The Literacy Coordinating Council (LCC), an agency attached to the Department of Education (DepEd) has called on government agencies and literacy partners to adopt the standards for exemplary community-based literacy programs and engagements.

During its 147th meeting, the LCC issued Resolution No. 01, s. 2021 entitled “Adopting the Guidelines on the Foundational Framework and Analytic Scoring Rubric for Exemplary Community-Based Literacy Programs and Engagement Developed by the Literacy Coordinating Council for Application, Dissemination, and Implementation at the Local Level.”

“By replicating the best literacy practices at the grassroots level and ensuring that every literacy program is effective and exemplary, we can equip all Filipinos with the 21st Century literacy skills, turn them into lifelong learners, and elevate their social-economic status through the whole of society approach strategy,” LCC Chairperson and DepEd Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio said.

The resolution urged the Department of Education, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Alternative Learning System (ALS), LGUs, NGOs, and other relevant literacy partners to utilize the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) tool to ensure that the literacy programs that they implement at the city, municipality, or barangay levels are consistent with the standards.

“It is hoped that through this issuance, all literacy programs in the local communities will be at par with those that were already recognized as exemplary through LCC’s National Literacy Awards,” San Antonio said.

With the help of the Philippine Normal University (PNU), the Council conducted research studies that led to the development of the foundational framework and standards for exemplary literacy program implementation at the grassroots level, which comes with a corresponding Analytic Scoring Rubric or M&E Tool.

The 10 elements in the M&E tool include Quality Management and Leadership, Legal Basis, Implementation Strategies, Aligned and Articulated Vision, Mission, Goals, Objectives, and Agenda, Inter-agency and Inter-stakeholder Partnership and Collaboration, Resource Management, Efficient and Regular Monitoring and Evaluation System, Needs-analysis and Data-driven Program Design, Information Dissemination Strategies, and Efficient Documentation Process.

Users can also monitor the relevant indicators and achievement progression according to the four categories namely Beginning, Emerging, Accomplished, and Exemplary which they can use as a benchmark in assessing their performance in respective community-based literacy programs.