To: Undersecretaries
Assistant Secretaries
Bureau Directors
Regional Directors
School Division/City Superintendents
Heads, Public Elementary Schools
All Others Concerned

1. Pursuant to the provision of the Constitution on education and taking appropriate steps to make education accessible to all, it is the policy of the Department of Education (DepEd) to organize multigrade (MG) classes which offer the required six (6) elementary grade levels to children in remote and underserved rural communities. Its purpose is to democratize access to and improve the quality of elementary education through the completion of elementary grade levels of schools with incomplete grade levels in the country.
2. The DepEd through the Bureau of Elementary Education (BEE) is implementing the Multigrade Program in Philippine Education (MPPE) in 12,398 MG schools in the country, of which 7,521 are purely multigrade. For FY 2012, a total of 1,573 MG schools were selected to be the recipients of the financial support. Selection of schools was based on the enrolment and remoteness of the schools. Enclosure Nos. 1 and 2 show the regional allocation for the financial support and the list of recipient schools by region, respectively.
3. The following are the eligible items:
   a. Improvement of the learning environment through the development, procurement, and production of print and non-print instructional, supplementary reading and reference materials;
   b. Professional development of teachers and school heads (SHs) through the conduct of division, district, or school-based trainings, participation to conferences/congress/conventions/seminar-workshops both at the national and local levels, and educational visits to schools/institutions which have been known for their best MG education technology;
   c. Purchase of pupils’ learning kits and school supplies as well as support to pupil development activities such as participation to academic contests, educational visits, camping, leadership training, and other co- curricular activities both at the national and local levels; and
   d. Support to Feeding Program of the school.
4. The eligible activities shall be anchored on the School Improvement Plan (SIP) and Annual Improvement Plan (AIP). Crucial activities which are most needed by a particular school shall be given priority in the disbursement of funds.
5. On the acquisition of visual aids/instructional materials, priority should be given to the instructional materials which complement with the lessons in the Multigrade Teach- Learn Package (MG-TLP) provided by the BEE. List of these eligible materials can be found in Enclosure No. 3. Supplementary reading and reference materials to be procured shall be based on the DepEd-approved supplementary reading and reference materials.
6. For teacher attendance to trainings/conferences/congress/conventions, relevance of the activity to multigrade education with emphasis in the context of preparing teachers in teaching and managing multigrade classes effectively is preferably recommended.
7. The DepEd Central Office, upon release of the allotment by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to DepEd Central Office, the Budget Division-FMS shall issue the Sub-Allotment Release Order (Sub-ARO) to the recipient schools through the Schools Division Offices (DO). After receipt of Sub-ARO, the implementing units (IUs) shall request through the Schools Division Offices from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM)-Regional Office the corresponding cash requirements or Notice of cash Allocation (NCA).
8. The recipient school shall be accountable for the disbursement and liquidation of funds subject to the usual accounting and auditing rules and regulations. The school must submit to the Division Office the physical accomplishment and fund utilization reports on a monthly basis (Enclosure No. 4). Copies of said reports shall be submitted to the Budget Division-FMS, DepEd Central Office copy furnished the Regional Office and BEE.
9. The DO shall monitor the utilization of funds by the recipient schools to provide direction and technical assistance to ensure proper implementation of instructional activities, disbursement, and liquidation of funds.
10. An evaluation shall be conducted by a composite team in accordance with the program implementation plan under the supervision of the Office of the Planning Service (OPS).
11. All existing Orders and Memoranda inconsistent with this Order are rescinded.
12. Immediate dissemination of and strict compliance with this Order is directed.

Encls.: As stated
Reference: None

To be indicated in the Perpetual Index under the following subjects:
ALLOCATION
POLICY
CLASSES
PROGRAMS
FUNDS
SCHOOLS