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(NAR) VOL. 13 NOS. 1-4 / OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2002
[ DEPED ORDER NO. 20, S. 2002, MAY 31, 2002, May 31, 2002 ]
REDUCING SCHOOL CELEBRATIONS AND NON-INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES AND MAXIMIZING TIME FOR LEARNING
1. In pursuit of the DepEd goals of raising the academic standards of basic education and enhancing administrative efficiency in the delivery of educational services, the general policy shall be to lessen non-teaching duties of teachers and unnecessary non-instructional activities in schools and to maximize time for learning. Efforts should be exerted to meet the required number of school days and instructional time.
2. Guided by this basic policy, the following specific measures shall be adopted:
a. Classes should not be suspended even while there are school celebrations of important historical events of significant occasions. Discussions on the significance of these events or occasions such as United Nations Day, Arbor Day, School Nutrition Month, Environment Month, AIDS Awareness Day, etc., should be integrated in related subject areas during the regular classroom discussions.
b. Similarly, with regard to national programs which DepEd is expected to support, integration in regular classroom discussions in the relevant subjects shall serve as the mode of imparting important messages to students. The holding of contests in schools to support such programs shall be minimized.
c. Co-curricular activities, regular meetings of school clubs and organizations and competitions are allowed to be conducted in the school after class hours or during a period designating for student activities by the School Head and under the guidance of the teacher adviser, if any. Activities that will take one or two days to conduct such as BSP/GSP encampments, school sports competition and other related activities should be conducted during weekends or during summer. Enrichment and remediation classes shall be encouraged to support teaching and learning, and may be conducted during the period to be determined by the School Head.
d. In-service training programs, symposia, conferences and the like should be scheduled during summer except the monthly school-or-school cluster-based in-service training which should be held after class hours or during weekends.
e. Attendance to local schools press conferences should be limited to schools with a school paper.
f. Make-up classes should be held on weekends to meet the required number of school days to compensate for the hosting of national or regional school activities; town fiesta celebrations; local public holidays; and localized suspension of classes due to, among others, typhoons and other calamities.
3. For proper synchronization of activities at the regional and division levels, the Regional Office should initiate the preparation of a master plan of activities for the whole school year to be issued to the field for their reference and guidance.
4. Immediate dissemination of this Order is desired.
Adopted: 31 May 2002
(SGD). RAUL S. ROCO
Secretary