DepEd allows advance classes for senior high school students

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) will allow schools to offer advance classes for senior high school students who will have work immersion scheduled for the next semester.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones recently issued a department order setting the implementing guidelines for the conduct of remedial and advancement classes starting this month.

“The implementation of the K to 12 curriculum by the DepEd ensures that every learner has to complete the basic quality education with the necessary competencies and skills for higher education and/or for world of work or for entrepreneurship,” Briones said in the order dated March 23.

“As such, DepEd recognizes the need to offer classes during summer to ensure continuous/moving up of a learner from one grade level to the next grade level,” she added.

DepEd said advance classes would enable students to take subjects that they are supposed to take while having work immersion, allowing them to focus on the latter during the regular semester.

Aside from advance classes, remedial subjects may also be offered by schools to allow students to catch up with learning gaps due to failure in a subject or deficiencies caused by change of track or specialization and transfer from one school to another.

It defined remedial classes as “any form of organized instructional interventions given to a learner during a summer class to address his or her learning gaps or subject area deficiency. The remedial can be made in the form of tutorial, mentoring, coaching and other ways of delivering the organized learning experiences.”

Summer remedial or advancement classes will begin every second Monday of April and will end after a completion of a six-week period that may include Saturdays.

Private schools are allowed to make adjustments subject to the approval of their respective school divisions superintendents.

To be able to offer summer classes, schools should submit a letter request along with necessary documents to local DepEd offices.

The agency said the learning standards of the K to 12 curriculum shall be followed during summer classes. It added the readiness of the schools and the principles of cost effectiveness will be taken into consideration during evaluation.