The Central Office of the Department of Education (DepEd) is the national level of basic education governance. Under Republic Act No. 9155, Sec. 7(A), the Secretary of Education formulates national educational policies and the national basic education plan, promulgates national standards, monitors and assesses national learning outcomes, undertakes national research, and looks after the welfare of personnel and the total development of learners. The bureaus and services of the Central Office do that work for the Secretary. They set the policy, standard or program that reaches a school. They do not decide the school’s own matters, which the same Act gives to the school head, the Schools Division Superintendent and the Regional Director.

What each office produces is written in DepEd’s Office Functions, Version 3: 59 sheets, most of them dated January 26, 2023, for 19 bureaus, services and other offices. Four are later: the Project Management Service’s three, submitted in revised form in May 2024, and the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service’s, dated June 11, 2024. Each sheet gives an office’s statement of purpose, its outcomes, and its key result areas with their objectives, outputs and indicators. The sheets belong to DepEd’s Quality Management System (DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2021). They are not a DepEd Order. The offices themselves come from DepEd Order No. 52, s. 2015, and the powers from RA 9155 and its implementing rules, DepEd Order No. 1, s. 2003.

The Central Office is also the level that has been regrouped most often. The sheets print the eight strands of January 2023. DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2024 moved several bureaus and services to other strands in October 2024, Office Orders moved two more in July 2025, and DepEd Orders issued since September 2025 speak of a Learning Systems strand. These issuances say which undersecretary an office answers to. None of them reissued the offices’ functions.

Key findings

  • The Central Office works at the national level only. RA 9155 gives the Secretary seven national functions, from “Formulating national educational policies” to “Enhancing the total development of learners through local and national programs and/or projects” (Sec. 7(A)). The implementing rules add disciplinary authority (DO 1, s. 2003, Sec. 2.1(8)).
  • The sheets describe 59 offices in 19 bureaus, services and other offices, under eight strands. Together they state 240 key result areas and 651 objectives (Office Functions, Version 3).
  • The sheets are a management document, not a source of authority. They describe each office for the Quality Management System and for performance planning (DO 009, s. 2021, Sec. IX). Which offices exist is fixed by DO 52, s. 2015 and the laws and orders that came after it.
  • The set is not the whole Central Office. It has no sheet for the Legal Service, the Bureau of Alternative Education created by Republic Act No. 11510, Sec. 6, the two divisions of the Bureau of Learning Resources, the Personnel Division, or the Private Education Office, among others.
  • Central Office offices serve schools mostly through the regions and divisions. The Bureau of Curriculum Development’s two divisions “orient and guide the Regional Offices and Schools Division Offices who supervise schools” (director’s office sheet, statement of purpose).
  • Many units no longer sit in the strand their sheets print. DO 015, s. 2024 (October 18, 2024) moved the Bureau of Education Assessment, the Project Management Service and the Planning Service to Strategic Management, placed the Education Facilities Division under the undersecretary for Human Resource and Organizational Development, and put four services under the Office of the Secretary. Office Orders of July 16 and 17, 2025 then moved the Bureau of Education Assessment to the Office of the Secretary and the National Educators Academy of the Philippines to the “Learning System Strand”.
  • The Project Management Service submitted revised sheets in May 2024, asking to drop “coordination and linkages” as a declared process and add “project evaluation” (Memorandum PMS-PMD-2024-0050, May 17, 2024). The set carries the revised sheets.

Explorer

What each bureau and service of the Central Office does

59 offices in 19 bureaus, services and other offices, 240 key result areas, 651 objectives and 1,326 outputs. Choose an office to read its sheet, or search every sheet at once.

Question 1 of 12

Which bureau or service has this objective?

To develop / enrich research-based national curriculum standards

The headings are the strands the 2023 sheets print. Several of these offices have moved to another strand since.

Curriculum and Teaching

Operations

Human Resource and Organizational Development

Strategic Management

Administration

Finance

Procurement

School Infrastructure and Facilities

Bureau of Curriculum Development

Office of the Director

Bureau of Curriculum Development · Central Office - Curriculum and Instruction

Purpose
1
Outcomes
1
Key result areas
4
Objectives
8
Outputs
18
Output indicators
19

Statement of purpose

The Bureau of Curriculum Development – Office of the Director engages the Curriculum Standards Development Division (CSDD) and the Special Curricular Programs Division (SCPD) in performing their mandates as they effectively orient and guide the Regional Offices and Schools Division Offices who supervise schools in the implementation of the national curriculum standards and special curricular programs based on the national education policy framework on curriculum development and management.

Outcomes, and how each is measured

  • Regional and Schools Division Offices can effectively supervise schools and learning centers in the implementation of the national curriculum standards and special curricular programs through contextualization and localization
    • 100% Monitoring and Evaluation Reports on the supervision of Regional and Schools Division Offices relevant to the implementation of the national curriculum standards that include the special curricular programs.

Key result areas

National Curriculum Framework and Standards Development3 objectives6 outputs6 indicators
  1. To develop, enrich, and manage the national education policy framework on curriculum development and management for the Department

    Outputs

    • National Education policy framework on curriculum development and management
    • M&E Reports

    Output indicators

    • Enhanced and updated National Education policy framework on curriculum development and management
    • Number of M&E Reports submitted
  2. To develop, enrich, and manage the national curriculum standards for basic education

    Outputs

    • National curriculum standards for basic education
    • M&E Reports

    Output indicators

    • Enhanced and updated National curriculum standards for basic education
    • Number of M&E Reports submitted
  3. To design, develop, and enrich special curriculum programs appropriate for all types of learners

    Outputs

    • Special curriculum programs appropriate for all types of learners
    • M&E Reports

    Output indicators

    • Number of Special curriculum programs appropriate for all types of learners designed, developed, enhanced
    • Number of M&E Reports submitted
Curriculum Policy Formulation1 objective1 output2 indicators
  1. To formulate and review policies and guidelines relevant to the management, contextualization, and localization of the curriculum.

    Outputs

    • Policies and guidelines relevant to the management, contextualization, and localization of the curriculum

    Output indicators

    • Number of issued policies and guidelines relevant to the management, contextualization and localization of the curriculum released/enhanced
    • Number of policies and guidelines reviewed relevant to the management, contextualization and localization of the curriculum released/enhanced
Technical Assistance on Curriculum Development and Implementation1 objective1 output2 indicators
  1. To orient the Regional/Division supervisors, teachers, and bureaus of the Department to effectively implement and contextualize the national curriculum, and policy standards

    Outputs

    • Orientation/Activity Reports

    Output indicators

    • Number of orientation reports prepared and submitted
    • Number of orientations conducted
Office Administration and Performance Management3 objectives10 outputs9 indicators: Office of the Director
  1. To establish and maintain systems and processes geared towards administrative effectiveness and efficiency

    Outputs

    • Operations Manual
    • Citizen Charter
    • Administrative and Financial Reports

    Output indicators

    • Streamlined Processes/Services and Procedures as declared in the Operations Manual and Citizen Charter
    • Number of pertinent forms and documents accomplished and submitted on time (e.g., WFP, PPMP, APP)
  2. To promote a culture of excellence, innovation, and collaboration

    Outputs

    • List of employees given rewards and recognition
    • Citizen/Client Satisfaction Survey (CCSS) Results and Analysis
    • Report on Actions taken relative to the CCSS results (if there’s any)

    Output indicators

    • Number of recognition initiatives conducted
    • CCSS rating received
    • Number of satisfied clients/ customers based on feedback received
  3. To conduct periodic monitoring and evaluation of office/staff performance for the provision of relevant learning and development programs

    Outputs

    • IPCRF/OPCRF Accomplishments
    • Capacitated staff
    • Training Completion/Terminal Reports
    • Reports on performance coaching

    Output indicators

    • Percentage of achievement of IPCRF/OPCRF
    • Number of personnel who attended learning and development programs (at least 1 L&D program in a year per personnel)
    • Number of performance coaching activity conducted
    • Number of Performance review conducted

DepEd Office Functions, Version 3 (2023; the Project Management Service’s three sheets as revised in May 2024, and the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service’s sheet, dated June 11, 2024): the Central Office sheets; DepEd Order No. 52, s. 2015, Enclosure No. 2

Every purpose, outcome, key result area, objective, output and indicator is in the words of DepEd’s Office Functions, Version 3, spelling and abbreviations included. How the offices are arranged on the board, the short names on its cells, and the counts are the explorer’s own. The sheets describe what each office is for and what it produces; they do not create positions or change who decides what under Republic Act No. 9155.

What the Central Office is for

RA 9155 starts governance “at the national level” and leaves it to “the regions, divisions, schools and learning centers herein referred to as the field offices” to turn policy into “programs, projects and services developed, adapted and offered to fit local needs” (Sec. 2). Section 7(A) then lists what the national level does. The Secretary “shall have authority, accountability and responsibility for” seven things. The Act does not assign them to offices, and no sheet cites them. Read by their key result areas, the offices fall under the seven functions this way:

National function (RA 9155, Sec. 7(A)) Offices in the 2023 sheets whose key result areas carry it
“(1) Formulating national educational policies” Every bureau and service has a policy area of its own. The Planning Service’s Policy Research and Development Division keeps the Department’s policy agenda and standards
“(2) Formulating a national basic education plan” Planning Service, Planning and Programming Division
“(3) Promulgating national educational Standards” Bureau of Curriculum Development (curriculum standards), Bureau of Learning Delivery, Bureau of Learning Resources, Education Facilities Division, NEAP’s Quality Assurance Division (professional development standards)
“(4) Monitoring and assessing national learning outcomes” Bureau of Education Assessment; the Planning Service’s sector monitoring and evaluation and its Education Management Information System Division
“(5) Undertaking national educational research and studies” Bureau of Education Assessment, Education Research Division; Planning Service, Policy Research and Development Division
“(6) Enhancing the employment status, professional competence, welfare and working conditions of all personnel of the Department” Bureau of Human Resource and Organizational Development; National Educators Academy of the Philippines; Finance Service, Employee Account Management Division
“(7) Enhancing the total development of learners through local and national programs and/or projects” Bureau of Learner Support Services; Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service

The implementing rules repeat the seven and add an eighth, “Exercising disciplinary authority subject to civil service laws, rules and regulations and procedure” (DO 1, s. 2003, Sec. 2.1(8)). The Administrative Code of 1987 gives every Secretary “supervision and control of the Department” and the power to “Delegate authority to officers and employees under the Secretary’s direction” (Executive Order No. 292, Book IV, Chapter 2, Secs. 6 and 7(8)). That power to delegate is the basis of every order that assigns bureaus and services to undersecretaries.

What the Central Office does not do is as important. Hiring teachers and school heads belongs to the Schools Division Superintendent (RA 9155, Sec. 7(C)(3)), approving the establishment of schools to the Regional Director (Sec. 7(B)(13)), and the School Improvement Plan to the school head (Sec. 7(E)(4)). Who Decides What in DepEd? sets out the five levels, How Philippine Education Became Centralized, 1901-2001 traces how the national office came to hold so much, and RA 9155 at 25 asks how far decision-making has moved to the field since.

Where the bureaus and services come from

The present offices date from DepEd’s Rationalization Plan, which the Department of Budget and Management approved on November 15, 2013 (DO 52, s. 2015, par. 4). DO 52, s. 2015, dated October 30, 2015, published the new structures, which were to “take effect no later than January 01, 2016” (par. 15). It grouped the offices into “organizational strands common to all levels of the Department” (par. 7): the Office of the Secretary and five others.

Strand in DO 52, s. 2015 (Enclosure No. 4) Bureaus and services
Office of the Secretary Legislative Liaison Office, Sites Titling Office, Internal Audit Service, Teacher Education Council Secretariat
Strategic Management Planning Service, Public Affairs Service, Information and Communications Technology Service, External Partnerships Service, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service
Curriculum and Instruction Bureau of Curriculum Development, Bureau of Learning Delivery, Bureau of Education Assessment, Bureau of Learning Resources
Governance and Operations Bureau of Learner Support Services, Bureau of Human Resource and Organizational Development, National Educators Academy of the Philippines, Project Management Service
Legal and Legislative Affairs Legal Service
Finance and Administration Finance Service, Administrative Service, Procurement Management Service

Readers who entered the service before 2016 will know the offices these replaced. The Bureaus of Elementary Education, Secondary Education and Alternative Learning Systems were consolidated into the Bureau of Curriculum Development and the Bureau of Learning Delivery. The National Education Testing and Research Center became the Bureau of Education Assessment, the Health and Nutrition Center the Bureau of Learner Support Services, and the Education Development Projects Implementing Task Force the Project Management Service. The External Partnerships Service was created from the Adopt-a-School Program Secretariat, the International Cooperation Office and the Special Events Unit, and the Legal Division was elevated to a Legal Service (DO 52, s. 2015, Enclosure No. 1).

A bureau and a service are different things in law. A bureau is “any principal subdivision of the department performing a single major function or closely related functions”, and a staff bureau “shall primarily perform policy, program development and advisory functions” (EO 292, Book IV, Chapter 4, Secs. 18(1) and 19(1)). The services are the department’s staff units for planning, finance, administration and, where needed, technical and legal work (Chapter 3, Sec. 12). DepEd’s bureaus are staff bureaus: DO 52, s. 2015 calls them that in the Procurement Management Service’s functions. They write policy and standards for the field. They do not run schools.

What Office Functions, Version 3 is

Each sheet is marked as Version 3 of the Office Functions and has the same parts: a statement of purpose, outcomes with their indicators, and key result areas, each with objectives, outputs and output indicators. The explorer above shows every sheet in full. The 59 sheets hold 155 outcomes, 240 key result areas, 651 objectives and 1,326 outputs. A sheet has between two and six key result areas; one sheet prints two of its areas in two lettered parts each, which the count takes separately. Of the 59 sheets, 58 end with the same area, “Office Administration and Performance Management”.

The regional and division sheets of the same set were released by Memorandum DM-HROD-2023-0617 of May 5, 2023, from the Undersecretary for Human Resource and Organizational Development. That memorandum is addressed to Regional Directors and Schools Division Superintendents and names the “DepEd Regional Office and Schools Division Offices’ Office Functions – Version 3” only. It does not name the Central Office sheets, which share its format and version.

Three things follow from what the sheets are:

  • They create no office and no position. An office exists because DO 52, s. 2015, a later order or a law says so.
  • They move no power. A sheet may say an office “leads” or “ensures” something. Who approves, appoints or disciplines is still read from RA 9155, DO 1, s. 2003 and the order on the subject.
  • They state what an office is expected to produce. For a school head, that is their use: they tell you which national office writes a policy, keeps a system or runs a program.

The regional and division sheets are read in DepEd Regional Office Functions: What Each Division Does and Schools Division Office Functions: OSDS, CID and SGOD.

How the Central Office is organized

The Central Office has four layers:

  1. The Executive Committee. The Secretary, the undersecretaries and the assistant secretaries are the Central Office’s top management (DO 009, s. 2021, Sec. VIII.A).
  2. Strands. A strand is a group of bureaus and services under an undersecretary, placed together “based on the similarity of functions and objectives of the offices and units” (DepEd Order No. 001, s. 2023, par. 4).
  3. Bureaus and services, each headed by a director.
  4. Divisions, each headed by a chief, and a few offices inside a bureau or service that are not divisions, such as the Indigenous Peoples Education Office and the International Cooperation Office.

The sheets print each office’s strand on the line “Governance Level/Strand”. The eight strands they print come from DO 001, s. 2023, issued January 9, 2023:

Strand printed on the 2023 sheets Bureaus, services and offices with sheets Sheets
Curriculum and Teaching Bureau of Curriculum Development (3), Bureau of Learning Delivery (4), Bureau of Learning Resources (1), Bureau of Education Assessment (3), Literacy Coordinating Council Secretariat (1) 12
Operations Bureau of Learner Support Services (4), Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service (1) 5
Human Resource and Organizational Development Bureau of Human Resource and Organizational Development (5), National Educators Academy of the Philippines (3) 8
Strategic Management External Partnerships Service (2), Public Affairs Service (3), Internal Audit Service (3) 8
Administration Administrative Service (7), Information and Communications Technology Service (4), Planning Service (4) 15
Finance Finance Service (3), Project Management Service (3) 6
Procurement Procurement Management Service (4) 4
School Infrastructure and Facilities Education Facilities Division (1) 1

DO 001, s. 2023 renamed two strands. Curriculum and Teaching was “Formerly Curriculum and Instruction” and Operations was “Formerly Governance and Field Operations” (footnotes 9 and 10). Three sheets still print the older name: the Bureau of Curriculum Development’s director’s office and the two divisions of the Bureau of Education Assessment give “Curriculum and Instruction” as their strand. The order names eight organizational strands (par. 4) and puts a ninth group, Strategic Management, “under the direct supervision and control of the OSEC” (par. 6.2(a)). Seven of the eight appear on the sheets, with Strategic Management. The eighth, Legal and Legislative Affairs, has no sheet in the set.

By November 2026 this map has changed: DepEd writes of the Learning Systems and the Governance and Operations strands, and School Infrastructure and Facilities is no longer a strand.

What each bureau and service does

Every objective, output and indicator is in the explorer.

Curriculum and Teaching

Bureau of Curriculum Development (BCD). The bureau’s director’s office “engages” its two divisions “as they effectively orient and guide the Regional Offices and Schools Division Offices who supervise schools in the implementation of the national curriculum standards and special curricular programs”. The Curriculum Standards Development Division “leads the development of the national curriculum standards”; its outputs are “National curriculum standards” and “Curriculum Policies”. The Special Curricular Programs Division writes the “special curriculum framework and standards” and manages the special curricular programs. Both have a key result area for technical assistance to regions and divisions on the curriculum. Open the BCD sheets.

Bureau of Learning Delivery (BLD). The bureau “supports DepEd field offices to ensure quality teaching and learning by leading in the development and management of national education policy framework/standards on learning management and delivery for all types of learners”. The Teaching and Learning Division designs teaching and learning delivery models and has an objective “To develop relevant resource packages on teaching-learning models for LAC utilization”, that is, for schools’ Learning Action Cell sessions. The Student Inclusion Division writes policies and standards for programs for “learners with disabilities, Muslim learners, IP learners, out-of-school youth, gifted and talented learners, and others”. The Indigenous Peoples Education Office (IPsEO) has its own sheet, with key result areas on rights-based partnership with Indigenous Peoples communities, cultural standards, and “IPEd Implementation Management”. Open the BLD sheets.

Bureau of Learning Resources (BLR). The bureau’s one sheet covers “the design, development, quality assurance, production and utilization of learning resources as well as the acquisition, allocation, procurement and equitable distribution of learning resources to DepEd managed schools, DepEd community learning centers and learning hubs”. Its first outcome is that these schools and centers “have quality-assured, and completely delivered LRs”, and its two working key result areas are “Management of Learning Resources” and “Policy Formulation”. Textbooks and teacher’s manuals are selected under DepEd Order No. 008, s. 2025, which names the bureau’s Quality Assurance Division as its contact (par. 6). Open the BLR sheet.

Bureau of Education Assessment (BEA). The bureau “develops and manages a harmonized and standardized assessment mechanism” and gives “policy recommendations based on assessment results and research”. The Education Assessment Division “designs and implements assessment programs for learners, teaching, and non-teaching personnel”: it writes the assessment framework and the tools, orients regional and division testing personnel “with standardized assessment procedures and guidelines”, and issues test results. The Education Research Division keeps the strand’s research agenda and has a key result area named “Conduct of International Large-Scale Assessment (ILSA) Studies and Local Research”. The sheets name no test. The national assessment policy does: the Early Language, Literacy, and Numeracy Assessment, the exit assessments of Grades 6, 10 and 12 and the other national tests are conducted “through the Bureau of Education Assessment” (DepEd Order No. 55, s. 2016, par. 4), and the bureau schedules them within the school year (DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2026, par. 29). Open the BEA sheets.

Literacy Coordinating Council (LCC) Secretariat. The Secretariat gives the Council “technical and administrative support in policy formulation and coordination of initiatives towards universalization of literacy in the Philippines”. Its program area includes setting up local literacy councils, the National Literacy Awards and a national literacy information system. Open the LCC Secretariat sheet.

Operations

Bureau of Learner Support Services (BLSS). The bureau “takes the lead in the policy formulation and standard setting” for “learner support services such as but not limited to, school health, youth formation, after school sports development programs and other complementary programs”. It has three divisions:

  • The School Health Division writes health and nutrition policies and standards and manages “school health and nutrition programs and services”; one of its outcomes is “Well-nourished learners”. It is the Central Office unit behind the School-Based Feeding Program (DepEd Order No. 013, s. 2026, par. 7).
  • The sheet headed “Learner Formation Division” covers policies, capacity building and research for “learner-formation programs, projects, and activities”. DO 52, s. 2015 and every designation order since call this office the Youth Formation Division.
  • The School Sports Division sets policy for school sports programs and has an objective to “Organize and facilitate the conduct of Palarong Pambansa Board meetings and other Palaro related activities”.

Open the BLSS sheets.

Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service (DRRMS). The service “empowers the Department of Education (DepEd) offices, schools, personnel, and learners, in ensuring safety and learning continuity” and institutionalizes disaster risk reduction and management, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and education in emergencies. Its one sheet, headed “Risk-Informed Policy and Planning Division”, has key result areas on risk-informed policies and plans, “Resilience Education”, and “Response Operation and Rehab and Recovery for Education Continuity”, under which it is to “Provide response interventions to affected schools during disasters and emergencies”. School DRRM and Class Suspensions covers the rules a school applies. Open the DRRMS sheet.

Human Resource and Organizational Development

Bureau of Human Resource and Organizational Development (BHROD). The director’s office “provides over-all leadership on the development, management, and implementation of strategic and effective Human Resources and Organizational Development systems, processes and programs”. Four divisions have sheets:

  • The Human Resource Development Division reviews and writes the HR systems, which its sheet lists as “HR Planning”, “Performance Management”, “Recruitment, Selection, Placement, and Induction”, “Learning and Development” and “Talent Management/ Succession Planning”. It also manages “the L&D system for Non-teaching Personnel”. For what a school head does under those systems, see Human Resource Management for DepEd School Heads.
  • The Employee Welfare Division has two working areas, “Employee Welfare and Wellness” and “Rewards and Recognition”.
  • The Organization Effectiveness Division is to “develop and improve standards on organizational structure and staffing pattern”. One of its outputs is the “Updated Compendium of Office Functions and Job Descriptions and Declared Processes”: this division keeps the Office Functions sheets.
  • The School Effectiveness Division “supports and enables schools to continuously improve through the development of policies and standards that support school effectiveness, school-based governance and management systems and processes”. One of its indicators is the “Number of schools that progress at least 1 SBM level”. See School-Based Management.

Open the BHROD sheets.

National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP). The director’s office gives “overall strategic leadership and direction in ensuring that teachers and school leaders are able to access and participate in quality, relevant, integrated, programmatic Professional Development (PD) aligned to their professional standards and career goals”. The Professional Development Division designs and delivers the programs and manages external scholarships. The Quality Assurance Division sets professional development standards and enforces them, “which includes authorizing Learning Service Providers (LSP), recognizing program offerings and auditing compliance/compliance monitoring”. Republic Act No. 11713 made NEAP “a component unit of the DepEd” by law in 2022. Open the NEAP sheets.

Strategic Management

External Partnerships Service (EPS). The service “supports and responds to the needs of DepEd units and learners by developing and managing strategic and sustainable partnerships with stakeholders” and is to “serve as clearing house for all partnerships within the Department”. Its International Cooperation Office is “the clearing house for all international transactions within the Department”. The service was formed from the Adopt-a-School Program Secretariat (DO 52, s. 2015, Enclosure No. 1), and it is the Central Office contact for Brigada Eskwela (DepEd Memorandum No. 027, s. 2026, par. 9). Open the EPS sheets.

Public Affairs Service (PAS). The service gives DepEd units “policy standards on quality-assured communication guidelines and protocols”, is “a clearing house of all prints and multimedia (non-print) materials before public release”, and “provides frontline public assistance to internal and external stakeholders”. The Communications Division handles press, public information and public assistance. The Publications Division sets “standards and templates in style and format of official issuances”, keeps “a tracking system for official issuances including sequential numbering, digitization, and indexing”, and is to “ensure the quality of DOs, DMs, and Advisories uploaded on the DepEd website and posted on social media”. Open the PAS sheets.

Internal Audit Service (IAS). The service conducts internal audits “to provide advice to the Secretary on the adequacy and effectiveness of internal controls”, on the economy, effectiveness, efficiency and ethicality of operations, and on compliance with laws and rules. It has a Management Audit Division and an Operations Audit Division. DO 52, s. 2015 gives it “no direct counterpart in the field offices” (Enclosure No. 3). Open the IAS sheets.

Administration

Administrative Service (AS). The service “enables offices and personnel in the Central Office and Field Units to perform their mandate through the development of policies and procedures in the provision of accurate, responsive, and timely administrative services”. Seven sheets cover its director’s office, the Asset Management, Cash, General Services and Records Divisions, Security Services and the Baguio Teachers’ Camp. Most of this work serves the Central Office itself. The parts that reach the field are policy and technical assistance on asset management, cash management and records. Open the AS sheets.

Information and Communications Technology Service (ICTS). The service “provides the Department of Education (DepEd) offices with strategic Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions and services towards good governance and the provision of quality basic education”. The Solutions Development Division builds and maintains DepEd’s systems. The Technology Infrastructure Division manages the network and ICT security and has an objective “To ensure all teaching and non-teaching employees as well as learners are provided with appropriate ICT equipment and packages”. The User Support Division is the help desk: it “continuously supports users in all DepEd governance levels and stakeholders through capability building and frontline support services”. The service is the implementing unit of the DepEd Computerization Program (DepEd Order No. 016, s. 2023, Sec. V). Open the ICTS sheets.

Planning Service (PS). The service guides “sectoral planning and development” through planning standards, policy and program development standards, a research management system, a monitoring and evaluation system, and data and information systems standards. It has three divisions:

  • The Planning and Programming Division leads the Department’s plans and is charged with “distributing equitably the basic education resources across schools in all regions”; its key result areas are “Plan Formulation”, “Resource Programming” and “Progress Monitoring”.
  • The Policy Research and Development Division keeps the policy, research and evaluation agendas. Under “Research Management” its outputs include a “Call for proposals” and “Evaluated research proposals”. See the Research Management Guidelines and the Basic Education Research Fund.
  • The Education Management Information System Division manages basic education statistics and the systems that collect them. Its sheet names the “LIS and EBEIS”, the Learner Information System and the Enhanced Basic Education Information System, and lists the “DepEd Statistical Bulletin, Q&A, and Key Education Statistics” among its outputs.

Open the PS sheets.

Finance

Finance Service (FS). Three divisions have sheets. The Budget Division “ensures prudent, transparent, equitable and timely allocation of resources to the various DepEd Spending Units”, prepares the Department’s budget proposal and issues the sub-allotment release orders that carry funds to implementing units. The Accounting Division pre-audits disbursements and prepares the financial statements; one of its objectives is to review field offices’ requests “on the activation of Organization (UACS) Code of various Secondary Schools for endorsement to DBM for approval”. The Employee Account Management Division administers the Automatic Payroll Deduction System and the Provident Fund. For school funds, the Finance Service gives regions and divisions the allocation of each school without financial staff and posts every school’s allocation on the DepEd website (DepEd Order No. 008, s. 2019); see School MOOE. Open the Finance Service sheets.

Project Management Service (PMS). The service handles “the development, implementation management and review/evaluation of capital-intensive Official Development Assistance (ODA) and priority locally-funded programs and projects for basic education”. Its Project Development Division packages proposals and evaluates completed projects, and its Project Management Division manages projects under implementation. It has “no direct counterpart in the field offices” (DO 52, s. 2015, Enclosure No. 3). Open the PMS sheets.

Procurement

Procurement Management Service (ProcMS). The director’s office “provides guidance and direction to DepEd units to efficiently undertake activities and perform functions pertaining to procurement planning, purchasing, contract management, and monitoring”. Its three divisions serve Central Office procurement: the Procurement Planning and Management Division supports the Bids and Awards Committees and end-user units “(DepEd Central offices)”, the BAC Secretariat Division supports the Central Office committee, and the Contract Management Division monitors deliveries and “assists (as needed) field offices in contract management”. A school’s own purchases follow the procurement law and its rules, explained in School Procurement under RA 12009. Open the ProcMS sheets.

School Infrastructure and Facilities

Education Facilities Division (EFD). The division “develops policies on education facilities standards to ensure that DepEd offices, school buildings, and learning centers are safe, secure, and child-friendly based on local and international standards”. Its outputs include “Education Facilities Standards and Specifications”, construction drawings and programs of works, a handbook on maintenance, and status reports on school building projects. The current standards are in DepEd Order No. 022, s. 2026, explained in School Building and Furniture Standards. Open the EFD sheet.

Which national office is behind what a school meets

Where a row names a program that the sheets do not, the paragraph on that unit above gives the order that ties the program to the office.

What a school meets Bureau or service, and division Key result area in its sheet
Curriculum standards and curriculum policies BCD, Curriculum Standards Development Division “Curriculum Standards Development and Policy Formulation”
Special curricular programs BCD, Special Curricular Programs Division “Special Curricular Program Management”
Teaching and learning delivery models; LAC resource packages BLD, Teaching and Learning Division “Technical Assistance on Teaching: Learning Delivery Models for Professional Development”
Programs for learners with disabilities, Muslim learners, and gifted and talented learners BLD, Student Inclusion Division “Policy Formulation and Review”; “Program Management”
Indigenous Peoples education BLD, Indigenous Peoples Education Office “IPEd Implementation Management”
Alternative Learning System Bureau of Alternative Education No sheet in the set (RA 11510, Sec. 6)
Textbooks and other learning resources BLR “Management of Learning Resources”
National assessments and their results BEA, Education Assessment Division “Assessment Design and Development”; “Assessment Operations”
International large-scale assessments; research on curriculum and learning BEA, Education Research Division “Conduct of International Large-Scale Assessment (ILSA) Studies and Local Research”
Research agenda and calls for research proposals Planning Service, Policy Research and Development Division “Research Management”
Local literacy councils; National Literacy Awards LCC Secretariat “LCC Program Management”
School health and nutrition, including school feeding BLSS, School Health Division “Health and nutrition service delivery management”
Youth formation programs BLSS, Youth Formation Division (the “Learner Formation Division” sheet) “Policies, Standards and Guidelines”; “Project Management and Capacity Building”
School sports; Palarong Pambansa BLSS, School Sports Division “Program Development and Management”; “Technical Resource and Support”
Disaster preparedness, response and recovery DRRMS “Resilience Education”; “Response Operation and Rehab and Recovery for Education Continuity”
Professional development programs for teachers and school leaders; scholarships NEAP, Professional Development Division “Design and Development of PD Programs/Courses”; “External Scholarship Management”
Recognition of professional development programs; authorization of learning service providers NEAP, Quality Assurance Division “Quality Assurance”
HR policy: recruitment, performance management, learning and development BHROD, Human Resource Development Division “Human Resource Development”
Employee welfare; rewards and recognition BHROD, Employee Welfare Division “Employee Welfare and Wellness”; “Rewards and Recognition”
Staffing standards and office structures BHROD, Organization Effectiveness Division “Organization Development”
School-based management; school governance standards BHROD, School Effectiveness Division “Organization Development”; “Organization Management”
LIS, EBEIS and basic education statistics Planning Service, Education Management Information System Division “Management of Information System”; “Data Dissemination”
Education plans; how resources are programmed across schools Planning Service, Planning and Programming Division “Plan Formulation”; “Resource Programming”
The budget; release of funds to implementing units; school MOOE allocations Finance Service, Budget Division “Budget Preparation and Approval Process”; “Budget Processing and Execution”
Salary-deduction loans and the Provident Fund Finance Service, Employee Account Management Division “DepEd Automatic Payroll Deduction System (APDS) Administration”; “Provident Fund Program Administration”
Procurement policy and Central Office procurement Procurement Management Service “Procurement Management”
School building standards, designs and construction monitoring Education Facilities Division “Establishment of Policy Framework for the construction implementation of education facilities”; “Design Specifications of Education Facilities”; “Monitoring and Evaluation in the construction and repair/rehabilitation of education facilities and the continuing assessment on their proper utilization”
ICT equipment for schools ICTS, Technology Infrastructure Division “Provision of ICT equipment and Packages”
Help with DepEd’s ICT systems ICTS, User Support Division “Helpdesk/ Frontline Services”
DepEd Orders, Memoranda and Advisories; the DepEd website PAS, Publications Division “Styling, Formatting, and Branding Standards”
Public information and public assistance PAS, Communications Division “Information Management and Dissemination”; “Public Relations and Assistance”
Partnerships, Adopt-a-School and Brigada Eskwela External Partnerships Service “Partnerships Development And Management”

DO 008, s. 2019 names the Finance Service as a whole, not a division, for school MOOE allocations. To find an office the table does not list, search every sheet in the explorer above for a word such as “scholarship”, “records” or “audit”.

Central Office units with no sheet in the 2023 set

The 59 sheets are not a full list of the Central Office. Set beside DO 52, s. 2015 and the orders in force when the sheets were written, these units have none:

Unit Where the structure names it
Legal Service, with its Investigation Division and Legal Division DO 52, s. 2015, Enclosure No. 4; DO 001, s. 2023 (Legal and Legislative Affairs)
Legislative Liaison Office; Sites Titling Office; Alternative Dispute Resolution Office DO 52, s. 2015, Enclosure No. 4 (the first two); DO 001, s. 2023 (Legal and Legislative Affairs)
Bureau of Alternative Education, with its Policy and Quality Assurance Division and its Program Management and System Development Division RA 11510, Sec. 6; DepEd Order No. 047, s. 2021
Learning Resources Production Division and Learning Resources Quality Assurance Division of the Bureau of Learning Resources DO 52, s. 2015; DO 001, s. 2023
Personnel Division DO 52, s. 2015 (Administrative Service); DO 001, s. 2023 (BHROD)
Office of the Director of the Finance Service DO 52, s. 2015, Enclosure No. 4
Private Education Office DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2022; DO 001, s. 2023 (Operations)
Learner Rights and Protection Office DO 001, s. 2023 (Operations). The Child Protection Unit of DepEd Order No. 003, s. 2021 had been renamed the Learner Safeguarding Office by DepEd Order No. 045, s. 2022
Palarong Pambansa Secretariat DO 001, s. 2023 (Operations)
School Infrastructure Program Management Office DO 001, s. 2023 (School Infrastructure and Facilities)
Education Programs Management Office; Voucher Program Management Office DO 001, s. 2023 (Finance)
Public Assistance Action Center DO 001, s. 2023 (Public Affairs Service)
Teacher Education Council Secretariat DO 52, s. 2015, Enclosure No. 4; DO 001, s. 2023 (Human Resource and Organizational Development)
Madrasah Education Office DO 52, s. 2015, Enclosure No. 4 (Bureau of Learning Delivery)
Education for Learners with Special Needs Office DO 52, s. 2015, Enclosure No. 4 (Bureau of Learning Delivery)
Teachers’ Camp in Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya DO 001, s. 2023 (Administration)

Three notes on this list:

  • ALS has its own bureau. The Bureau of Alternative Education “shall be created to serve as the focal office for the implementation of the ALS programs of the DepEd” (RA 11510, Sec. 6). The Student Inclusion Division’s sheet still lists out-of-school youth among its learners, and the law governs: questions on ALS go to the Bureau of Alternative Education. Enhanced ALS, Inclusive Education and Special Programs covers the program.
  • The Teacher Education Council and its Secretariat are no longer a DepEd office in the ordinary sense. Since 2022 they are “attached to the DepEd solely for budgetary coordination and related purposes” (Republic Act No. 7784, Sec. 7, as amended by RA 11713).
  • Two units have one sheet each. The Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service has a single sheet for the whole service, and the Bureau of Learning Resources has only its director’s office sheet.

Private school matters, child protection cases and legal questions therefore have a Central Office unit, but not one the explorer can show.

How Central Office units line up with regional and division offices

DO 52, s. 2015 gave each Central Office unit its “counterpart offices” at the two field levels (Enclosure No. 3). The pairing tells a school head which division or regional unit carries a national office’s policy to the school.

Central Office Regional Office Schools Division Office
Bureaus of Curriculum Development, Learning Delivery, Education Assessment and Learning Resources Curriculum and Learning Management Division, with its Learning Resource Management and Development Section Curriculum Implementation Division, with its Learning Resources Management, Instructional Management and District Instructional Supervision Sections
Bureau of Learner Support Services Education Support Services Division (Special Programs and Services; School Health) School Governance and Operations Division, where “all units under SGOD may be mobilized for learner support programs and activities”; School Health Section
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service; External Partnerships Service Education Support Services Division Social Mobilization and Networking Section of the School Governance and Operations Division
National Educators Academy of the Philippines “NEAP in the regions (part of the Human Resource Development Division)” Human Resource Development Section of the School Governance and Operations Division
Bureau of Human Resource and Organizational Development Human Resource Development Division, Field Technical Assistance Division, Quality Assurance Division School Governance and Operations Division: Human Resource Development Section; School Management Monitoring and Evaluation Section
Planning Service Policy, Planning, and Research Division; Quality Assurance Division Planning and Research Section of the School Governance and Operations Division
Public Affairs Service Public Affairs Unit, under the Office of the Regional Director Social Mobilization and Networking Section of the School Governance and Operations Division
Information and Communications Technology Service ICT Unit, under the Office of the Regional Director ICT Unit, under the Office of the Schools Division Superintendent
Finance Service Finance Division (Accounting; Budget) Administrative and Finance Services Section, under the Office of the Schools Division Superintendent (Accounting; Budget)
Administrative Service Administrative Division (Property and Supply; Cash; General Services; Records; Personnel) Administrative and Finance Services Section (Property and Supply; Cash; General Services; Records; Personnel)
Education Facilities Division Education Facilities Section of the Education Support Services Division Education Facilities Section of the School Governance and Operations Division
Procurement Management Service Finance Division Administrative and Finance Services Section
Legal Service; Legislative Liaison Office; Sites Titling Office Legal Unit, under the Office of the Regional Director Legal Unit, under the Office of the Schools Division Superintendent
Internal Audit Service; Project Management Service “no direct counterpart in the field offices” “no direct counterpart in the field offices”

Two later issuances touch this table. The Bureau of Alternative Education has no field office of its own: under DepEd Order No. 001, s. 2026, the regional offices act “through the Curriculum and Learning Management Division (CLMD)” and the division offices “through the Curriculum Implementation Division (CID)” (pars. 71, 72, 76 and 77). DepEd Order No. 021, s. 2025 made DepEd lawyers in regional and division offices “functionally report to the Undersecretary for Legal and Legislative Affairs”, without diminishing “the authority of Regional Directors or Schools Division Superintendents over administrative matters” (par. 5).

How the 2023 sheets differ from the 2015 general functions

DO 52, s. 2015 gave each bureau and service a short list of “general functions” (Enclosure No. 4). It named the divisions but gave them no functions of their own. The 2023 sheets go one level down, to each division, and add outcomes, outputs and indicators. Where the two differ in substance:

Office General functions in DO 52, s. 2015 The 2023 sheets
Bureau of Learning Delivery Includes “In coordination with NEAP, develop and manage the training and development program for the teaching personnel”; lists the Madrasah Education Office, the Indigenous Peoples Education Office and the Education for Learners with Special Needs Office with the Student Inclusion Division Training is technical assistance on delivery models “in collaboration with NEAP”; the Indigenous Peoples Education Office has a sheet of its own; the other two offices have none
Bureau of Education Assessment “educational assessment and quality assurance (QA)”, with standards for “assessment and quality assurance of curriculum and learning delivery processes” Assessment of learning outcomes, of teachers and of the education system; no key result area is named for quality assurance
Bureau of Human Resource and Organizational Development Seven functions on an “Organization Development (OD) Framework” and on Education Development Programs and Projects; none mentions recruitment, performance management or welfare “Human Resources and Organizational Development systems, processes and programs”, with HR systems in the Human Resource Development Division’s sheet
National Educators Academy of the Philippines “professional development of all DepEd personnel, including all education managers and educators” “teachers and school leaders”; learning and development for non-teaching personnel is in the Human Resource Development Division’s sheet
Project Management Service “capital intensive and large scale projects that involve two or more units or agencies” “capital-intensive Official Development Assistance (ODA) and priority locally-funded programs and projects”
Internal Audit Service “Serve as watchdog of the Department” by appraising procedures and “detecting and preventing frauds or dishonesty” Advice to the Secretary on internal controls, on the “4Es (Economy, Effectiveness, Efficiency and Ethicality) of operations” and on compliance
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service “Climate Change Adaptation (CCA)” June 2024 sheet: “Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation (CCAM)”
Procurement Management Service “Direct all activities of the Department, whether in the central (including those of its staff bureaus) or regional level, pertaining to procurement planning, purchasing, contract management, and monitoring” “provides guidance and direction to DepEd units”; the divisions’ sheets serve Central Office procurement
Administrative Service Six divisions and the Baguio Teachers Camp, among them the Education Facilities Division and the Personnel Division Sheets for four of the divisions, the Camp, the director’s office and Security Services; none for the Personnel Division, and the Education Facilities Division’s sheet names no service
Planning Service Strategic Management strand Administration strand

NEAP’s narrower scope has a law behind it. RA 11713 institutionalized NEAP “to provide quality professional development programs on teacher education to in-service teachers, school leaders, and other teaching-related personnel in all public and private basic education institutions” (RA 7784, Sec. 17, as amended).

The Project Management Service’s sheets and the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service’s sheet are newer than the rest. The DRRMS sheet is dated June 11, 2024; the division in its heading first appears in a designation order in DO 015, s. 2024. In Memorandum PMS-PMD-2024-0050 of May 17, 2024, the service’s director wrote to the director of the Bureau of Human Resource and Organizational Development, through the National Quality Management System Secretariat, to submit revised office functions and key result areas. The service’s Quality Management System manual had declared three processes: “(1) coordination and linkages; (2) project development; and (3) project implementation management”. After a review that followed a 2022 internal quality audit, the first “was determined to be part of” the other two, and the service asked the Secretariat “to exclude ‘coordination and linkages’ and add ‘project evaluation’ as a declared process”. The explorer shows the revised sheets: the director’s office has a key result area on “Evaluation of Completed and/or Priority Programs and Projects in Basic Education”, and the Project Development Division one on “Evaluation of completed programs and projects in basic education”.

How the sheets are used: QMS, office plans, OPCR and IPCR

In the Quality Management System. DO 009, s. 2021 (February 24, 2021) set up a National Quality Management System “certifiable to ISO 9001 standards” at every governance level, under Executive Order No. 605, s. 2007. One of its four required documents is the Operations Manual, whose outline includes “Organizational Structure, Office Functions, and Job Summary”, and the Central Office has “one (1) Integrated Operations Manual per Bureau/Service and one (1) Operations Manual for the entire ExeCom” (Sec. IX.A). The office functions are also the base for process documentation: “Each governance level shall document all office processes in accordance with their office functions” (Sec. IX.B.2). The Department-wide manuals were issued by DepEd Memorandum No. 014, s. 2022 and added to by DepEd Memorandum No. 068, s. 2025. The system’s secretariat at the Central Office is in the Bureau of Human Resource and Organizational Development (DO 009, s. 2021, Sec. VIII; DM 068, s. 2025, par. 7).

In the office’s plan and its performance forms. The 2023 memorandum says the regional and division sheets “will form part of the QMS Operations Manual and shall also serve as a guide in the preparation of the Office Operational Plan, wherein the priorities of the office for the current year will be translated into their Organization Performance and Commitment Review (OPCR) and in accomplishing the Individual Performance and Commitment Review (IPCR)”. The Central Office sheets are built for the same use. Under DepEd Order No. 2, s. 2015, the head of office accomplishes the Office Performance Commitment and Review Form “to reflect the Office KRAs, Objectives and Performance Indicators”, and each employee an individual form with the same three parts (pars. 18 and 19). A sheet supplies all three for its office. The key result area that 58 sheets share lists an “Operations Manual” and “IPCRF/OPCRF Accomplishments” among its outputs.

In keeping the sheets up to date. The 2023 memorandum sends “any future revisions on the RO & SDO functions” through the Bureau of Human Resource and Organizational Development’s Organization Effectiveness Division. The Project Management Service’s 2024 revision took the same route.

The school’s own form is explained in OPCRF for DepEd School Heads in 2026.

Are the 2023 sheets still current?

As of November 13, 2026, no DepEd Order or DepEd Memorandum has issued a later version of the Office Functions, and no order has replaced DO 52, s. 2015 with a new structure. What the sheets say each office produces remains the latest statement of it. What has changed is where offices sit, what some are called, and some of the rules the sheets cite.

Where each unit sits now

Three sources show where Central Office units went after the sheets were written:

  1. DO 015, s. 2024 (October 18, 2024) partially amended DO 001, s. 2023. It lists nine strands: Strategic Management, Administration, Operations, Human Resource and Organizational Development, Curriculum and Teaching, Finance, Legal and Legislative Affairs, Procurement, and the Office of the Secretary. School Infrastructure and Facilities is not among them. DepEd Order No. 019, s. 2024 (December 19, 2024) revised only the assignments inside the Office of the Secretary.
  2. Office Orders of July 16 and 17, 2025, signed by authority of the Secretary, transferred single offices. OO-OSEC-2025-172 moved the Bureau of Education Assessment “from the Strategic Management Strand to the Office of the Secretary”. OO-OSEC-2025-186 moved the National Educators Academy of the Philippines from Human Resource and Organizational Development to the “Learning System Strand”. OO-OSEC-2025-174 moved the Internal Audit Service from one undersecretary in the Office of the Secretary to another. DepEd’s directory of October 26, 2026 lists the service again under the undersecretary for Senior Personnel Oversight.
  3. DepEd’s Central Office Directory, dated October 26, 2026, is the latest official list of offices by strand.
Unit Strand on the 2023 sheets DO 015, s. 2024 DepEd’s directory, October 26, 2026
Bureaus of Curriculum Development, Learning Delivery and Learning Resources; LCC Secretariat Curriculum and Teaching Curriculum and Teaching Learning Systems
Bureau of Education Assessment Curriculum and Teaching Strategic Management Learning Systems
National Educators Academy of the Philippines Human Resource and Organizational Development Human Resource and Organizational Development Learning Systems in the list of offices; the page’s Executive Committee table still lists it under the undersecretary for Human Resource and Organizational Development
Bureau of Human Resource and Organizational Development Human Resource and Organizational Development Human Resource and Organizational Development Human Resource and Organizational Development
Education Facilities Division School Infrastructure and Facilities Under the undersecretary for Human Resource and Organizational Development Human Resource and Organizational Development
Bureau of Learner Support Services; Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service Operations Operations Governance and Operations
Planning Service Administration Strategic Management, as the “Policy and Planning Service” Office of the Secretary, as the Planning Service
Project Management Service Finance Strategic Management Finance
Finance Service Finance Finance Finance
Information and Communications Technology Service Administration Office of the Secretary Office of the Secretary
Administrative Service Administration Administration Administration
External Partnerships Service; Public Affairs Service; Internal Audit Service Strategic Management Office of the Secretary Office of the Secretary
Procurement Management Service Procurement Procurement Procurement

The issuance on record for the Academy is OO-OSEC-2025-186, which placed it in the “Learning System Strand”.

What the strands are called on November 13, 2026

The last DepEd Order to list the strands is DO 015, s. 2024, which still says Curriculum and Teaching and Operations. Later issuances use other names without a DepEd Order that renames the strands:

  • Learning Systems. The July 2025 Office Orders write “Learning System Strand”. DepEd Order No. 025, s. 2025 (September 2, 2025) writes “The Learning Systems (LS) Strand”, and DepEd Order No. 027, s. 2025 (September 18, 2025) names the Office of the Undersecretary for Learning Systems.
  • Governance and Operations. OO-OSEC-2025-177 (July 16, 2025) refers to “the Governance and Operations Strand”, the strand’s 2015 name. DO 025, s. 2025 still wrote “The Operations Strand” in September 2025; DO 013, s. 2026 (June 4, 2026) names the Office of the Undersecretary for Governance and Operations.
  • Human Resource and Organizational Development and Infrastructure. DepEd Order No. 021, s. 2026 (August 25, 2026) designates “the Undersecretary for Human Resource and Organizational Development and Infrastructure” as final approving authority for project modifications under the 2026 Basic Education Facilities Fund, and names the Education Facilities Division as its contact.

The directory’s headings on October 26, 2026 are the Office of the Secretary, Administration, Learning Systems, Finance, Governance and Operations, Legal and Legislative Affairs, Human Resource and Organizational Development, Procurement, and Strategic Management.

Offices renamed or created since the sheets

  • Youth Formation Division. The directory lists it under that name. The 2023 sheet’s heading, “Learner Formation Division”, appears in no designation order.
  • Policy and Planning Service. DO 015, s. 2024 uses this name for the Planning Service, and DepEd issuances of 2025 and 2026 use it too. The October 2026 directory lists the “Planning Service (PS)”.
  • Education Futures Office and Monitoring and Evaluation Office. Among the designation orders, both first appear in DO 015, s. 2024, under Strategic Management.
  • Government Assistance and Subsidies Service. DO 015, s. 2024 lists it under Finance, where DO 001, s. 2023 had the Voucher Program Management Office.
  • Education Center for AI Research (ECAIR). DepEd Order No. 013, s. 2025 set out its relationship with DepEd and says the order “does not make ECAIR a governmental office” (par. 8). See DepEd’s ECAIR.
  • Offices in the October 2026 directory that DO 015, s. 2024 does not list include a Security, Safety and Disaster Management Office under Administration, a Learner Wellness Office under the Bureau of Learner Support Services, a Public-Private Partnership Office under Strategic Management, and the Secretariat of the Education and Workforce Development Group and the Philippine Qualifications Framework office under the Office of the Secretary. The directory also lists a Learner Rights and Protection Division under the Bureau of Learner Support Services, where DO 015, s. 2024 has a Learner Rights and Protection Office under Operations.

Rules the sheets cite that have changed

  • Procurement law. The BAC Secretariat Division’s sheet aims at procurement “compliant with Republic Act 9184”. Republic Act No. 12009, the New Government Procurement Act approved on July 20, 2024, repealed that law (Sec. 115). Read the sheet’s reference as one to RA 12009 and its rules.
  • NEAP recognition. The Quality Assurance Division’s sheet lists a “Manual of Operations for the DepEd Order No. 1, s. 2020: Guidelines for NEAP Recognition of Professional Development Programs and Courses for Teachers and School Leaders”. DepEd Memorandum No. 012, s. 2023 (March 2, 2023) held the implementation of that order “in abeyance” until lifted “by any appropriate issuances”, and NEAP’s interim guidelines followed in August 2023. As of November 13, 2026, no DepEd Order has replaced DO 001, s. 2020. The law itself speaks of “NEAP-recognized courses” and of “programs recognized by the NEAP” (RA 7784, Sec. 18(c) and (g), as amended by RA 11713).
  • The strand’s name in the assessment sheets. The Bureau of Education Assessment’s sheets speak of “the CI strand”. Read it as the strand the bureau belongs to at the time.

What this means for school heads

Read a national policy with its office in mind. The Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads ask a Career Stage 1 school head to “Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of policy implementation and review to ensure that school operations are consistent with national and local laws, regulations and issuances” (indicator 1.3.1; see Leading Strategically). Knowing which bureau or service wrote an issuance tells you who can clarify it, which regional and division unit carries it to you, and which later issuance from the same office may have changed it.

Take a school’s concern to the division first. No provision of RA 9155 ranks the channels a school may use, and the Act itself calls for “open communication of the central office with the regional, division and school levels” (Sec. 5(b)). The order of travel follows from who holds the authority:

  1. School. The school head decides what Sec. 7(E) gives the school: its plan, its program, and the management of its personnel and resources.
  2. Schools Division Office. The superintendent supervises “the operations of all public and private elementary, secondary and integrated schools, and learning centers” (Sec. 7(C)(7)) and hires and places the school’s personnel (Sec. 7(C)(3)). Requests for teachers, funds, classrooms, technical assistance and decisions on personnel start here, with the counterpart unit in the table above.
  3. Regional Office. The region acts on what the law gives the Regional Director, such as the establishment of schools (Sec. 7(B)(13)), and on what the division elevates.
  4. Central Office. The national office receives what the region elevates, and answers on what only it can answer: the meaning of a national policy, a national system, a national program.

Know when writing to a bureau or service directly is proper. It is proper when the office serves you directly or asks you to respond. The sheets show several such services:

  • the Education Assessment Division is to “issue test results to test takers and data end-users”;
  • the Employee Account Management Division is to “address issues, requests, and inquiries of DepEd internal and external stakeholders” on the Automatic Payroll Deduction System and the Provident Fund;
  • the User Support Division supports “users in all DepEd governance levels”;
  • the Communications Division is to “render quality public assistance to the general public”;
  • an issuance names a Central Office unit as the contact for questions, as DepEd Orders and Memoranda usually do in a closing paragraph;
  • a bureau calls for comments, data or participants, usually through the region and division.

It is not proper to ask a bureau to decide what the law gives a field official, such as a teacher’s appointment or a school’s establishment. A bureau’s answer on those matters cannot replace the superintendent’s or the Regional Director’s action. No order says this in these words; it follows from Sec. 7. When you do write to the Central Office, address the head of the office and give the division a copy, so that the office that supervises the school knows what was asked and what was answered.

Weigh a Central Office communication by what it is. A DepEd Order or DepEd Memorandum carries the Secretary’s authority. Since 2024, issuances addressed to Regional Directors, Schools Division Superintendents or school heads that concern budget or procurement, that “amend or repeal existing DepEd orders or memoranda”, or that announce new policy guidelines “must be cleared with the Office of the Secretary (OSEC) prior to dissemination” (DepEd Memorandum No. 058, s. 2024, par. 1, Enclosure No. 3 to DO 015, s. 2024). When a memorandum from a bureau or an undersecretary’s office appears to change what a DepEd Order requires, raise it with the division before acting on it.

Recommend upward. A Career Stage 4 school head is expected to “Recommend to higher authorities the enhancement of policies relevant to school operations based on implementation and review” (indicator 1.3.4). The sheets tell you where such a recommendation lands. The bureau that wrote a policy reviews it: the Student Inclusion Division’s sheet, for one, has a key result area named “Policy Formulation and Review”. For the Department as a whole, the Policy Research and Development Division is to “review proposed and existing policies”. Send the recommendation through the division, with the school’s data.

Keep these on file:

  • the DepEd Orders and Memoranda that govern each school program, with the Central Office unit each names as contact;
  • the division’s own list of unit heads and focal persons, matched to the counterpart table above;
  • for each concern elevated, the date, the office and the reply.

Working with offices above the school is part of indicator 5.1.1, “Demonstrate skills in dealing with authorities, colleagues, parents and other stakeholders to encourage an enabling and supportive environment for learners”; see Building Connections and, for the management of people and resources under national rules, Managing School Operations and Resources.

Frequently asked questions

How many bureaus and services does the DepEd Central Office have?

DO 52, s. 2015 set up six bureaus (Curriculum Development, Learning Delivery, Education Assessment, Learning Resources, Learner Support Services, and Human Resource and Organizational Development), the National Educators Academy of the Philippines, and eleven services. RA 11510 added a seventh bureau, the Bureau of Alternative Education, in 2020, and DO 015, s. 2024 lists a Government Assistance and Subsidies Service. The 2023 Office Functions sheets cover 19 units: the six bureaus of 2015, the Academy, ten services, the Literacy Coordinating Council Secretariat and the Education Facilities Division.

Is the Office Functions document a DepEd Order?

No. The regional and division sheets were released by a memorandum of the Undersecretary for Human Resource and Organizational Development (DM-HROD-2023-0617, May 5, 2023), and the Central Office sheets are the same kind of document. They describe each office for the Quality Management System under DO 009, s. 2021. Authority comes from RA 9155, DO 1, s. 2003, and the order on each subject.

Which DepEd office handles the Alternative Learning System?

The Bureau of Alternative Education, which RA 11510, Sec. 6 created “to serve as the focal office for the implementation of the ALS programs of the DepEd”. DO 047, s. 2021 organized it with two divisions. It has no sheet in the 2023 set.

Which strand is the Bureau of Education Assessment under?

Its 2023 sheets print Curriculum and Teaching. DO 015, s. 2024 placed it under Strategic Management, and Office Order OO-OSEC-2025-172 of July 16, 2025 transferred it to the Office of the Secretary. DepEd’s Central Office Directory of October 26, 2026 lists it under Learning Systems.

Can a teacher or school head write directly to the DepEd Central Office?

Yes, for services the Central Office gives directly, such as test results, the Provident Fund, ICT user support and public assistance, and when an issuance names a Central Office contact. Matters the law gives to the school head, the Schools Division Superintendent or the Regional Director are decided at those levels (RA 9155, Sec. 7), so a request on them goes to the division first.

Sources

Laws

DepEd issuances on structure and strands

  • DepEd Order No. 1, s. 2003, Promulgating the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 9155 (January 6, 2003), Rule II.
  • DepEd Order No. 52, s. 2015, New Organizational Structures of the Central, Regional, and Schools Division Offices of the Department of Education (October 30, 2015), pars. 4, 7 and 15 and Enclosures No. 1, 3 and 4.
  • DepEd Order No. 045, s. 2022, Designating the Undersecretaries and Assistant Secretaries to their Strands and Functional Areas of Responsibility (October 17, 2022).
  • DepEd Order No. 001, s. 2023, Revised Designation of Undersecretaries and Assistant Secretaries to their Strands and Functional Areas of Responsibilities and Revised Signing Authorities (January 9, 2023), pars. 4 and 6.
  • DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2024, Revised Designation of Undersecretaries and Assistant Secretaries to the Strands and Functional Areas of Responsibilities and Revised Signing Authorities on Human Resource Actions (October 18, 2024), pars. 4 and 5, with DepEd Memorandum No. 058, s. 2024, Clearance of Issuances with the Office of the Secretary (Enclosure No. 3).
  • DepEd Order No. 019, s. 2024, Amendment to DepEd Order No. 15, s. 2024 (December 19, 2024).
  • Office Orders OO-OSEC-2025-172, OO-OSEC-2025-174 and OO-OSEC-2025-177 (July 16, 2025) and OO-OSEC-2025-186 (July 17, 2025).
  • DepEd Order No. 047, s. 2021, Creation of the Bureau of Alternative Education in the Department of Education (November 11, 2021), par. 4 of the enclosure.
  • DepEd Order No. 003, s. 2021, Creation of the Child Protection Unit and the Child Rights in Education Desk in the Department of Education (January 15, 2021).
  • DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2022, Creation of the Private Education Office in the Department of Education Central Office (March 8, 2022).
  • DepEd Order No. 013, s. 2025, Establishment of the Center for Artificial Intelligence Research for the Department of Education (April 29, 2025), par. 8.
  • DepEd Order No. 021, s. 2025, Functional Supervision of the Office of the Undersecretary of Legal and Legislative Affairs (OULLA) over Lawyers of the Department of Education Stationed at Regional and Division Offices (July 3, 2025), par. 5.
  • DepEd Order No. 025, s. 2025, Policy on the Implementation of Reproductive Health Education for Adolescent Learners in Basic Education (September 2, 2025), and DepEd Order No. 027, s. 2025, Guidelines on the Use of Balances from Fiscal Year 2025 (Republic Act No. 12116) Funds under the Learning Systems Strand (September 18, 2025).
  • DepEd Order No. 021, s. 2026, designating the final approving authority for project modifications under the FY 2026 Basic Education Facilities Fund (August 25, 2026), pars. 1 and 6.
  • DepEd, Central Office Directory, as of October 26, 2026.

DepEd issuances on the office functions, quality management and performance

  • Office Functions, Version 3, Central Office: 59 sheets for 19 bureaus, services and other offices (2023; the Project Management Service’s three sheets as revised in 2024 and the DRRMS sheet dated June 11, 2024).
  • Memorandum DM-HROD-2023-0617, DepEd RO & SDO Office Functions Version 3 (May 5, 2023).
  • Memorandum PMS-PMD-2024-0050, Revisions in the Quality Management System (QMS) Manual of the Project Management Service (May 17, 2024).
  • DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2021, Institutionalization of a Quality Management System in the Department of Education (February 24, 2021), Secs. VIII and IX.
  • DepEd Memorandum No. 014, s. 2022, The DepEd Quality Management System Manual and Procedures and Work Instructions Manual (March 15, 2022), and DepEd Memorandum No. 068, s. 2025, its addendum (August 11, 2025).
  • DepEd Order No. 2, s. 2015, Guidelines on the Establishment and Implementation of the Results-based Performance Management System (RPMS) in the Department of Education (February 6, 2015), pars. 18 and 19.
  • DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020, National Adoption and Implementation of the Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads (September 7, 2020), indicators 1.3.1, 1.3.4 and 5.1.1.

DepEd issuances on programs

DepEd office functions series

Written by Mark Anthony Llego for NASH Reviewer. Sources: DepEd’s Office Functions, Version 3 (2023); Republic Acts No. 9155, 11510, 11713 and 12009; Executive Order No. 292; DepEd Orders No. 1, s. 2003, No. 52, s. 2015, No. 2, s. 2015, No. 009, s. 2021, No. 001, s. 2023 and No. 015, s. 2024; Office Orders of July 2025; Memoranda DM-HROD-2023-0617 and PMS-PMD-2024-0050; DepEd’s Central Office Directory of October 26, 2026.