Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 10665)
The short title of Republic Act No. 10665 is the 'Open High School System Act.'
The State policy is to broaden access to relevant quality education through an alternative secondary education program enabling youth to overcome personal, geographical, socioeconomic, and physical constraints to complete secondary education, in line with the 1987 Constitution Article XIV, Section 2, paragraph 4.
A Community Adviser or Tagapayong Pansamahan is an adviser from within the community who helps open learners harmonize their studies with community service and leisure.
A Mother High School or Inang Paaralan is a regular secondary school that manages and supervises learning centers, serves as headquarters of open learners and teachers, coordinates enrollment, evaluation, receives donations, and coordinates different learning centers in the community.
The OHSS is open to all youth and adults who have finished elementary education, as well as high school qualifiers of the Philippine Educational Placement Test (PEPT) and the Alternative Learning System Accreditation and Equivalency Test (ALS A&E).
The Department of Education (DepED) administers the Open High School System.
The OHSS Unit formulates basic policies, develops programs, monitors and evaluates open learning, develops instructional materials, collaborates with LGUs and private agencies, issues guidelines, recommends budget allocations, and performs other tasks to achieve OHSS objectives.
The OHSS adopts the K to 12 Enhanced Basic Education Curriculum using its standards and learning competencies.
They are enlisted from current teachers of the mother high school implementing the program. Community Advisers and Source Persons are hired by LGUs with honoraria arranged with the local school board. Upon full K to 12 implementation, the DepED division over the mother high school hires and compensates Source Persons.
Private educational institutions may establish their own privately-funded learning centers that adhere to OHSS standards and criteria, subject to DepED approval.
The MOA defines respective roles to ensure maximum cooperation in operating the OHSS and promotes partnerships with civil society and service providers for participatory planning and implementation.
Initial funding shall be charged against the current DepED budget for the Open High School Program; subsequent funding shall be included in the DepED's annual budget under the General Appropriations Act.
The DepED, in consultation with DILG, must promulgate implementing rules and regulations within 90 days after the Act's effectivity.
The invalidity or unconstitutionality of one provision shall not affect the other provisions, which will remain in full force and effect (Separability Clause).
The Act took effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation.