Question & AnswerQ&A (DECS ORDER NO. 91, S. 1999)
The constitutional basis is Article XIV, Section 2, paragraph 1 of the 1987 Constitution, which mandates the State to establish, maintain and support a complete, adequate and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of the people and society.
An Integrated School may be established if: 1) there are no schools offering basic education in the area; 2) the only elementary school offers multi-grade programs; 3) the number of elementary graduates does not warrant a separate secondary school; 4) insufficient teachers or school heads justify having separate schools; 5) difficulty in acquiring a school site for a secondary school; 6) inadequate equipment and resources to support separate schools.
An Integrated School is managed by one principal whose basic orientation may be either elementary or secondary. There is one set of administrative staff, a faculty club, and a Parents-Teachers Community Association composed of representatives from both levels.
Principals must hold a Bachelor of Education degree (BEEd/BSEd) with Teacher Eligibility and experience in accordance with the Qualification Standards Manual. Teachers must have a Bachelor’s degree plus 18 professional units in education and appropriate field specialization. Teachers with a Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSE) or Bachelor of Elementary Education (BEEd) teach their respective levels; those with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary and Secondary Education (BS-ESE) may teach both.
Enrollment at the high school level preferably comes from graduates of the same school’s elementary program. Graduates from other schools may be admitted provided they undergo a transition program based on diagnostic assessment. Students may be grouped heterogeneously or homogeneously depending on the policy of the supervising Schools Division.
Integrated Schools use a unified instructional program covering elementary to secondary levels, with learning competencies arranged from simplest to most complex. The curriculum uses instructional materials from regular national schools, follows DECS' rating system, and applies existing policies on promotion and honor students.
Resources such as rooms, instructional materials, equipment, and teacher expertise are shared by all grade levels. The school site in rural areas should be at least one hectare, while in urban or suburban areas it puede be smaller.
The principal’s position may be reclassified according to the number of teachers supervised, subject to DECS and DBM standards and budget availability. Salaries and operating expenses are initially provided from the DECS Division Office budget until the Integrated School’s budget is included in the General Appropriations Act.
The principal must secure endorsements from parents and local government officials, certification by the Schools Division Superintendent, recommendation of the Regional Director, and approval by the DECS Secretary. An IS implementation plan should be prepared addressing enrollees, teachers, facilities, budget, and funding sources. Then, the school enrolls elementary graduates in the first year of secondary education, progressively adding higher grades each year.
Partial integration is when elementary and secondary levels share a site but have separate administrative staff, teachers, and curricula. Full integration has a common site, a single principal, and a unified elementary and secondary curriculum.