Multi-Year Implementing Guidelines on the Allocation and Utilization of the Indigenous Peoples Education Program Support Fund

January 18, 2017

DEPED ORDER NO. 003-17

MULTI-YEAR IMPLEMENTING GUIDELINES ON THE ALLOCATION AND UTILIZATION OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES EDUCATION PROGRAM SUPPORT FUND

 

1. Pursuant to DepEd Order No. 62, s. 2011 entitled Adopting the National Indigenous Peoples Education (IPEd) Policy Framework and DepEd Order No. 43, s. 2013 entitled Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 10533 Otherwise Known as the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, the Department of Education (DepEd) has instituted the National IPEd Program.

2. To support the implementation plans and priorities on IPEd, DepEd shall provide the Program Support Fund to the regional and schools division offices on an annual basis. The availment, release, utilization, and liquidation of the said fund shall be subject to the enclosed Multi-Year Implementing Guidelines on the allocation and Utilization of the Indigenous Peoples Education (IPEd) Program Support Fund.

3. For more information, all concerned may contact the Department of Education (DepEd)-Indigenous Peoples Education Office (IPsEO), DepEd Central Office, Ground Floor, Mabini Building, DepEd Complex, Meralco Avenue, Pasig City at telefax no.: (02) 633-72-12 or through email address: [email protected] AcICHD

3. Immediate dissemination of and strict compliance with this Order is directed.

(SGD.) LEONOR MAGTOLIS BRIONES

Secretary

ATTACHMENT

(Enclosure to DepEd Order No. 3, s. 2017)

Multi-year Implementing Guidelines on the Allocation and Utilization of the Indigenous Peoples Education Program Support Fund

1.0 Purpose and Coverage

1.1 The Indigenous Peoples Education (IPEd) Program is DepEd's response to the right of indigenous peoples (IP) to basic education that is responsive to their context, respects their identities, and promotes their indigenous knowledge, skills, and other aspects of their cultural heritage. Specifically, the objectives of the IPEd Program are the following:

a. make the curriculum culturally responsive to the specific community context of IP learners;

b. build the capacity of teachers, school heads, and other concerned personnel at different levels of governance in implementing culture-based education for IP learners;

c. support the development of culturally appropriate learning resources and learning environment responsive to the specific community context of IP learners;

d. strengthen the policy environment supportive of IPEd; and

e. address the learning needs of IP learners who lack access to basic education services.

1.2 The IPEd Program supports the realization of the K to 12 Basic Education curriculum, which subscribes to the following standards and principles, among others: inclusive, culture-sensitive, and flexible enough to enable and allow schools to localize, indigenize, and enhance based on the community's educational and social context.

1.3 To strengthen the capacity of DepEd in responding to IP learning needs, in a manner that is flexible, demand-driven, and evidence-based, a Program Support Fund (PSF) shall be provided to regional and schools division offices for each fiscal year. For the implementation of the program, the PSF shall be used solely for IPEd-related activities that support three (3) thematic focus areas, namely, (1) curriculum and learning resources development; (2) capacity building; and, (3) education planning for IPEd. These focus areas aim at further building the institutional capacity of DepEd offices in responding to and managing the complexities of IPEd implementation, supporting the indigenization of the curriculum at the school/division level, and formulating education plans at the division and school levels that are culturally relevant and responsive. Activities under these thematic focus areas progressively build on previous years' priority activities.

2.0 Scope

These multi-year guidelines shall provide the rules for availment, release, utilization, and liquidation of the IPEd Program Support Fund.

3.0 Definition of Terms

For purposes of these guidelines, the following terms shall be construed to mean as follows:

3.1 Indigenous Peoples (IPs) — as stipulated in the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997, Section 3(h), IPs or indigenous cultural communities (ICCs) refer to "a group of people or homogenous societies identified by self-ascription and ascription by others, who have continuously lived as organized community on communally bounded and defined territory, and who have, under claims of ownership since time immemorial, occupied, possessed and utilized such territories, sharing common bonds of language, customs, tradition and other distinctive cultural traits, or who have, through resistance to political, social and cultural inroads of colonization, non-indigenous religions and culture, became historically differentiated from the majority of Filipinos. ICCs/IPs shall likewise include peoples who are regarded as indigenous on account of their descent from the populations which inhabited the country, at the time of conquest or colonization, or at the time of inroads of non-indigenous religions and cultures, or the establishment of present state boundaries, who retain some or all of their own social, economic, cultural and political institutions, but who may have been displaced from their traditional domains or who may have resettled outside their ancestral domains." TAIaHE

3.2 IP Education (IPEd) Program — refers to the "program that supports education initiatives undertaken through formal, non-formal, and informal modalities with emphasis on any of, but not limited to, the key areas of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices and community history, indigenous languages, Indigenous Learning System (ILS) and community life cycle-based curriculum and assessment, educational goals, aspirations and competencies specific to the Indigenous Cultural Community (ICC), engagement of elders and other community members in the teaching-learning process, assessment, and management of the initiative, recognition and continuing practice of the community's ILS, and the rights and responsibilities of ICCs" (Section 8.4, Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 10533/The Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013).

4.0 Policy Statement

The DepEd hereby adopts these multi-year guidelines that shall govern the availment, release, utilization, and liquidation of the IPEd Program Support Fund.

5.0 Allocation of Program Support Fund

5.1 All regions with IP communities/learners with allocated IPEd Program budget shall be covered by these guidelines.

5.2 The regional PSF allocation for FY 2017 is provided as Annex 1.

5.3 For succeeding fiscal years, a DepEd Memorandum shall be issued to the Regional Offices indicating the budgetary allocation of each region. This shall then serve as the basis for the preparation of the Regional and Schools Division IPEd Work and Financial Plan (WFP) for the fiscal year.

5.4 Once the Regional Offices have been notified of the regional PSF allocation for the fiscal year, the Regional and Schools Division IPEd Focal Persons of each region shall convene to discuss the PSF allocation for the regional and schools division offices.

5.5 The selection of schools divisions which shall be provided with PSF and their corresponding allocation shall be guided by the following considerations:

a. Primary considerations

• Population distribution of ICCs across the region's schools divisions

• Number of IP learners based on the latest data from eBEIS and other data sources from the field validated by the ICCs

• Number of schools with IP learners

• Number of schools involved in the curriculum indigenization process

• Number of priority sites for access interventions

• Ongoing division-led projects or interventions of the schools division that are responsive to the situation of IP learners and aligned with the IPEd Program's thematic focus areas

• Suggested interventions by the schools division's ICCs as indicated in the IPEd Framework that are aligned with the IPEd Program's thematic focus areas

• Alignment of the schools division's initiatives with the IPEd Program's thematic focus areas

• Track record on fund utilization and prompt report submission during previous years

b. Secondary considerations

• Schools divisions in the Region that were included as PSF recipients in previous years

• Availability of support for education interventions for ICCs coming from external sources/partners that can be aligned to the IPEd Program's perspective and approach cDHAES

5.6 In determining the allotment of the Regional Office, the Regional and Schools Division IPEd Focal Persons should consider the projected activities for the year that are appropriately region-led and other initiatives that the Regional Office has to undertake to ensure that it is able to perform its mandate in relation to the implementation of the IPEd Program.

5.7 The allocation for IPsEO shall be used to support its program implementation, operations, monitoring and evaluation activities.

6.0 Eligible Activities and Expenses

6.1 The IPEd Program Support Fund shall be used for activities related to the following three (3) thematic focus areas:

a. Curriculum and learning resources development in line with the objective to make the curriculum sensitive and responsive to the cultural and social context of the IP learners being served by the school/learning program, as well as producing the needed culture-based learning resources. Activities under this thematic area may be related to any of, but not limited to, the following:

• Curriculum contextualization and learning resources development sessions, consultations, and workshops of school and division personnel with IP elders, leaders, culture bearers (who may be invited as resource persons); community representatives and other relevant stakeholders

• Production of learning materials with content duly validated with concerned IP communities and that have undergone quality assurance

b. Capacity building to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) of teachers, managers, and personnel across DepEd offices/units to be effective IPEd implementers/managers, which may involve resources persons coming from the community. Activities under this thematic area may be related to any of, but not limited to, the following:

• Training/retooling of teachers and school heads for IPEd implementation

• Workshop-sessions on Indigenous Learning Systems (ILS)

• Workshop-session on community engagement and partnership-building for IPEd

• Technical assistance training for supervisors of schools implementing IPEd

c. Education planning for IPEd at the division and school levels which shall cover prerequisite processes and requirements for appropriate curriculum development and implementation, learning materials development, and other fundamental aspects, and may involve resource persons from the community. Activities under this thematic area may be related to any of, but not limited to, the following:

• Training of school heads and supervisors on Culture-responsive/Ancestral Domain-based School Improvement Plan (SIP)

• Training of supervisors for technical assistance on Culture responsive/Ancestral Domain-based SIP

• Orientation/training of the School Planning Team and other stakeholders on Culture-responsive/Ancestral-Domain based SIP

• IPEd planning activities of Schools Division Offices and schools with IP learners

6.2 The following shall also be considered in planning the use of the PSF:

• National directions of the IPEd Program discussed during the IPsEO-convened inter-regional conferences on the IPEd Program ASEcHI

• IPEd Framework/s of the Schools Divisions

• Previous year's WFP

6.3 In cases of activities that are not related to the said thematic focus areas, but are considered priorities by the recipient region/division, the concerned region/division shall submit a proposal justifying the conduct of such activity, subject to the approval of IPsEO.

6.4 All activities and initiatives in the WFP should adhere to the principles and guidance provided by DepEd Order No. 51, s. 2014 (Guidelines on the Conduct of Activities and Use of Materials Involving Aspects of Indigenous Peoples Culture) and DepEd Order No. 32, s. 2015 (Adopting the Indigenous Peoples Education Curriculum Framework).

6.5 Eligible expenses shall be those related to:

a. travel expenses related to IPsEO-led capacity-building activities, attendance and participation to IPEd training activities, workshops, conferences (both at the national and local levels,) school and community activities related to education planning for IPEd, among others;

b. community engagement and partnership-building activities with IP communities, IPOs, civil society organizations, and other government agencies; and

c. other expenses in support of 6.1 are eligible as long as the expenses are classified under MOOE.

6.6 Ineligible expense items shall include:

a. operational expenses such as payment of utilities (water, electricity, janitorial, and security services) funded by regular MOOE;

b. hiring and payment of salaries of additional staff;

c. capital outlay items; and

d. expenses covered by Official Development Assistance (ODA)-supported projects and other special or national programs or subsidies.

7.0 Availment and Release

The availment/release of the regional/division Program Support Fund (PSF) shall be subject to the approval of the regional/division IPEd WFP (Annex 2). Details of procedure are stated in item 7.1. In the preparation of their IPEd WFPs, the regions and divisions shall ensure coherence and complementation with other IPEd-related activities funded by other sources, if there are any.

7.1 Procedure in the Availment and Release of Fund:

7.1.a Division Program Support Fund

i. The Schools Division Office (SDO) shall prepare and submit the IPEd WFP to the Regional Office (RO) for evaluation on or before the end of the first month of the fiscal year (January);

ii. The RO shall devise or use existing mechanisms to review and evaluate the IPEd WFP within three (3) weeks from the date of submission to ensure its alignment with the identified thematic focus areas (if a certain division does not receive any information regarding its IPEd WFP within the set period, the IPEd WFP shall be deemed "approved");

iii. The RO shall notify the DO upon approval of its IPEd WFP, copy furnished IPsEO;

iv. The IPsEO shall request the Budget Division-Finance Service for the issuance of the Sub-ARO to the DO; ITAaHc

v. In cases where the RO has recommendations and/or suggestions for revisions, the RO shall return the IPEd WFP to the SDO for improvement;

vi. The SDO shall submit the revised IPEd WFP once RO recommendations and comments are integrated; and

vii. The PSF shall be released as soon as the revised IPEd WFP is approved by the RO.

Figure 1: Process Flow for the Availment of Division PSF

 

7.1.b Regional Program Support Fund

i. The RO shall prepare and submit the IPEd WFP to IPsEO for evaluation on or before the end of the first month (January) of the fiscal year;

ii. The IPsEO shall review and evaluate the IPEd WFP submitted by the RO, within three weeks, to ensure alignment with the identified thematic focus areas (if a certain region does not receive any information regarding its IPEd WFP within the set period, the IPEd WFP shall be deemed "approved");

iii. The region shall be notified by the IPsEO upon approval of their IPEd WFP;

iv. The IPsEO shall request the Budget Division-Finance Service for the issuance of the Sub-ARO to the RO;

v. In cases where IPsEO has recommendations and/or suggestions for revisions, the IPEd WFP is returned to the RO for improvement;

vi. The RO shall submit the revised IPEd WFP once the comments and recommendations of IPsEO are integrated; and

vii. The PSF shall be released as soon as the revised RO IPEd WFP is approved by the IPsEO.

Figure 2: Process Flow for the Availment of Regional PSF

 

7.2 Allotment Release

a. Upon release of the General Appropriations Act Release Document (GAARD)/SARO by DBM to DepEd-CO, the Budget Division-Finance Service shall issue the Sub-Allotment Release Order (Sub-ARO) to the regions and divisions.

b. The regions and divisions, upon receipt of Sub-ARO, shall request from DBM-Regional Office the corresponding cash requirement or Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA).

7.3 Liquidation and Utilization of Funds

Utilization and liquidation of the funds shall be subject to the usual accounting and auditing rules and regulations.

7.4 Reallocation of PSF

In the event that a region fails to submit the WFP of its RO and SDOs by the end of the second month (February) of the fiscal year, IPsEO may recommend the reallocation of the said region's PSF to other ROs and SDOs with higher resource requirements and good track record in terms of program implementation and budget utilization, based on an approved proposal as specified in 7.5 below. CHTAIc

7.5 Proposal for the Provision of Supplementary PSF

ROs and SDOs needing additional funds (over and above their PSF allocation for the fiscal year) for program implementation may submit proposals to IPsEO together with their WFP submission for the fiscal year. The proposal should provide a clear rationale and justification for the provision of supplementary PSF and include a WFP for the requested amount (following the same WFP format prescribed in these guidelines). Proposals from SDOs shall be reviewed, compiled, and endorsed by their respective ROs.

8.0 Roles and Responsibilities

8.1 At the regional and schools division levels, the IPEd Focal Person shall serve as the overall coordinator of the implementation of the IPEd Program. In relation to the PSF, the IPEd Focal Person shall perform the following roles in close coordination and collaboration with other concerned personnel/units:

a. Schools Division level:

i. Coordinate the formulation and processing of the schools division IPEd WFP;

ii. Prepare and consolidate inputs to the required reports; and

iii. Supervise and monitor program implementation/fund utilization.

The Schools Division Superintendent (SDS) shall be accountable as the overall IPEd Program implementer.

b. Regional level:

i. Coordinate the formulation and processing of the regional IPEd WFP;

ii. Prepare and consolidate inputs to required reports;

iii. Supervise and monitor program implementation and fund utilization; and

iv. Provide technical assistance to the divisions.

The Regional Director shall be accountable as the overall IPEd Program implementer.

8.2 At the national level, the IPsEO shall coordinate the overall process of availment and utilization of PSF at the regional and division levels, as specified in these guidelines. This office shall issue supplemental guidelines and provide technical assistance as may be deemed necessary.

9.0 Progress Monitoring

9.1 To ensure effective and efficient implementation of IPEd in the different regions, an inter-regional conference managed by IPsEO shall be conducted bi-annually. This shall serve as the venue for the regions and schools divisions to report progress on their program implementation.

9.2 The regions shall conduct regular monitoring of program implementation in the schools divisions as part of their mandated functions and responsibilities.

10.0 Performance and Fund Utilization Reporting

10.1 The SDO shall submit their accomplishment report (Annex 3) to the Regional Office on a quarterly basis, copy furnished IPsEO.

10.2 The Regional Offices shall submit their accomplishment report (Annex 3) to IPsEO on a quarterly basis.

11.0 Effectivity

These multi-year guidelines shall take effect starting FY 2017, and shall remain in force thereafter unless sooner repealed, amended, or rescinded. ISHCcT

ANNEX 1

FY 2017 Indigenous Peoples Education (IPEd) Program Support Fund Allocation, by Region

Region	Program Support Fund
Region I	4,552,000
CAR	8,675,000
Region II	8,767,000
Region III	6,650,000
Region IV-A	2,000,000
MIMAROPA	4,940,000
Region V	2,164,000
Region VI*	3,900,000
Region VII*	2,845,000
Region VIII	1,311,000
Region IX	6,415,000
Region X	12,999,000
Region XI	8,890,000
Region XII	9,345,000
Region XIII	6,707,000

* In the case of the Negros Island Region (NIR), the Regional PSF shall be sourced from the budgetary allocation of Regions VI and VII, while the PSF of the Schools Divisions shall be sourced from the allocation of their former Regions. The Regional Offices of VI, VII, and NIR shall deliberate on the allocation for NIR following the considerations set in Section 5.0 of these guidelines. The results of this deliberation shall then be the basis of the Work and Financial Plan (WFP) to be submitted for approval.

ANNEX 2

Work and Financial Plan (WFF)Indigenous Peoples Education Program Support Fund (IPEd PSF)

ANNEX 3

Accomplishment ReportIndigenous Peoples Education Program Support Fund (IPEd PSF)