DepEd issues implementing rules of Kindergarten Act

MANILA, Philippines - To ensure that the unique needs of diverse learners will be addressed, the Kindergarten Education General Curriculum will cater to the needs of pupils with special needs and disabilities and create a catch-up program for children under difficult circumstances.

Kindergarten education was institutionalized as part of basic education and was implemented partially in school year 2011-2012. It was made mandatory and compulsory for entrance to Grade 1.

The general kindergarten program is the 10-month program provided to children who are at least five years old in elementary schools using thematic and integrative curriculum to ensure the development of foundation skills among children to prepare them for Grade 1.

Republic Act (RA) 10157, otherwise known as “The Kindergarten Education Act,” provides that the curriculum is designed to cater to the needs of the learners with special needs or children who are gifted, those with disabilities, and other diverse learners by adopting services in addition to the standards provided, such as Headstart Program for the Gifted, Early Intervention Program for Children with Disabilities, Early Intervention Program for Children with Disabilities, Kindergarten Madrasah Program (KMP), Indigenous People (IP) Education, and Catch-Up Program for Children under Especially Difficult Circumstances.

The Headstart Program for the Gifted is a comprehensive program for the gifted and talented pupils in public elementary schools designed to address the educational, aesthetic, and social needs of children who manifest superior intelligence beyond their age.

The Early Intervention Program for Children with Disabilities is designed for children who are identified with special educational needs. The program provides services that will arrest further handicapping conditions of children with disabilities. This intervention could either be home-, school-, or community-based.

For Muslim pupils enrolled in public schools, the Kindergarten Madrasah Program (KMP) requires providing the children with Arabic Language and Islamic Values Education (ALIVE) classes, as well as those in private madaris using the Standard Madrasah Curriculum prescribed by the Department of Education.

The Indigenous Peoples Education, on the other hand, ensures the preservation, recognition, promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous people, their ancestral domain, cultural identity and heritage. It incorporates special needs, histories, identities, languages, indigenous knowledge, systems and practices, and other aspects of their culture, as well as their social, economic, and cultural priorities and aspirations.

The Catch-up Program for Children under Especially Difficult Circumstances is for children six years old and above under especially difficult circumstances, such as, but not limited to, chronic illness, displaced children due to armed conflict, urban resettlement, disasters and child labor practice, who are not able to finish the General Kindergarten Program.

The implementing rules and regulations of RA 10157 also provides that the mother tongue of the learners shall be the primary medium of instruction for teaching and learning in the kindergarten level in public schools. However, exceptions shall be made when the pupils in the kindergarten classroom have a different mother tongue or when the teacher does not speak the mother tongue of the pupils.