DepEd Flexible Learning Program (FLP) Explained

The Flexible Learning Program (FLP) is the Department of Education’s (DepEd) name for the arrangements inside the formal school system that keep enrolled learners in school when they cannot attend regular classes consistently: the Open High School System, Night High School, Rural Farm School, homeschooling, and school-initiated interventions. DepEd Order (DO) No. 014, s. 2026 defines FLPs and repeals the older definitions of Alternative Delivery Modes (ADMs) and Flexible Learning Options (FLOs). As of November 14, 2026, DepEd has not issued the omnibus FLP guidelines it announced in a policy briefer last updated April 13, 2026. Each arrangement still runs under its own law or order, and several 2026 issuances already set rules for FLP learners.

The rules in force today come from Republic Act (RA) No. 10665 and its 2022 implementing rules for the Open High School System, DO 001, s. 2022 for homeschooling, RA 10618 and DO 36, s. 2015 for Rural Farm Schools, DO 21, s. 2019 for night high schools, and DO 74, s. 2010 and DepEd Memorandum (DM) No. 050, s. 2026 for school-initiated interventions. On top of these, DO 009, DO 014, DO 015 and DO 017, s. 2026 and DM 050, s. 2026 treat the FLP by name. The briefer adds a sixth arrangement, rotational learning, three learner profiling tools, a Statement of Undertaking for learning facilitators, and incentives for teachers. None of that binds a school until DepEd issues it.

Key findings

• The omnibus FLP guidelines are not issued. On November 14, 2026, DepEd’s newest order is DO 023, s. 2026 and its newest memorandum DM 064, s. 2026; no order or memorandum of 2026 issues the guidelines. The briefer is DepEd’s announced framework, not a rule.
• An FLP is formal schooling. DO 014, s. 2026 defines FLPs as “DepEd general education schooling programs deliberately designed to address the needs of learners at risk of dropping out” and repeals the earlier ADM and FLO definitions (para. 6.d). The Alternative Learning System (ALS) remains a separate, non-formal system (DO 001, s. 2026).
• The five-day cap exempts FLP modalities. DO 009, s. 2026 allows alternative delivery only during local holidays and other disruptions, at most five days per term, but exempts “modalities governed by the issuance on Flexible Learning Programs” (para. 32). That issuance is not yet out, so the exemption is clear only for arrangements with their own law or order, such as the open high school and homeschooling.
• Absences can lead to an FLP, but standards stay. Under DO 015, s. 2026, teachers intervene at about 12 absences, absences above 20% of class days mean a failing grade unless justified, and prolonged or recurring absences may lead to endorsement “to the FLP or other appropriate interventions” (Sec. VIII, para. 70; Annex D, item 22). FLP assessment may change format and schedule but “shall not lower learning standards, modify grading rules, or alter assessment weightings” (Annex A, item 20).
• Each arrangement has its own authority. The Regional Office (RO) authorizes open high schools and homeschooling programs (IRR of RA 10665, Secs. 9 and 36.1; DO 001, s. 2022, Sec. VI), DepEd accredits Rural Farm Schools (DO 36, s. 2015, Sec. 20), and a night class program goes to the Schools Division Office (SDO) (DO 21, s. 2019, Annex 3, item 23).
• PHP 387,020,000 supports FLPs in 2026. DM 050, s. 2026 releases a Program Support Fund to the ROs, which may pass it to SDOs; an FLP school may spend it on internet, home-visit transport, FLP forms and learner profiling, but not on what school MOOE already covers (Encl. No. 1, items 11 and 29).
• The briefer’s profiling tools and Statement of Undertaking are mostly announced. Only the Independent Learning Readiness Test has an issued basis for FLP placement, for open high school admission (IRR of RA 10665, Sec. 23.3); the FICS analysis belongs to the Dropout Reduction Program (DO 74, s. 2010). No issued order prescribes a Learner Access Survey or a Statement of Undertaking.

What the Flexible Learning Program is

DO 014, s. 2026 gives the definition that governs today. Flexible Learning Programs “are DepEd general education schooling programs deliberately designed to address the needs of learners at risk of dropping out”. The order adds that the FLP “provides accessible, learner-centered education beyond mainstream classroom environments, ensuring that learners with irregular attendance in the formal school system can continue learning” (para. 6.d).

Three points follow from that text. The learners are already in the formal system, enrolled in a school with a Learner Reference Number. The curriculum is the regular one. The rules for the open high school, homeschooling and Rural Farm Schools all require DepEd’s curriculum, DO 21, s. 2019 says ADMs “follow the formal K to 12 curriculum in content” (Annex 3, item 3), and DO 015, s. 2026 keeps the same assessment standards for FLP learners. What changes is where, when and how the learner studies.

DM 050, s. 2026 widens the definition slightly, to “DepEd general education schooling programs and learning intervention programs”, and lists five FLPs: “homeschool, night high school, open high school, rural farm schools, and school-initiated interventions” (item 2; Encl. No. 1, item 4.a). It calls the FLP “formerly ADM” (item 1). The legal anchor is older. The implementing rules of RA 10533, the Enhanced Basic Education Act, count “Programs for Learners under Difficult Circumstances” among the programs that make basic education inclusive, “such as, but not limited to: geographic isolation; chronic illness; displacement due to armed conflict, urban resettlement, or disasters; child abuse and child labor practices” (DO 43, s. 2013, Sec. 8.5).

How the FLP differs from ALS, emergencies and the old ADMs

Four labels describe learning outside the regular classroom, and they are easy to mix up. The table sets them side by side.

The ALS is a different system. DO 001, s. 2026 describes ALS as “a parallel learning system” for “out-of-school children in special cases, out-of-school youth and adults” (para. 1). It also tells ALS implementers to “refer school-aged prospective learners to formal system” (para. 12), and it opens ALS to learners “above school age” who dropped out (para. 23). A learner of school age who is struggling to attend belongs in an FLP, not in ALS. DepEd ALS and Inclusive Education Programs covers the ALS in full.

Emergencies are a different track. DO 014, s. 2026 governs learning while in-person classes are disrupted, through four levels: Hayo, Hinay, Hinga and Hinto. The two tracks meet at one point. When an emergency at the Hinga or Hinto level lasts, “schools are advised to shift their operations to a flexible learning program to establish a new or alternative normal” (para. 64). The table in Sec. V.J puts the trigger at 4 consecutive class days at Hinga and 5 at Hinto: “Shift to FLP as an alternative normal”. Learning Continuity in Emergencies: DO 014, s. 2026 explains the levels.

The ADM and FLO definitions are gone, not the programs. DO 014 says its FLP definition “effectively repeals the definitions of ADMs and Flexible Learning Options (FLOs) in previous DepEd Orders, updating them to reflect the distinction between FLPs and EiE” (para. 6.d). Its footnotes point to the ADM definition in DO 022, s. 2024 and the FLO definition in DO 018, s. 2020. Schools also stop reporting ADMs during disruptions: “In lieu of reporting ADMs, schools shall report the learning experiences implemented during periods of in-person class disruption” (para. 6.i).

The program descriptions in DO 21, s. 2019, Annex 3 still stand, except its section on home school, which DO 001, s. 2022 repealed. DM 050, s. 2026 names DO 021, s. 2019 among the policies on FLPs that its fund puts into operation (Encl. No. 1, item 1). The fund itself keeps the old name: the Flexible Learning Options-Alternative Delivery Mode (FLO-ADM) fund.

Has DepEd issued the omnibus FLP guidelines?

No. As of November 14, 2026, DepEd’s list of orders ends at DO 023, s. 2026 (November 10, 2026), on Senior High School work immersion, and its list of memoranda ends at DM 064, s. 2026 (October 26, 2026), on the Super El Niño. No order or memorandum issued in 2026 contains the omnibus FLP guidelines. Two memoranda name the FLP: DM 050, s. 2026, on funds, and DM 024, s. 2026, on private schools. Earlier, DM 017, s. 2026 encouraged ADMs for fasting Muslim learners in the last ten days of Ramadan 2026 (February 19 to March 20).

What exists is a policy briefer titled “Omnibus Policy Guidelines on the Implementation of the Flexible Learning Program”, marked “Last updated April 13, 2026”. DepEd’s Learning Systems Strand published it, with a before-and-after summary of the FLP in its policy summary handout, in the orientation package for School Year (SY) 2026-2027. Neither document carries an order or memorandum number. Both describe a policy DepEd intends to issue. The handout’s own wording shows this: its FLP table describes what “the policy expects” and what “Annexes indicate”, and no issued FLP annex exists.

DO 009, s. 2026 already refers to “the issuance on Flexible Learning Programs (FLP)” (para. 32). Until DepEd issues it, the FLP rules are the program-specific laws and orders described below.

Which issued orders already speak of the FLP

Five 2026 issuances name the FLP and set rules that apply now.

A sixth issuance, DM 024, s. 2026, applies only to private schools and is covered below.

DO 009, s. 2026: outside the five-day cap

The three-term calendar keeps classrooms first. “In-person learning shall remain to be the primary delivery modality in all schools and Community Learning Centers (CLCs)” (para. 31). The next paragraph limits everything else: “Alternative learning delivery modalities may be implemented only during local holidays and other class disruptions for a maximum of five (5) days per term. This provision shall not apply to modalities governed by the issuance on Flexible Learning Programs (FLP)” (para. 32).

So a learner in an authorized open high school can study through modules all term, while a regular class that switches to modules for a town fiesta uses up its five days. DepEd Three-Term School Calendar 2026-2027 explains how the five days are counted and what happens on the sixth.

DO 014, s. 2026: the definition, and the shift from Hinga or Hinto

Besides the definition, DO 014 makes the FLP the destination for long emergencies. The table in Sec. V.J gives each level a maximum number of consecutive class days and the action when impacts persist:

The order uses “advised” (para. 64): the shift is DepEd’s direction, applied to the school’s own conditions. It does not say which FLP to use. That choice follows the learners’ situation and the rules of the arrangement chosen.

DO 014 also sends the costs of learning continuity to the same fund family: activities “shall be primarily charged against FLO Funds” (para. 101).

DO 015, s. 2026: absences, endorsement and grading

DO 015 links attendance to the FLP. The steps run in this order:

The endorsement is the bridge between the two policies. The order does not define “prolonged or recurring”. The endorsement fits absences with a lasting cause, such as a sick parent at home or a family’s move to a farm, which remediation alone does not address.

DO 015 also governs how FLP learners are assessed (Annex A, Sec. D):

• Assessment for FLP learners “shall adhere to the same purposes, standards, and principles set forth in this Order” (item 17).
• Formative assessment continues through “consultations, guided tasks, learning packets, modular activities, online engagements, or home-based learning tasks”, giving feedback “without being used for grade computation” (item 18).
• Summative assessments “may be adapted in format or delivery”, provided they stay aligned with the competencies taught and “generate valid and sufficient evidence of learning” (item 19).
• Schools may adapt the delivery, scheduling or format of tasks, but “Such adaptations shall not lower learning standards, modify grading rules, or alter assessment weightings” (item 20).

DO 015 also uses school-initiated intervention (SII) for back subjects. A learner who still fails one or two learning areas after the Summer Remedial Class is conditionally promoted and completes the deficiencies “as back subjects through School-Initiated Intervention (SII)”, with only one back subject per term (Sec. VIII, para. 67.c). DepEd Grading System, DO 015, s. 2026 covers the grading rules themselves.

DO 017, s. 2026: senior high school hours

The Strengthened Senior High School (SSHS) order uses the FLP in two places. For schools still running the 2016 SHS curriculum in Grade 12, it allows schools on shifts to add asynchronous sessions “subject to existing policies and standards on Flexible Learning Programs (FLPs)”, and “Such asynchronous sessions shall be reflected in both the class program and the teachers’ schedules as part of their teaching load” (Sec. VI, para. 21). For SSHS class programs, it says: “To meet the prescribed instructional hour requirements, schools may adopt suitable FLPs, ensuring adherence to applicable policies and standards” (Sec. VI, para. 24). Its Table 8 already suggests asynchronous time for schools on double shifts: 30 minutes or 1.5 hours a week per core subject, 30 minutes or 3 hours a week per 80-hour academic elective, and “1 hour asynchronous per subject” for Grade 11 Tech-Pro electives. MATATAG Curriculum and Strengthened SHS in SY 2026-2027 covers the class program.

DM 050, s. 2026: the Program Support Fund for FLPs

DM 050, signed August 25, 2026, sets how FLP program money is released, spent and reported. A Program Support Fund (PSF) of PHP 387,020,000 is charged against the FY 2026 FLO-ADM fund and released to the ROs; it “may be further downloaded to the Schools Division Offices (SDOs)” (item 1). It supports the five FLPs and learning continuity in emergencies (item 2). FY 2026 money stays valid for obligation and disbursement until December 31, 2027, and FY 2025 continuing funds until December 31, 2026 (item 3).

ROs decide what reaches each SDO “based on the number of schools authorized to offer an FLP, learner population requiring FLP, or disaster-prone zones, compliance history, and the capacity to implement FLPs” (Encl. No. 1, item 5). The RO and the SDO each prepare an FLP Work and Financial Plan for approval, and “All expenditures must be included in the approved WFP and Annual Procurement Plan (APP)” (item 8).

An FLP school then has seven duties (items 28 to 34): obligate and disburse only for allowed expenses; “Prevent duplication with School MOOE and other funding sources (e.g., Special Education Fund (SEF), donations)”; observe the fund’s validity, cost reasonableness and procurement and audit rules; document every expense; liquidate within the SDO’s cut-offs; monitor releases and balances against physical accomplishments; and submit the Utilization and Accomplishment Report to the SDO “on or before the SDO’s deadline, using the prescribed template and with complete attachments”. The RO’s ADM Focal Person reports the region’s use of the fund to the Bureau of Learning Delivery through an online FLP Utilization Report (items 35 to 38).

Enclosure No. 2 allocates the fund by region, with physical targets for 2026.

Source: DM 050, s. 2026, Encl. No. 2. The memorandum prints only the total of the allocations; the three target totals are sums of its regional figures. The enclosure also sets targets for SDOs given technical assistance (240 in all) and regional participants in activities led by the Bureau of Learning Delivery (474).

The four regions with the most target RFS schools (CALABARZON, Negros Island Region, Region 3 and Region 10) receive 70.1% of the fund.

DM 024, s. 2026: blended learning in private schools

DM 024, signed April 7, 2026, answers the national energy emergency declared under Executive Order No. 110, s. 2026. It lets private schools choose “Five days of in-person classes” or “Blended learning” (item 3). A private school that follows the memorandum’s model needs no prior approval but reports the change to its SDO “at least five days prior to implementation”, with the modified class program and its plans to meet learning standards (item 5); deviating from the model needs RO approval (item 6). The flexibility lasts only “until the State of National Energy Emergency, as declared under EO 110, s. 2026, is officially lifted by the President” (item 8). EO 110, signed March 24, 2026, declared the emergency for one year unless the President extends or lifts it sooner (PTV News, March 24, 2026). A private school relying on the memorandum should confirm with its SDO that the emergency is still in effect.

The enclosure’s key stage model “may be adopted by private schools that wish to implement blended learning, whether as part of the Flexible Learning Program (FLP), Education in Emergencies (EiE), or other circumstances”:

The model does not bind public schools. For them, DO 009’s five-day cap and the program-specific FLP rules govern.

The six arrangements and the rules for each

The briefer names six arrangements. DM 050, the only issuance that lists the FLPs by name, names five; rotational learning is not among them.

Open High School System

What it is. RA 10665, the Open High School System Act (2015), establishes the Open High School System (OHSS) “as part of the Department of Education’s (DepED) alternative secondary education program to provide access to secondary education through the open learning modality” (Sec. 4). Open learning lets learners study “at the time, place and pace which satisfies their circumstances and requirements” (Sec. 3(e)). DM 050 calls it “an independent and self-paced FLP” and “a fully distance learning program” (Encl. No. 1, item 4.a).

Who it serves. The system 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 (ALS) Accreditation and Equivalency (A&E) Test” (Sec. 6). Its implementing rules, dated June 30, 2022 and published in the Official Gazette on December 12, 2022, add learners already enrolled in the formal system or in other alternative delivery modes who cannot complete secondary education because of “limited time, geographical accessibility of the school, physical impairment, financial difficulties, and/or social and family problems” (IRR, Sec. 22). The IRR calls the OHSS “an alternative delivery mode under the formal system” that “should be distinguished from the alternative learning system of education” (Sec. 4).

What a school must do to offer it.

The school that runs the program is the “mother high school”, which “maintains full administrative management and instructional supervision and control over one or more learning centers” (RA 10665, Sec. 3(c)). The SDS designates an Education Program Supervisor as OHSS Division Coordinator (IRR, Sec. 10). Community advisers are hired by the LGU, with honoraria “to be arranged with the local school board”; since senior high school has been fully implemented, source persons are hired and paid by the SDO over the mother high school (RA 10665, Sec. 9; IRR, Sec. 14). OHSS learners take the national assessments, and promotion follows DepEd’s prevailing policies (IRR, Sec. 30). A learner “may be mainstreamed into the regular school” at any point (IRR, Sec. 26.4).

Night High School

What it is and whom it serves. “The Night High School program aims to provide opportunity to high school learners to finish basic education through evening classes. The program is intended for high school learners, of legal age, who are working” (DO 21, s. 2019, Annex 3, item 22). DM 050 describes it as “ideal for high school learners of legal age who are employed full-time” (Encl. No. 1, item 4.a).

What a school must do. The secondary school submits to the SDO “a night class program to be completed in 4 to 5 years for Junior Night High School and 2 to 2 ½ years for Senior Night High School”. Classes begin “not earlier than 4:30 in the afternoon” and end “not later than 9:30 in the evening”, and may include Saturday classes. Technology and Livelihood Education competencies may be completed in the learner’s workplace under the supervision of the TLE teacher and the partner employer. “All other program schemes must be approved by the Schools Division Office” (item 23). As of November 14, 2026, no later order has replaced these items; DO 21 cites DECS Order No. 88, s. 1997 as their origin.

Rural Farm School

What it is. RA 10618, the Rural Farm Schools Act (2013), set up Rural Farm Schools (RFS) as an alternative delivery mode of secondary education. Its implementing rules, DO 36, s. 2015, define an RFS as one that “provides for facilitative and experiential learning on the core subjects of the secondary education curriculum with focus on agri-fisheries, designed to address the needs of children in rural, agricultural, and fishing communities” (Sec. 3(c)). DM 050 says it reinforces this IRR, which “institutionalizes Rural Farm School (RFS) as an authorized formal schooling program” (Encl. No. 1, item 2).

Who it serves. “Graduates of elementary school education, regardless of age, shall be eligible to enroll” (Sec. 11). When a school cannot take everyone, relatives of agrarian reform beneficiaries up to the third degree in the descending line get priority (Sec. 13), and learners from disadvantaged sectors are prioritized (Sec. 14).

What a school must do. DepEd selects, among the public high schools in each province, the school that may offer the program, giving priority to existing agricultural and fishery schools (Sec. 4). A public school must be outside the 30-kilometer radius of an existing RFS, have qualified teachers or tutors, technical staff and facilities, have a memorandum of agreement with the LGU and other partners, and have an established school governing council (Sec. 5). The curriculum follows DepEd’s core secondary curriculum with a focus on agri-fishery, farm entrepreneurship and community development, and the school may use the alternance system, in which learners alternate between periods in school and in the family enterprise (Secs. 7.1, 15 and 16). “Rural farm schools shall not be allowed to operate unless accredited and/or recognized by the DepEd” (Sec. 20). DepEd monitors and evaluates RFS at least twice a year (Sec. 21). Public RFS charge no tuition or other fees except those DepEd authorizes (Sec. 10).

Homeschooling

What it is. DO 001, s. 2022, the Revised Policy Guidelines on Homeschooling Program, governs. A homeschool learner is “officially enrolled in a public or private school”, does not attend regular classes, and learns at home “with their parents/guardians taking primary responsibility for their learning” (Sec. III.6). The order repealed DECS Memorandum No. 216, s. 1997 and the home school section of DO 21, s. 2019, Annex 3.

Who it serves. Kindergarten to Senior High School learners whose parents choose homeschooling, for reasons that include being at risk of dropping out, special educational needs, a medical condition, emergencies or conflict areas, unpleasant experiences in school, parents’ jobs that require constant travel, and relocation (Sec. V.C.1).

What a school must do.

A school that does not offer the program “shall facilitate the learner’s transfer to a school that offers the program”, or may apply for authority itself (Sec. VI, para. 7). The school may mainstream the learner into a regular class “in the event of poor performance, a report of abuse, negligence, or bullying” (Sec. VI, para. 23).

The order’s assessment provisions cite DO 8, s. 2015 and speak of quarters. For public schools in SY 2026-2027, DO 015, s. 2026 now governs classroom assessment (Sec. II, para. 5), and its Annex A, Sec. D applies to FLP learners.

School-initiated interventions

What it is. DM 050 defines a school-initiated intervention (SII) as “a FLP developed by schools to address specific dropout problems faced by their learners. The school and its key stakeholders develop these programs after considering the school’s unique context and problems” (Encl. No. 1, item 4.a). It is the most open of the five: no issuance prescribes its form.

Where issued texts use it. DO 015, s. 2026 names the SII twice: as the vehicle for back subjects in conditional promotion (Sec. VIII, para. 67.c) and among the interventions for learners with prolonged or recurring absences (Annex D, item 22.b). DO 74, s. 2010, on the Dropout Reduction Program (DORP) in public secondary schools, “encourages all school heads to mainstream or integrate this Program” in their School Improvement Plan. Its approach uses “the Family, Individual, Community and School (FICS) Analysis to facilitate the identification of students-at-risk of dropping out (SARDO)”, and “A DORP plan shall be crafted by the school team after the final analysis and identification of potential dropouts.”

What a school does. Design the intervention with its stakeholders from its own data, put it in the School Improvement Plan, and keep its records for the SDO. No issued text requires prior approval. The one general step on record is in DO 21, s. 2019, Annex 3: public schools “are required to inform their Schools Division Office through a letter addressed to the SDS everytime [sic] a new ADM is offered by the school” (item 5). DM 050 allocates its fund by “the number of schools authorized to offer an FLP” and pays for the SDO’s validation and field monitoring of “FLP applications” (Encl. No. 1, items 5 and 10), so a school that wants the fund for an intervention should expect the SDO to validate it.

Rotational learning

Rotational learning appears in the briefer’s list of six and in its figure, but the briefer does not define it, and as of November 14, 2026 no issued order or memorandum uses the term. DM 050 leaves it out of its list of FLPs.

The nearest issued model is the Modified In-School Off-School Approach (MISOSA) in DO 21, s. 2019, Annex 3 (items 19 to 21). It is for Grades 4 to 6 classes of at least 50 learners: one group studies in school while the other learns independently with a para-teacher or learning facilitator, and the groups switch “periodically (e.g. a week, or a month)”. Learners first take a reading test; those not ready for independent learning stay in the in-school group; parents are oriented first. In senior high school, DO 017’s asynchronous sessions for schools on shifts serve a similar need.

DM 050 does not list MISOSA as an FLP, and DO 009 exempts from its five-day cap only modalities “governed by the issuance on Flexible Learning Programs”. No text settles whether a rotation scheme falls under that exemption. The safer course is to get the SDO’s approval in writing before any group of learners spends regular class days away from school.

Learning modalities in an FLP

The briefer separates the arrangement (who the program serves and how it is organized) from the modality (how lessons reach the learner). It names four modalities, “in-person learning, blended learning, modular, and online distance learning”, usable “according to the varying contexts of learners”. The policy summary handout adds that schools can use them “singly or in combination”.

That distinction is already in issued texts. DO 21, s. 2019, Annex 3 describes face-to-face learning, distance learning, and blended learning as “a combination of face-to-face and distance modalities” (item 4). DO 014, s. 2026 defines the learning experiences used during emergencies: print modules, digital modules, online synchronous classes, broadcast materials, and home learning support (para. 6.i). Each arrangement leans on certain modalities. The OHSS is “a fully distance learning program” (DM 050), night high school is in-person in the evening, and homeschooling happens “primarily at home”.

Learner profiling: the Learner Access Survey, ILRT and FICS tool

The briefer says profiling “shall be done to guide instructional planning, learner support, and the appropriate usage of the FLPs”, using three tools “in conjunction with each other”. Only one of the three has an issued basis for FLP use.

Schools already collect related information under issued rules:

• DO 014, s. 2026 requires capability mapping “to understand the teachers’ and learners’ capacity to engage in different learning experiences”, done “as part of the early registration process before each school year” (para. 28).
• The Basic Education Enrollment Form asks parents which distance modalities they would prefer “If the school will implement other distance learning modalities aside from face-to-face instruction” (DO 017, s. 2025, Annex B, item 8).
• The Homeschooling Form records the reasons for homeschooling and the documents that verify them (DO 001, s. 2022, Annex 2).
• The open high school interview gives “a complete profile of the learner’s socio-economic, health and psycho-social background” (IRR of RA 10665, Sec. 23.5).

Until the guidelines are issued, a school uses the ILRT for open high school applicants because the IRR requires it, and may use these other records to decide which arrangement fits a learner.

Learning facilitators, the Statement of Undertaking and teacher workload

The briefer says learning facilitators “shall provide guidance and support to learners enrolled in a flexible learning arrangement” and “are required to execute a Statement of Undertaking”. The handout adds that they may include “parents, volunteers, RQA personnel, or care-facility staff under school supervision”. On teachers, the briefer says a teacher becomes a learning facilitator only “if there are no suitable options left”, that the assignment is temporary and reviewed regularly, and that incentives “can be in the form of service credits, honoraria, or allowances depending on funding availability”.

Part of this already exists in issued rules for particular arrangements; the rest is announced only.

A school head can therefore count OHSS advising as one teaching load now (IRR, Sec. 17) and ask the SDS to approve service credits for Saturday OHSS classes before they are held (DO 013, s. 2024). Vacation Service Credits and Overtime Pay for Teachers explains how service credits are earned and approved.

Funding, records, monitoring, child protection and online safety

Funding

Three sources pay for FLPs today. DM 050’s Program Support Fund covers FLP-specific costs at the RO, SDO and school (see above). School MOOE covers regular operations (on keeping the two apart, see the DM 050 section above). For the OHSS, the LGU pays community advisers’ honoraria through arrangements with the local school board, and the SDO hires and pays source persons now that senior high school is fully implemented (RA 10665, Sec. 9; IRR, Sec. 14). The briefer adds nothing on funding beyond the incentives “depending on funding availability”.

Records and LIS tagging

Two issued texts require tagging in the LIS: homeschool learners (DO 001, s. 2022, Sec. VI, paras. 17 and 18) and OHSS learners, for whom the teacher adviser must ensure that each learner “is registered in DepEd’s Learner Information System (LIS) and is tagged, classified, or identified as such” (IRR of RA 10665, Sec. 16.5). Class advisers already prepare the “Report on Learners at Risk of Dropping Out”, which DO 006, s. 2025 keeps among the forms for homeroom guidance and management (Encl. No. 2). The handout says the omnibus guidelines’ annexes would add “LIS tagging” for all FLPs as a school responsibility.

Monitoring and reporting

The briefer would add a single chain for all FLPs: monitoring “at school, division, regional, and central office levels”, with schools relaying data to the SDO, the SDO analyzing it, and the RO assessing trends across divisions and intervening where needed.

Child protection and online safety

FLP learners keep every protection other learners have. DO 40, s. 2012, the DepEd Child Protection Policy, remains in force; homeschooling parents commit to its “policy of zero tolerance for any form of child abuse, exploitation, discrimination, violence, bullying, and other forms of abuse” (DO 001, s. 2022, Sec. VI, para. 5.g). DO 006, s. 2026, on a safe and motivating learning environment, supplements and “does not amend or repeal” those issuances (Sec. III). Its code of conduct for school personnel requires them to “Maintain safe physical and online environments, including proper communication channels and prohibition of cyberbullying or unauthorized sharing of learner images/ videos” and to “Supervise learners during school, online, and off-site activities, in coordination with parents/guardians” (Sec. VI.2). For the OHSS, guidance counseling belongs to a registered guidance counselor, or to one the school engages through the DSWD, the LGU or private partners; a teacher adviser may not perform acts reserved to licensed counselors (IRR of RA 10665, Secs. 6.12 and 20).

The briefer would add that FLP learning environments be “inclusive, gender-responsive, accessible, and responsive to learner needs” in every modality, with mental health and psychosocial support, “accessible reporting mechanisms”, and “safeguards for learners that use ICT”. Child Protection and Anti-Bullying for School Heads covers the procedures that apply now.

What the announced omnibus guidelines would add

The table sums up the briefer’s nine headings against the rules already in force. Everything in the third column is announced, not issued.

What this means for school heads

The school head’s work under the FLP is the same whether or not the omnibus guidelines arrive soon: find the learners, match each to an arrangement the school may lawfully run, and keep the records.

1. Find learners at risk of dropping out. Watch the attendance records (School Form 2) and act at about 12 absences or by the end of Term 1 (DO 015, Sec. VIII, para. 70). Use the Report on Learners at Risk of Dropping Out that advisers already keep, the capability mapping done at early registration (DO 014, para. 28), and the modality preferences parents give on the enrollment form. The School-Based Feeding Program also lists learners at risk of dropping out among its primary beneficiaries (DO 013, s. 2026, Encl., Sec. V.A.1).

2. Talk with the learner and the family before choosing. Learn the cause: work, illness, care duties, distance, a move to a farm, a disability, or bullying. The cause decides the arrangement.

3. Choose an arrangement the school may run.

   The learner’s situation	Arrangement to consider	Before the learner starts
   Can study independently but cannot attend daily (work, care duties, distance)	Open High School System	The school must hold RO authority; the learner takes the ILRT and reading inventory and signs a learning agreement
   Works by day and is of legal age	Night High School	A night class program submitted to the SDO
   Lives in a farming or fishing family and the province has an accredited RFS	Rural Farm School	Transfer to, or enrollment in, the accredited RFS
   Parents choose to take responsibility for schooling at home	Homeschooling	The school must hold RO authority, or help the family transfer to a school that does
   Has a short-term or school-specific problem, or a back subject	School-initiated intervention	A plan designed with stakeholders and placed in the School Improvement Plan
   Is out of school and above school age	The open high school (if the learner finished elementary school or qualified through the PEPT or A&E Test, and the school is authorized), a Rural Farm School (for elementary graduates of any age), or ALS	Admission under the open high school rules (IRR of RA 10665, Sec. 23), or referral to the ALS program

4. Document every step. Keep the letters of intent, forms, agreements, learning plans, the ILRT results, the endorsement under DO 015, and the LIS tags. Put each program in the School Improvement Plan and the Annual Improvement Plan, as the OHSS rules require (IRR of RA 10665, Sec. 34.5).

5. Fund and report through the SDO. Ask the SDO whether DM 050 funds will reach the school, spend them only on the allowed items, keep them apart from MOOE, liquidate on time, and submit the Utilization and Accomplishment Report.

6. Protect and monitor. Run the monthly OHSS evaluation, schedule home visits (with service credits where DO 013, s. 2024 allows them), and apply child protection rules to online and home-based learning.

A school head may not:

• run an open high school or homeschooling program without RO authority, or a night class program without submitting it to the SDO;
• use modular or online learning for a regular class outside local holidays and other class disruptions, or for more than five days a term during them, unless an FLP issuance governs it (DO 009, para. 32);
• lower learning standards, change grading rules or reweight components for FLP learners (DO 015, Annex A, item 20);
• steer a school-age learner into ALS, since DO 001, s. 2026 directs ALS implementers to refer school-aged learners to the formal system (para. 12);
• require a Statement of Undertaking, a Learner Access Survey or any other tool from the briefer as a condition of enrollment before DepEd issues it.

The FLP touches several PPSSH strands: program design and implementation (1.5) and policy implementation (1.3) in Domain 1, records and finance (2.1 and 2.2) in Domain 2, learning assessment and the learning environment (3.5 and 3.6) in Domain 3, and community engagement (5.5) in Domain 5. DepEd Learning Systems Reforms: SY 2026-2027 Guide shows where the FLP sits among the year’s other reforms.

How the NASH may test this

The items below are original practice items, scored 3 (Relational), 2 (Multistructural), 1 (Unistructural) or 0 (Prestructural). An option that breaks a rule scores 0.

Question 1

Indicator 1.5.2, Program design and implementation. Career Stage 2, Situational, Moderate.

You are the school head of a public secondary school that the Regional Office has authorized to run an open high school. A Grade 9 learner, aged 15, has missed 14 class days by mid-Term 1 caring for a bedridden parent and two younger siblings during the day. The family wants the learner to stay in school. A teacher suggests waiting for DepEd’s announced Flexible Learning Program guidelines before deciding anything. What is the most appropriate action?

• A. Advise the family to withdraw the learner and enroll in the Alternative Learning System, so that the learner can attend flexible sessions without daily classes.
• B. Admit the learner to the open high school after the Independent Learning Readiness Test, a reading inventory and a signed learning agreement, so study continues at home.
• C. Hold the decision until DepEd issues the new guidelines, sending home printed modules for the missed lessons so that the learner can catch up in the meantime.
• D. Move the learner into the school’s open high school and send home the modules for the rest of the term, so that the learner can study at home while caring for the family.

Answer and explanation: Question 1

Best answer: B. Points: A = 0, B = 3, C = 1, D = 2.

• A (0 points, Prestructural). The learner is enrolled and of high school age, which the IRR of RA 10665 puts at 12 to 18 (Sec. 5.2). DO 001, s. 2026 directs ALS implementers to refer school-aged learners to the formal system and opens ALS to learners above school age who dropped out. Moving an enrolled learner out of formal schooling defeats the purpose of the FLP.
• B (3 points, Relational). It uses the program the school is authorized to run and follows its admission rules: the Independent Learning Readiness Test, the reading inventory used for grouping, and a signed learning agreement. It acts now, as DO 015 allows when absences are prolonged, and keeps the learner in formal schooling. The school then tags the learner in the LIS.
• C (1 point, Unistructural). Catch-up modules answer the missed lessons, but the cause of the absences remains. Waiting for unissued guidelines delays help the school can already give under the open high school rules.
• D (2 points, Multistructural). It picks the right program and keeps the learner enrolled, but it skips the readiness test, the reading inventory, the interview and the learning agreement, and it replaces the weekly consultations with a term’s worth of modules. A learner placed this way may not be ready for self-directed study.

Why. This aligns with Career Stage 2 expectations because the school head implements a program that supports a learner whose circumstances keep them from regular classes. DO 015, s. 2026, Annex D, item 22.b allows learners with prolonged or recurring absences to be endorsed to the FLP. The IRR of RA 10665 requires the ILRT, a reading inventory, an interview and a signed learning agreement before admission (Sec. 23), and LIS tagging (Sec. 16.5). The 2-point option reaches the right program without the admission steps.

Indicator 1.5.2: Implement programs in the school that support the development of learners.

Sources: Republic Act No. 10665; Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 10665 (2022), Secs. 5.2, 16.5, 22 and 23; DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026, Annex D, item 22; DepEd Order No. 001, s. 2026, paras. 12 and 23.

Question 2

Indicator 3.5.1, Learning assessment. Career Stage 1, Conceptual, Moderate.

Under DepEd’s classroom assessment policy, which practice best reflects how a school should assess a learner enrolled in a Flexible Learning Program?

• A. Lower the passing standard and reweight the grade components, so that the grade fits the learner’s fewer contact hours with teachers.
• B. Track the learner’s progress through formative tasks during the term, so that timely feedback reaches the learner while studying with modules.
• C. Adapt the format, schedule and delivery of tasks to the learner’s situation, while keeping the same standards, grading rules and weights.
• D. Give formative tasks through the modules, then the regular class’s summative tests on the class’s own dates under the same component weights.

Answer and explanation: Question 2

Best answer: C. Points: A = 0, B = 1, C = 3, D = 2.

• A (0 points, Prestructural). DO 015 states that adaptations “shall not lower learning standards, modify grading rules, or alter assessment weightings”. This option does both things the order forbids.
• B (1 point, Unistructural). Formative assessment does continue for FLP learners, with timely feedback (item 18), but the order keeps it out of grade computation. The option covers only that one element and leaves out the summative assessment and grading the order still requires.
• C (3 points, Relational). It joins the two halves of the rule: delivery, scheduling and format may change to fit the learner’s context and access, while standards, grading rules and weights stay fixed, so the grade means the same thing as any other learner’s.
• D (2 points, Multistructural). It gets two elements right, formative tasks that continue through the modules and summative tests under the same weights, but it holds the learner to the class’s test dates. The order allows summative assessments to be adapted in format, delivery and scheduling for learners who cannot keep those dates, which is why they are in an FLP.

Why. This aligns with Career Stage 1 expectations because it asks for an understanding of how assessment tools and strategies apply to learners in different arrangements, consistent with curriculum requirements. DO 015, s. 2026, Annex A, Sec. D keeps the “same purposes, standards, and principles” for FLP learners (item 17), allows summative assessments to be “adapted in format or delivery” (item 19), and forbids lowering standards or changing grading rules and weights (item 20). The 2-point option keeps formative tasks and the weights but misses the allowed adaptation.

Indicator 3.5.1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of learning assessment tools, strategies and utilization of results consistent with curriculum requirements.

Sources: DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026, Annex A, Sec. D, items 17 to 20.

Nothing in this guide reproduces or predicts examination content.

Frequently asked questions

Has DepEd released the DepEd Order on the Flexible Learning Program?

No. As of November 14, 2026, DepEd has issued no order or memorandum containing the omnibus FLP guidelines; its newest order is DO 023, s. 2026 and its newest memorandum DM 064, s. 2026. The policy briefer last updated April 13, 2026 announces the guidelines. Until they are issued, each arrangement follows its own law or order, and DO 009, 014, 015 and 017, s. 2026 and DM 050, s. 2026 set the FLP rules that apply now.

Is the Flexible Learning Program the same as ALS?

No. An FLP is formal schooling for enrolled learners who cannot attend regular classes consistently (DO 014, s. 2026, para. 6.d), and it follows DepEd’s regular curriculum. ALS is a parallel, non-formal system for out-of-school children in special cases, youth and adults, under its own curriculum (DO 001, s. 2026, para. 1). ALS implementers refer school-age learners to the formal system (para. 12).

Can a public school offer homeschooling?

Yes, with authority from the Regional Office. The school sends a letter of intent, an implementation plan and a training plan for parents to the RO through the SDO, and the authorization is valid for two years (DO 001, s. 2022, Sec. VI). A school without authority helps the family transfer to a school that has it.

Who can enroll in an Open High School?

Youth and adults who finished elementary school, PEPT and A&E qualifiers, and learners already in the formal system who cannot complete secondary education regularly because of time, distance, disability, finances or family problems (RA 10665, Sec. 6; IRR, Sec. 22). Applicants take the Independent Learning Readiness Test and a reading inventory, are interviewed, and sign a learning agreement (IRR, Sec. 23).

Does the five-day limit on modular or online learning apply to FLP learners?

Not for learners in the open high school or homeschooling. DO 009, s. 2026 limits alternative delivery for regular classes to local holidays and other disruptions, at most five days per term, and says the limit “shall not apply to modalities governed by the issuance on Flexible Learning Programs (FLP)” (para. 32). That issuance has not been issued as of November 14, 2026, but the open high school and homeschooling run under their own law and order (RA 10665 and its IRR; DO 001, s. 2022). For a school-initiated intervention or a rotation that keeps learners on modules, no text yet settles it: get the SDO’s approval in writing first.

Sources

DepEd issuances

• DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2026, Guidelines on the Implementation of the Three-Term School Calendar in Basic Education, April 16, 2026: Sec. V.F, paras. 31 and 32; paras. 5 and 41.
• DepEd Order No. 014, s. 2026, Guidelines on Learning Continuity in Emergencies, June 4, 2026: paras. 6.d, 6.i, 28, 64 and 101; table in Sec. V.J.
• DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026, Revised Guidelines on Classroom Assessment, Grading System, and Awards and Recognition for the K to 12 Basic Education Program, June 4, 2026: Sec. II, para. 5; Sec. VIII, paras. 67 and 70; Annex A, Sec. D, items 17 to 20; Annex D, item 22.
• DepEd Order No. 017, s. 2026, Strengthened Senior High School Curriculum, June 4, 2026: Sec. VI, paras. 21 and 24; Table 8.
• DepEd Order No. 013, s. 2026, Institutional Guidelines on the Implementation of the School-Based Feeding Program, June 4, 2026: Encl., Sec. V.A.1.
• DepEd Order No. 006, s. 2026, Guidelines on Ensuring a Safe and Motivating Learning Environment (ESMLE), March 24, 2026: Secs. III and VI.2.
• DepEd Order No. 001, s. 2026, Implementing Guidelines of the Enhanced Alternative Learning System, January 19, 2026: paras. 1, 12 and 23.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 050, s. 2026, Implementing Guidelines on the Release, Utilization, Monitoring, and Reporting of the Program Support Fund for Flexible Learning Programs under the FLO-ADM Fund Source, August 25, 2026: items 1 to 3; Encl. No. 1, items 1 to 16, 28 to 38; Encl. No. 2.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 024, s. 2026, Clarifying the Flexibility of Private Schools to Adopt Learning and Training Delivery Modalities amid the National Energy Emergency, April 7, 2026: items 3 to 8; Enclosure.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 017, s. 2026, Observance of Flexible Working Hours for Muslim Teaching and Nonteaching Personnel During the Holy Month of Ramadan, March 6, 2026: items 2, 5 and 6.
• DepEd Order No. 017, s. 2025, Revised Basic Education Enrollment Policy, June 13, 2025: Annex B, item 8.
• DepEd Order No. 006, s. 2025, Guidelines on the Streamlining of School Forms and Reports Accomplished by Teachers, March 20, 2025: Encl. No. 2.
• DepEd Order No. 013, s. 2024, Revised Guidelines on the Grant of Vacation Service Credits for Teachers, September 18, 2024: Sec. V.A, items 4 and 8.j; Sec. VI.A.
• DepEd Order No. 001, s. 2022, Revised Policy Guidelines on Homeschooling Program, January 21, 2022: Secs. III, V and VI; Annexes 2 to 4.
• DepEd Order No. 021, s. 2019, Policy Guidelines on the K to 12 Basic Education Program, August 22, 2019: Annex 3, items 1 to 27.
• DepEd Order No. 36, s. 2015, Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act No. 10618, August 12, 2015: Secs. 3 to 5, 7.1, 10, 11, 13 to 16, 20 and 21.
• DepEd Order No. 43, s. 2013, Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 10533, September 24, 2013: Sec. 8.5.
• DepEd Order No. 40, s. 2012, DepEd Child Protection Policy, May 14, 2012.
• DepEd Order No. 74, s. 2010, Guidelines on Mainstreaming the Dropout Reduction Program (DORP) in the Public Secondary Schools, June 4, 2010.

Laws and implementing rules

• Republic Act No. 10665, An Act Establishing the Open High School System in the Philippines and Appropriating Funds Therefor (Open High School System Act), July 9, 2015: Secs. 3, 4, 6 and 9.
• Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 10665, June 30, 2022, 118 OG No. 50, 13541 (December 12, 2022): Secs. 4, 5.2, 6.12, 8 to 10, 14, 16 to 18, 20, 22 to 26, 30 and 34 to 37.
• Republic Act No. 10618, An Act Establishing Rural Farm Schools as Alternative Delivery Mode of Secondary Education and Appropriating Funds Therefor (Rural Farm Schools Act), September 3, 2013, as implemented by DO 36, s. 2015.
• Executive Order No. 110, s. 2026, declaring a state of national energy emergency, signed March 24, 2026, as reported by PTV News the same day: the emergency lasts one year unless extended or lifted by the President.

DepEd orientation materials (announced policy, not issuances)

• DepEd Learning Systems Strand, Omnibus Policy Guidelines on the Implementation of the Flexible Learning Program: Policy Briefer, last updated April 13, 2026, in the SY 2026-2027 orientation package: Sections A to I.
• DepEd Learning Systems Strand, Learning Systems Strand Policies (policy summary handout), SY 2026-2027 orientation package: “Flexible Learning Programs” table.

Learning Systems reforms, SY 2026-2027

• DepEd Learning Systems Reforms: SY 2026-2027 Guide
• DepEd Three-Term School Calendar 2026-2027: DO 009 Guide
• DepEd Opening Block: The First Weeks of Term 1
• From Curriculum to Lesson: Unpacking and Budget of Work
• DepEd ILAW Lesson Plan, DO 016, s. 2026: School Head’s Role
• ILAW Lesson Plan: How to Write One, With Samples
• DepEd Pedagogy Cards: 50 Teaching Strategies by Key Stage
• DepEd Grading System, DO 015, s. 2026: School Head’s Role
• DepEd E-Class Record and SF9 for SY 2026-2027
• DepEd Learning Continuity in Emergencies: DO 014, s. 2026
• DepEd Flexible Learning Program (FLP) Explained (this post)
• MATATAG Curriculum and Strengthened SHS in SY 2026-2027
• Strengthened SHS Electives: Full List by Cluster
• Work Immersion Guidelines 2026: DepEd Order No. 023, s. 2026

Written by Mark Anthony Llego for NASH Reviewer. Sources: DepEd Orders No. 009, 014, 015, 017, 013, 006 and 001, s. 2026, No. 017 and 006, s. 2025, No. 013, s. 2024, No. 001, s. 2022, No. 021, s. 2019, No. 36, s. 2015, No. 43, s. 2013, No. 40, s. 2012 and No. 74, s. 2010; DepEd Memoranda No. 050, 024 and 017, s. 2026; Republic Acts No. 10665 and 10618 and the IRR of RA 10665; DepEd’s FLP policy briefer and policy summary handout.