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Republic of the Philippines

House of Representatives
Quezon City, Metro Manila

Eighteenth Congress
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No._ 8689

Introduced by Representative Lorenz R. Defensor, Michael B. Gorriceta
and Francisco “Kiko” B. Benitez

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill seeks to institutionalize the alternative learning delivery modes
in the K-12 Basic Education system.

Section 1, Article XIV of the 1987 Constitution provides that the “State
shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all
levels and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to
all.”

The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused tremendous
disruption in the traditional method of conducting classes that requires face-to-
face interaction between learners and their teachers. The education sector was
challenged by the negative effects of the pandemic that have prevented learners,
teachers, and other school personnel from going to schools or community
learning centers. This situation calls for an urgent need to adopt and
institutionalize alternative delivery modes of learning other than face-to-face, to
ensure the continuity and quality of teaching and learning.

Republic Act No. 10533, otherwise known as the “Enhanced Basic
Education Act of 2013,” mandates the development of the enhanced basic
education curriculum. The law secures the interest of the basic education sector
by making education leamer-oriented, relevant, inclusive, responsive to the
needs, and cognitive of the cultural capacity, circumstances, and diversity of
learners, schools, and communities.


While the Department of Education has implemented the alternative
delivery modes in the country’s formal schools to address the learning needs of
the marginalized pupils and students and those at risk of dropping out because
of their personal, social, and economic constraints, however, the scale of
implementation or application is very limited. The learning needs of the pupils
and students have not yet been sufficiently met.

This measure will institutionalize alternative learning delivery modes
using digital technology such as blended learning, distance learning, and
homeschooling in the K-12 education system, in lieu or in addition to face-to-
face modality, to make education responsive to the present needs and
circumstances of learners, schools, and communities. This program, which will
gather the government agencies and the private sector together, with the
Department of Education as the lead agency, will provide alternative learning
opportunities to the country’s learners and enable teachers to assist and guide
leamers to master skills and acquire knowledge and experiences in a safe
working and learning environment in line with the minimum health safety
standards.

The bill also establishes the Alternative Learning Management Council to
ensure a harmonized alternative learning delivery modes. The management
council will strengthen the structural capability and control mechanism in the
effective delivery of the learning modes at a larger scale.

Amidst this crisis, when the health and welfare of every individual are of
primordial concern, the adoption of alternative learning delivery modes is
necessary to balance the right to quality education and the health of the people.

In view of the foregoing, approval of this bill is earnestly sought.

a Vic

LORENZ R. DEFENSOR MICHAEL B. GORRICETA

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Fi iCISCO “KIKO” B. BENITEZ


Republic of the Philippines

House of Representatives
Quezon City, Metro Manila

Eighteenth Congress
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 8689

Introduced by Representative Lorenz R. Defensor, Michael B. Gorriceta
and Francisco “Kiko” B. Benitez

AN ACT
INSTITUTIONALIZING THE ALTERNATIVE LEARNING DELIVERY
MODES IN THE K-12 BASIC EDUCATION SYSTEM AND
APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines
in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the “Alternative
Learning Delivery Modes Act.”

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. -It is the policy of the State to protect and
promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels and shall take
appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all. The State must also
establish, maintain, and support a complete, adequate, and integrated system of
education relevant to the needs of the people and society.

Towards this end, the State shall adopt and implement the alternative

learning delivery modes using appropriate technology, such as blended learning,


distance learning, and homeschooling, to ensure continuous learning and make
education accessible and responsive to the needs and circumstances of learners,
schools, and communities.

SEC. 3. Objectives. — The objectives of this Act are as follows:

a) Ensure continued provision for quality learning and teaching in the
country’s education sector, taking into consideration the needs, capacity,
circumstances, and diversity of all stakeholders while protecting their health,
safety, security, and well-being;

b) Ensure the seamless transition of teaching and learning activities into
systematic, flexible, and appropriate delivery formats of the K-12 curriculum
responsive to the “new normal,” keeping in mind the constitutional mandate to
uphold the right of all learners to quality, relevant, accessible, and liberating
education at all times;

c) Develop, integrate, and utilize non-formal, informal, indigenous
learning systems, as well as self-learning, independent, and out-of-school study
programs in the delivery of alternative learning modes and the assessment of
learning gaps, outcomes, and competencies of the learners by providing
flexibility in the duration of the learning programs, learning contents, and
learning delivery modes;

d) Strengthen the increasing role of technology in education as it facilitates
various interactive and remote activities, digitization, delivery of knowledge,

and enhancement of skills, necessary to obtain quality, accessible, relevant, and


liberating education, making the learners future-ready and carries a broad range
of content to a connected community; and

e) Provide support for open educational resources and open digital
access for all learners to ensure learning continuity and prevent digital divide,
illiteracy, and other related equity gaps.

SEC. 4. Alternative Learning Delivery Modes —The Department of
Education (DepEd) shall adopt and institutionalize the Alternative Learning
Delivery Modes (ALDMs), in the delivery of K-12 Basic Education to facilitate
teaching and continue learning, and for teachers to assist and guide learners
master the skills, knowledge, and experiences in a safe working and technology-
learning environment in line with the minimum health safety standards. ALDMs
are instructional learning modes that do not strictly follow the typical set for
regular classroom instruction, which include:

a) Asynchronous or a setup where learners are provided with content and
tasks that they need to accomplish within a time frame using an online
platform such as a learning management system. Interactions between
teachers and learners do not take place in real-time. No face-to-face class
meeting happens, even online;

b) Blended learning or hybrid learning which allows a combination of
face-to-face and online distance learning, face-to-face and modular
distance learning, face-to-face and radio-based instructions, and face-to-

face and a combination of two or more types of distance learning;


c) Distance learning or a delivery mode where learning takes place between
teachers and learners who are geographically remote from each other
during instruction. This mode has three types: modular, online, and
television and radio-based instructions;

d) Homeschooling wherein the delivery of education is facilitated by
qualified parents, guardians, or tutors who have undergone relevant
training in a home-based environment;

©) Modified hybrid wherein there is a combination of synchronous and
asynchronous models, minus the in-person class meetings or organized
face-to-face class meetings with the help of digital tools. The time in
between class meetings will be devoted to accomplishing tasks as
scheduled on the learning management platform;

f) Modular distance learning or an individualized instruction that allows
learners to use self-learning modules in print or digital format, whichever
is applicable in the context of the learner, and other learning resources like
learner’s materials, textbooks, activity sheets, study guides, and other
study materials;

g) Online distance learning where the teachers facilitate learning and engage
the active participation of the leamers by using various technologies
accessed through the internet while they are geographically remote from

each other during instruction; and


h) Television and radio-based instructions wherein self-learning modules are
converted to video lessons for television or radio-based teachings.

For purposes of this section, a self-learning module refers to a primary
learning resource for distance learning, which is either printed or digital,
focusing on the development of one or several related most essential learning
competencies in a learning area or subject area. It also refers to an interactive,
self-contained, self-instructional, and compact module with a learning time
frame suggested by the teacher in accordance with the DepEd policy.

SEC. 5. Training and Support of Teachers. - The DepEd shall
formulate, plan, and conduct a series of capacity building workshops for
teachers in the context of the technology-teaching environment. It shall
implement and manage the adoption of the applicable ALDMs based on
technology resources map, digital infrastructures, professional and digital
literacy, skills, readiness assessment results, and implementation plans.

SEC. 6. Learners with Disabilities, Indigenous Learners, and
Marginalized Learners. -The DepEd shall provide affordable and simple
alternative learning delivery modes for persons with disabilities, indigenous
learners, and marginalized learners, taking into consideration issues such as
social distancing, limited access to the internet, and other circumstances.

SEC. 7. Role of the Department of Education. ~ The DepEd shall
oversee the implementation of this Act, and in addition to its existing functions,

the DepEd shall exercise the following functions:


a) Formulate a comprehensive and harmonized basic education
continuity plan which will introduce the ALDMs;

b) Coordinate and collaborate with the National Government agencies
(NGAs), local government units, the private sector, academe, international
institutions, and other stakeholders to ensure the effective formulation and
implementation of the ALDMs;

c) Prescribe policies and regulations, and enter into contracts to
undertake the effective implementation of this Act, subject to existing laws,
rules, and regulations;

d) Undertake the creation, establishment, construction, maintenance of
infrastructures, and operations of equipment, systems, and other requirements
necessary for the ALDMs;

¢) Include resource requirements for a nationwide implementation of the
education sector’s modes of delivering continued education in its annual
budget priority, and such other appropriate funding sources as the DepEd may
identify; and

f) Perform such other acts that are necessary for the effective
implementation of this Act.

SEC. 8. Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan. — The DepEd, in
consultation with government research institutions and other national
government agencies, shall formulate, plan, implement, and coordinate a

harmonized and comprehensive basic education continuity plan that will


integrate the ALDMs. It shall introduce different alternative learning delivery
modes provided under Section 4 of this Act. The DepEd shall ensure that the
ALDMs are aligned with the priorities stated under the K-12 Basic Education
curriculum,

SEC. 9. Alternative Learning Delivery Management Council. — The
Alternative Learning Management Council, hereinafter referred to as the
Council, is hereby created under the supervision of the DepEd to oversee the
implementation of this Act. The Council is composed of the following:

a) Secretary of Education, as chairperson;

b) Chairperson of the Commission on Higher Education, as vice

chairperson;

c) Secretary of Finance;

d) Secretary of Information and Communication Technology;

e) Secretary of Science and Technology;

f) One (1) representative from the academe; and

g) Two (2) representatives from the private sector; as members.

The representatives from the private sector shall be appointed by the
President upon the recommendation of the chairperson.

The representatives from the academe and private sector shall hold office
for three (3) years from the date of appointment and are eligible for

reappointment upon completion of the term.


The members of the Council shall serve without compensation but they
shall be reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred in their attendance in
meetings of the Council or in connection with their official duties.

SEC. 10. Functions of the Council. — The Council shall exercise the
following functions:

a) Define and approve the programs, plans, policies, procedures, and
guidelines for the development and implementation of the ALDMs;

b) Oversee the implementation, monitoring, maintenance, and
sustainability of the projects and activities under the ALDMs;

c) Recommend, and whenever necessary, call upon the appropriate
agencies of the National Government, and any of its instrumentalities, to lend
the necessary technical support for, assistance, and prioritization in the
implementation of the ALDMs;

d) Engage external stakeholders for inputs in the design of the ALDMs
and operational direction that ensures the health, safety, security, and well-being
of the learners and personnel of the education sector; and

e) Exercise other functions and powers necessary or incidental to attain
the purposes and objectives of this Act.

SEC. 11. Appropriations. — The amount necessary for the effective
implementation of this Act shall be charged to the current year’s appropriation

of the Department of Education. Thereafter, such sum as maybe necessary for


its continued implementation shall be included in the annual General
Appropriations Act.

SEC. 12. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — Within six (6) months
from the effectivity of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall, in coordination
with the Chairperson of the Commission on Higher Education, Secretary of
Finance, Secretary of Information and Communications Technology, and
Secretary of Science and Technology, promulgate the necessary rules and
regulations for the effective implementation of the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 13. Separability Clause. — If any part or provision of this Act is
declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining parts or provisions not
affected shall remain in full force and effect.

SEC. 14. Repealing Clause. — All laws, presidential decrees, executive
orders, and rules and regulations contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions
of this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 15. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,