level especially in addressing the need of students who “cannot manage independent learning,” including those with disabilities and special needs; those who “do not have a household member or any responsible adult available to provide instructional support and facilitate distance learning delivery modalities”; and households with parents and guardians “with full-time jobs who may not be able to monitor and guide the child’s learning at home.”