To help ensure learning continuity even amid the pandemic, the Department of Education (DepEd) offers various alternative delivery modes (ADMs) that will cater to the needs of the learners.
One of the ADMs authorized by DepEd is the Homeschooling Program. Introduced in 1997, the said program is designed as one of the ADMs offered by any public or private school as a response to the needs of learners who are unable to attend formal school due to medical conditions or family circumstances.
To make it more responsive to the needs of learners, DepEd has strengthened its Homeschooling Program as an ADM through the issuance of DepEd Order No. 001, series of 2022.
“Aside from our current interventions, we have strengthened our Homeschooling Program to ensure our learners have choices in attaining quality education,” Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said in a statement issued Thursday, Feb. 10.
The strengthened Homeschooling program, Briones said, will also help students who “need more regular parental support and supervision especially in our current public health situation.”
In DepEd Order No. 001, s. 2022, the agency has updated its guidelines, standards, and implementation procedures for the said program, which offers families options in deciding on and addressing their children’s access issues.
“The revised policy indicates that if the country remains in a state of emergency, the focus of the instruction shall be on the Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELCs),” DepEd said.
“If the MELCs are no longer used in subsequent school years, the K to 12 Curriculum will be implemented for the program,” DepEd added.
Moreover, the new DepEd Order also highlights that parents or guardians are responsible for monitoring their children's work and progress. They are also expected to be the “primary agents of the teacher-learning process” --- including its design and execution.
DepEd also instructed school heads to assign a Homeschool Coordinator who will be in charge of enrolling learners, monitoring their progress, and providing support to parents or guardians during the implementation.
Meanwhile, DepEd stressed that homeschooled learners should also be provided with textbooks and modules in print or digital format.
Learners under the Homeschooling Program, DepEd said, should also have a conducive learning space at home and a learning plan that indicates the learning area, learning competencies, and learning tasks.
In order to identify their academic level, strengths and weaknesses, and knowledge learned throughout the year, DepEd said that all learners enrolled in the Homeschooling program need to take the National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE) and the National Achievement Test (NAT).
DepEd clarified that the Homeschooling program may be offered by both public and private schools as an ADM.
For private schools, DepEd said that they would be required to obtain a Permit to Offer the program.
Public schools, on the other hand, need to obtain the authorization of the Regional Officer before offering the Homeschooling program.