DepEd issues guidelines for flexible teaching schedules

MANILA, Philippines —  The Department of Education has issued guidelines allowing flexibilities in teaching schedules under the MATATAG basic education curriculum.

Under DepEd Order No. 012, Series of 2024 issued on Wednesday, public schools are now allowed to adopt class schedules based on their specific needs and capacities, such as the size of the school and the availability of teachers and classrooms.

The new guidelines offer three options for adjusting class schedules, also referred to as class programs, which the schools may implement by the start of the second quarter of the current school year.

The DepEd said that providing the options will give the schools the “ability to tailor their approach while maintaining core learning standards.”

The first option (Option A), retains the instructional time under DO No. 10, Series of  2024, wherein all learning areas will be given 45 minutes a day for five days, and the Homeroom Guidance Program for 45 minutes once a week.

In the amended guidelines, DepEd provides Option B, wherein learning areas may be given uniform teaching time allotments of 50, 55 or 60 minutes each.

English, Mathematics, Science and Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC)/Values Education must be taught five times a week, while Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan (EPP)/Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE), Music, Arts, Physical Education and Health (MAPEH), Araling Panlipunan (AP) and Filipino must be taught four times a week.

The Homeroom Guidance Program, meanwhile, shall be taught once a week.

Finally, as Option C, in circumstances where any of the given options is not applicable, schools may propose other combinations, provided that the total learning contact time is at least five hours and 30 minutes a day.

The time allotment for English, Mathematics, Science and GMRC/Values Education shall not be less than 225 minutes per week. Moreover, the time allotment for EPP/TLE, MAPEH, AP and Filipino shall not be less than 200 minutes per week, and the time allotment for the Homeroom Guidance Program shall not be less than 45 minutes per week.

“The proposed combination shall be subject to the approval of the school division superintendent or authorized representative,” the DepEd guidelines read.

The DepEd said mother tongue shall continue to be implemented as the medium of teaching and learning, however, “it shall no longer be offered as a subject.”

In-person classes shall also remain as the “primary learning delivery modality.”

The agency, however, clarified that blended learning, which may include a combination of in-person and online distance learning or other distance learning delivery modalities, may be implemented especially in schools with classroom shortages and during disasters and emergencies.