To:      Undersecretaries

1. In line with the country’s commitment to achieve its Education for All (EFA) targets and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and in pursuit of the Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA), the Department of Education (DepEd) is adopting the enclosed National Indigenous Peoples Education Policy Framework. It was prepared in consultation with the representatives from Indigenous Peoples (IP) communities, civil society, and other government agencies.

2.This Policy Framework is intended to be an instrument for promoting shared accountability, continuous dialogue, engagement, and partnership among government, IP communities, civil society, and other education stakeholders. Recognizing education as a necessary means to realize other human rights and fundamental freedoms, the DepEd urges the strengthening of its policy on IP education and develop and implement an IP Education Program. This Program subscribes to the rights-based approach which gives primary importance to the principles of participation, inclusion, and empowerment.

3. Many IP communities continue to lack access to decent basic social services; they have limited opportunities to engage in the mainstream economy, and suffer social, economic, and political exclusion marginalization. A major factor contributing to their disadvantaged position is the lack of access to culture-responsive basic education. Thus, the right of indigenous peoples to education is provided in the 1987 Philippine Constitution, the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997, and the numerous international human rights instruments, especially in the United Nations (UN) Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007).

4.Immediate dissemination of and compliance with this Order is directed. BR. ARMIN A. LUISTRO FSC (signed)
Secretary

Encl.:
As stated

Reference:
None

To be indicated in the Perpetual Index under the following subjects:

HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION
POLICY
PROGRAMS
DO No. 62, s. 2011