Guidelines set on school fees, uniforms, enrolment

By Ramon Dacawi

Education Secretary Luistro recently set the guidelines on school contributions, enrolment, uniform and other rules so as “to minmimize, if not eliminate, financial constraints among parents/guardians during the opening of classes, and to implement effective school/classroom management”.

“This will clear things if published,” said city councilor Peter Fianza, head of the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s committee on education as he asked media to help disseminate Luistro’s DepEd Order No. 41, s. 2011.

Luistro ordered that the implementing policies on the collection of voluntary contributions in all public elementary and high schools shall be strictly observed.

This means no fees shall be collected from school children in Kindergarten up to Grade 4 anytime of during the School Year 2011-2012.

No fees shall be collected from Grade 5 pupils to fourth year high school students from June to July, 2011. Starting August, 2011, until the end of the school year, contributions may be collected only on a voluntary basis for the following:

Boy and Girl Scouts of the Philippines – P50 per learner; Anti-TB Fund Drive – P5 per learner; Patents and Teachers Associations – to be determined by the board of directors; school publication – P60 for every elementary pupil and P90 for every high school student; membership in pupil/student organizations – based on existing school policies.

The PTAs may collect contributions only after presenting to their members and to the school head/principal a report on the use of the previous school year’s collections and school year 2011-2012 proposed budget with program of activities.

The PTA contribution shall be agreed upon during the general assembly and concurred by the school head or principal. The concurrence on the amount of voluntary contributions shall not be interpreted as those collections being mandatory payments.

PTAs are enjoined to refrain from setting exorbitant amounts for voluntary school contributions. They are encouraged to minimize the amount of contributions for graduation ceremonies and extra-curricular activities and requests for in-kind contributions.

The PTA contributions shall be on a per-member basis, regardless of the number of children that the member has enrolled in the school. The PTAs are encouraged to open and maintain a bank account and manage its collections and manage its collections and budget.

Although not mandatory, the publication of a school newspaper is encouraged in line with the promotion of campus journalism.

No teacher, school official nor school personnel shall collect fees or contributions, nor shall they be entrusted with the safekeeping and disbursements of collections made by the PTA.

The membership fees for student/pupil organizations shall be set by the organization subject to existing school policies on student organizations.

If the collection of school publication fees and other club memberships are coursed through the PTA as requested by the concerned organization, the amount collected shall immediately be remitted to the school organization on the day of collection, without service fee.

In no case shall non-payment of voluntary school contributions be made as a basis for non-admission, non-promotion or non-issuance of clearance to a student by the school concerned.

Non –compliance of the provisions on the collection of voluntary contributions shall be ground for the cancellation of the PTA’s recognition and/or filing of appropriate charges.

During the opening of classes, the school heads/principals shall ensure that Grade 1 pupils and First Year high school students who registered on Jan. 29, 2011 are in school. In case of no schools in the area, the mobile learning facilitator of the Alternative Learning System shall provide educationl services to these learners.

Grade 1 pupils should be six years old by June and not later than Oct., 2011. the certification of birth from the local registrar shall be the documentary basis for enrollment and should be submitted on or before Dec. 2011.

Children younger than six years old by six months may be admitted to Grade 1 provided that their readiness for school has been assessed (with positive results) by the school where they are applying for admission through the School Readiness Assessment Tool.

All Grade 1 pupils and First Year high school students who did not register on Jan. 29, 2011 need to enroll before or during the opening of classes. Pupils or students who are promoted to the next grade or year level are considered automatically enrolled for the coming school year in the same school.

Pupils or students who wish to transfer to a public school from another public school or private school shall bring their Form 138 (Report Card) to the school where they intend to transfer. If this document is not available, the child can be admitted on t he condition that the Report Card shall be submitted not later than the end of the First Grading Period.

The class size should range from a minimum of 15 pupils/students to a maximum of 60.
Grades 1 t0o 4 should not exceed 40 pupils per class in order to keep the teaching-learning process more manageable whenever possible.

The provision of DepEd Order No. 22 which gives priority preference for admission of new entrants who are residents of the locality where the school is located subject to the average maximum class size is retained.

In schools with oversized classes, the head/principal shall utilize alternative delivery modes such as the modified in-school, off-school approach, e-impact, Drop-out Reduction Program print modules, e-modules computer-assisted instruction among others.

The most competent and/or experienced teachers shall be assigned to run the alternative deliver modes. The provicion on the Adoption of Double Shift Policy to address classroom shortages shall be maintained.

The wearing of a school uniform shall not be required in public schools. Students with existing uniforms may continue using these uniforms, if they so desire, in order to avoid incurring additional costs for new attire.

Identification cards shall be provided to students at no cost on their part. The school head/principal shall fund these from its maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE).

The school head/principal shall ensure that textbooks and learning packages available in the schools shall be distributed to all the pupils or students. Reading materials in the library hubs shall be maximized for instruction.

Teachers in schools with Information and Communication Technology equipment and materials shall use these for multiple delivery formats such as large group workshops, small group discussions and individualized instruction to develop self-directed learning.
Schools division/city superintendents are directed to release MOOE funds to schools without fiscal autonomy in the form of cash advance and in adequate amounts proportional to the enrolment size to ensure that the operating funds are available at the start of the school year.

The schools division/superintendents and school heads are directed to implement this order. The regional director shall monitor the implementation of these policies.

Every school head must submit to the division office a letter of compliance, together with the School Monitoring Report on or before July 29, 2011. Every division superintendent is required to submit the Division Consolidated Report on Compliance and Non-compliance of their schools to the Undersecretary for Regional Operations on or before Agusut 15, 2011, copy furnished the Regional Director.

Any violation of this order by any teacher, school official or school personnel shall be dealt with administratively.