Leading a Small or Multigrade School in DepEd

A multigrade class in DepEd is “a class of 2 or more grades under one teacher in a complete or incomplete elementary school”. The order that defines it, DECS Order No. 96, s. 1997, still sets how such classes are sized and organized. No single issuance governs a small school as a whole. Its school head works under orders written for every school, and several now carry a multigrade provision: the 2024 amendment to the MATATAG curriculum guidelines, the 2026 three-term calendar with its sample multigrade class programs, the 2026 lesson planning guidelines, and the rules on the special hardship allowance.

In School Year (SY) 2023–2024, 5,974 public schools had multigrade classes. The median one had 70 learners and four teachers, and 64.3% reported no school head position, so a teacher-in-charge (TIC), an officer-in-charge or the head of a school cluster led it. These heads manage combined classes, funds and records with little or no administrative staff and depend on the Schools Division Office (SDO) for most decisions on teachers and class organization. The rules below are those in force on November 6, 2026.

Key findings

• DO 96, s. 1997 still sets the multigrade class rules. A class has at least 8 and at most 35 learners, and a class of more than three grades “should be converted to at most 3 grades to a class” when teachers and facilities allow (Sec. II). As of November 6, 2026, no later order has replaced these rules.
• 5,974 public schools had multigrade classes in SY 2023–2024, 15.2% of the 39,341 public schools with elementary class data. Their multigrade classes held 280,087 learners, 2.0% of public elementary learners, and 78.7% of these schools had 100 learners or fewer (DepEd learner data).
• Most multigrade schools have no principal. 8.8% reported a School Principal position, 26.9% a head teacher only and 64.3% no school head position (DepEd personnel data, SY 2023–2024).
• DepEd’s 2026 sample schedules pair grades. DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2026 gives sample schedules, not required programs, for Grades 1 and 2, 3 and 4, and 5 and 6, with Friday as a “Consolidated Assessment Day”. DepEd Order No. 016, s. 2026 lets a multigrade teacher write one integrated lesson plan for two or three grades.
• The multigrade basis for hardship pay needs a “pure” multigrade school. Multigrade teachers and school heads in a school with only combined classes, Kindergarten aside, receive a special hardship allowance of 25% of monthly salary for ten months a year; the multigrade basis ends once the school runs a monograde class (DepEd Order No. 039, s. 2021, kept in force by DepEd Memorandum No. 045, s. 2024).
• A teacher-in-charge is relieved of teaching. A TIC teaches only in the exigency of service, after every teacher in the school carries the two-hour maximum overload (DepEd Order No. 005, s. 2024). Administrative work belongs to the school head and non-teaching staff, whom the division may share among up to three schools (DepEd Order No. 002, s. 2024).

Which DepEd issuances govern multigrade classes and small schools

DO 96, s. 1997 defines the multigrade class (Sec. I), sets its size (Sec. II) and gives its organization to the field offices: “Regional Directors and Schools Division Superintendents shall organize Multigrade classes to provide access to schools for children in far-flung barangays and to complete incomplete schools” (Sec. II). Two of its provisions have been overtaken. The curriculum it names (Sec. IV) has given way to the one adopted by DepEd Order No. 010, s. 2024, and its special hardship allowance (Sec. V.d) is now governed by DO 039, s. 2021, which rescinds “All existing DepEd issuances inconsistent” with it (para. 2).

DepEd Order No. 81, s. 2009 was issued “To address recurring issues in the implementation” of DO 96; it covers training, the retention of trained teachers and division monitoring (item 2). DepEd Order No. 63, s. 2010 added a subsidy for multigrade schools, and later program funds were set year by year; the most recent order, DepEd Order No. 036, s. 2021, covered printed learning activity sheets for calendar year 2021 only. The K to 12 policy guidelines, DepEd Order No. 021, s. 2019, restate the program’s aims and note that some secondary and integrated schools also group grades under one teacher (paras. 57–58 and 81). Paragraphs 59 and 81 promise separate issuances on program standards and on multigrade secondary schools; as of November 6, 2026, DepEd has issued neither.

The newer multigrade provisions sit in general orders: the curriculum amendment DepEd Order No. 012, s. 2024, the 2026 calendar, lesson planning and assessment orders, and the Last Mile and GIDA Schools Act, Republic Act No. 12321, approved on July 22, 2026.

How many small and multigrade schools there are

DepEd’s SY 2023–2024 learner data count, school by school, elementary learners in monograde and multigrade classes. Of the 47,814 public schools with learners, 39,341 report elementary class data; the other 8,473, almost all of them secondary schools, report none. Of the 39,341, 5,974 (15.2%) had at least one multigrade class, which is 12.5% of all public schools. Their multigrade classes held 280,087 learners, 2.0% of the 14.0 million public elementary learners. In 3,524 of these schools, 59.0% of them, every Grade 1 to 6 learner was in a multigrade class. Kindergarten was combined with other grades in 1,440 schools, for 11,654 learners.

Multigrade schools are small schools. The median one had 70 learners, against 234 in public schools with elementary classes but no multigrade class, and the median number of teachers was four. Three in four (75.7%) had fewer than six teachers, and 13.3% reported at least one master teacher.

Public schools with learners and elementary class data, SY 2023–2024. Data: DepEd Learner Data, SY 2023–2024.

Region VIII had the most multigrade schools, 1,208, and CAR the highest share, 39.7% of its schools with elementary classes; Region III had 80 and NCR 3. The learner data report maps every region.

Small schools are more numerous than multigrade ones. In SY 2023–2024, 8,530 public schools, 17.8% of the total, had 100 learners or fewer; 4,699 of them had multigrade classes. Three of the indicators DepEd listed in 2019 for identifying Last Mile Schools describe these schools: “Having multigrade classes/rooms”, “With less than five teachers” and “Having a student population of less than 100 learners” (DepEd Memorandum No. 059, s. 2019, para. 2). RA 12321 directs DepEd to issue new criteria (Sec. 4). The Last Mile Schools report gives their classroom needs.

DepEd’s Basic Education Development Plan 2030 (BEDP 2030), adopted by DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2022, cites a SEAMEO INNOTECH count of 12,799 multigrade schools in SY 2009–2010 and 7,234 in SY 2017–2018, from a different source than the 5,974 above, and places “the main challenges” in “the multiple roles of the teachers, the difficulties for school heads and supervisors to provide adequate instructional support, and the absence of a responsive M&E system” (BEDP 2030, p. 60).

Within the same division, a fully multigrade school scores about four points lower on the Grade 3 ELLNA and the Grade 6 NAT than a fully monograde one (analysis of school inputs and test results). It is an association, not an effect: multigrade schools are also small, remote and poorer.

Who leads small and multigrade schools

The Governance of Basic Education Act, Republic Act No. 9155, requires a school head “for all public elementary schools and public high schools or a cluster thereof” (Sec. 7(E)), not a principal. In a small school that person may be a School Principal; a head teacher, a position that gets no new items under Republic Act No. 12288 (Sec. 6); a School Head Designate, a retained or retitled head teacher or assistant principal sent by an SDS order to a school “with no School Principal item” (DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2025, Encl. No. 1, Sec. 34); a teacher-in-charge designated by the SDS (DO 005, s. 2024, Sec. V.A.1, item 5); or one head for a cluster of schools.

In SY 2023–2024, fewer than one in ten multigrade schools, or schools of 100 learners or fewer, reported a principal.

Highest school leadership position each school reports; the remainder report an assistant principal only (0.4% of all schools, 0.1% or less in the other rows). Data: DepEd School Personnel and Learner Data, SY 2023–2024.

Size explains much of the pattern. DepEd Order No. 77, s. 2010 allocated a Principal I item to “every complete elementary or secondary school” with at least nine teachers and a Head Teacher I item to every school with at least six, or to “a cluster of at least three (3) schools” that reached those totals (item 2.b–c). Three in four multigrade schools had fewer than six teachers. DBM–DepEd Joint Circular No. 01, s. 2025 replaced the teacher-count basis with “One (1) plantilla item per school regardless of position title” (Sec. 9.1), but items need funding. At the Senate hearing of October 16, 2026, DepEd reported about 23,000 of 45,928 public schools without formal principal items, and EDCOM II counts 13,313 schools with neither a principal nor a head teacher. The proposed 2027 budget funds no new principal items (EDCOM II news release, October 18, 2026).

A teacher-in-charge holds a designation, not a position, under an order that specifies “duties and functions, authority, accountability, and responsibility” (DO 005, s. 2024, Sec. V.A.1, item 5). Principal, Head Teacher or Teacher-in-Charge in DepEd covers what a TIC may sign, and the report on principals and head teachers gives school-level figures.

How classes are organized and scheduled under the current curriculum

Class size and grade combinations

DO 96, s. 1997 sets the limits: “The minimum enrolment of 8 pupils and the maximum of 35 pupils per class shall be observed. Whenever possible and when teachers and other facilities warrant, MG classes composed of more than three (3) grades per class should be converted to at most 3 grades to a class” (Sec. II). The same section gives the organizing of classes to the Regional Director and the SDS.

For example, a school of 72 learners with four teachers might run Kindergarten as its own class and three multigrade classes: Grades 1 and 2 (21 learners), Grades 3 and 4 (22) and Grades 5 and 6 (21). If enrollment grows past 35 in one class, or a teacher leaves and grades must be merged, the change goes to the SDS. DO 96 gives priority for teacher items to schools whose multigrade classes exceed 35 learners or three grades (Sec. III.c).

Time allotment and the class program

DO 012, s. 2024 gives schools flexibility “in consideration of their specific contexts, such as, but not limited to, typology (the type and size of the school)”, for Grades 3 to 10 (para. 2). Besides two standard options, a school may propose another combination with at least five hours and 30 minutes of learning contact a day, and “The proposed combination shall be subject to the approval of the schools division superintendent or authorized representative” (para. 2.b). SDOs “shall ensure that technical assistance is provided to schools in the preparation of class programs” (para. 4). The order also adds the Multigrade Program in Philippine Education to the curriculum’s support programs (para. 7).

DO 009, s. 2026, the three-term calendar, gives three sample multigrade schedules for the Instructional Block (Annex A, Tables 7 to 9). They are samples, not required programs.

Source: DO 009, s. 2026, Annex A, Tables 7 to 9.

None of the samples includes Kindergarten. DO 009 also leaves pacing to teachers: its Budget of Work gives a recommended number of weeks, and “Regional and Division Offices are advised to refrain from prescribing a set number of days for the accomplishment of learning competencies” (Encl. para. 25).

Planning lessons, assessment and supervision for combined grades

Lesson plans

DO 016, s. 2026 puts multigrade teachers under the same lesson planning standards as everyone else, with one allowance: “multigrade teachers may use integrated lesson planning templates that accommodate two (2) or three (3) grade levels simultaneously, provided that all essential lesson plan components are maintained” (Encl. item 14). The components are the four elements of its ILAW framework: Intentions, Learning Experience, Assessing Learning and Ways Forward (item 7). Offices and schools “shall not require additional or expanded lesson plan templates, supplementary forms, or documentation beyond the simplified standards” (item 21). School heads use the order’s rubric in coaching, “not as a compliance checklist or scoring tool for paperwork completion” (items 8–9). The ILAW lesson planning guide covers the framework.

An integrated plan still states the competencies targeted for each grade. No issuance prescribes what to observe in a multigrade class; a useful question is whether one grade can work on its task without waiting while the teacher teaches the other. The instructional supervision guide gives the general cycle.

Assessment and awards

Grading follows DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026 as in any school, and DO 009 sets two teacher-made summative tests and a term examination in each term (Encl. para. 27). One rule is written for small schools: each school organizes an awards committee for each grade level, but “In small schools, only one (1) AC may be organized”. The committee needs at least three members from the teaching staff, in an odd number, and none may be related “within the second degree of consanguinity or affinity” to a candidate (DO 015, s. 2026, Annex H, item 8).

Who supervises instruction

In a small school, the school head is usually the only instructional supervisor on site. Help comes from three places:

• The district. The schools district supervisor gives “professional and instructional advice and support to the school heads and teachers/facilitators” and “shall primarily perform staff functions and shall not exercise administrative supervision over school principals, unless specifically authorized by the proper authorities” (Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 9155, DepEd Order No. 1, s. 2003, Rule V, Sec. 5.1).
• The division. DO 81, s. 2009 puts monitoring and technical assistance for the multigrade program at the division level (item 2.f), and DO 012, s. 2024 makes the SDO responsible for help with class programs (para. 4).
• Master teachers. The staffing standard for multigrade schools and hardship posts is one master teacher item “for every three (3) teachers within the school” (DO 024, s. 2025, Encl. No. 1, Sec. 29.g; JC 01, s. 2025, Sec. 9.1), against one for every five in other elementary schools. Master teachers “guide other teachers in the school or cluster of schools” (DO 024, s. 2025, Encl. No. 1, Sec. 36.b); in SY 2023–2024, 13.3% of multigrade schools reported one.

Learning action cells by cluster

A school with four teachers is below the five to 15 members DepEd Order No. 35, s. 2016 suggests for one learning action cell (LAC) (item 17.3). The order provides for LACs “in schools or in clusters if multigrade schools prefer to conduct them by cluster” (item 12), and “Multigrade schools may be clustered in different ways by the district or division supervisors based on the objectives of the LACs to be conducted” (item 17.3). Sessions “should be conducted at least once a month”, and clustered schools may meet through information and communications technology when face-to-face sessions are hard to hold (item 17.5). DO 009 keeps LAC sessions “within the Instructional Block”; the Friday collaborative session in the multigrade samples is the natural slot, though DO 009 promises separate guidelines on LAC scheduling (Encl. para. 22), not issued as of November 6, 2026. The LAC guide covers roles and records.

Workload, allowances and support for multigrade teachers and school heads

DO 005, s. 2024 sets the same workday, overload and assignment rules for a multigrade teacher as for any teacher and has no separate rule for a combined class; the workload toolkit guide covers them. The rules that weigh most in a small school:

The special hardship allowance

DO 039, s. 2021 pays 25% of monthly salary for ten months a year, released quarterly (Sec. V.2), and the amount depends on “the number of actual days the personnel is physically present in the school” (Sec. VI.2.b). It defines a pure multigrade school as one “that solely offers combined classes of two or more grade levels except for Kindergarten” (Sec. III.i). Four points decide most cases:

• Which teachers. “Multi-grade teachers in pure multi-grade schools” and “School heads assigned in hardship post or pure multi-grade schools” qualify, as do “All teachers in elementary and secondary schools in hardship post” identified by the Hardship Index (Sec. V.1). The index cut-off is 0.33 (DepEd Order No. 017, s. 2023, para. 2).
• One basis only. A teacher in a pure multigrade school that is also a hardship post receives the allowance “on only one criterion” (Sec. V.3).
• When it stops. It is withdrawn when “The school is no longer a pure MG school (offering both MG and monograde classes)” or the teacher moves to a school that is neither (Sec. V.4). A pure multigrade school that opens even one monograde class is no longer pure, so the multigrade basis ends for all its teachers; a hardship-post basis is not affected.
• Cluster heads. “A cluster school head handling two or more hardship posts/pure MG schools shall be qualified to receive SHA in proportion to the actual number of days he/she is present in those schools” (Sec. VI.2.c).

The Bureau of Learning Delivery lists the pure multigrade schools, and the SDO’s Curriculum Implementation Division (CID) lists the qualified staff (Sec. VI.3.c–d). The School Governance and Operations Division (SGOD) answers for the accuracy of the BEIS data and the CID for the pure multigrade data, and “Issues concerning inclusion and exclusion of schools in SHA shall be addressed by these said offices” (Sec. VII.3). DO 039 defines the school head by function (Sec. III.j) and does not say whether a teacher-in-charge counts; the SDO personnel unit, which prepares the allowance payroll (Sec. VI.3.g), is the office to ask.

DO 017, s. 2023 promised new guidelines for FY 2024. Instead, DM 045, s. 2024 adopted DO 017 “as the prevailing guidelines for SHA implementation for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 and FYs thereafter, or until the issuance of a new policy on the matter” (para. 3). As of November 6, 2026, no new policy has been issued. On overload pay for teachers who receive the allowance, see the teaching overload pay guide.

The Last Mile and GIDA Schools Act

RA 12321 sets up a program for schools “in remote, hard-to-reach, underserved, or economically disadvantaged communities” (Secs. 3.e and 4). Its personnel provisions direct DepEd; they are not yet benefits. Teachers and non-teaching personnel “may be eligible for additional compensation and allowances, separate from existing benefits, which may include, but are not limited to, special hardship allowance and mobility assistance” (Sec. 10.a). The Act also calls for a separate MOOE formula for these schools (Sec. 9.b), a Teacher Education Council system of credit points for “teachers and school heads in Last Mile and GIDA Schools” in scholarships and career advancement (Sec. 10.c), and an annual published list of the schools covered (Sec. 14.b).

Finances, records and reports with few personnel

School funds

Most small schools are non-implementing units: they have no bookkeeper or disbursing officer and receive their Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) from the SDO as cash advances (DepEd Order No. 008, s. 2019, Sec. V.B.2.2). The school head, designated by the SDS as special disbursing officer, gets bonded, draws the advance and liquidates it monthly; the next advance needs a register covering at least 75% of the last one (Sec. V.C.3). DepEd Order No. 029, s. 2019 sets the cash advance procedure for MOOE and program funds. Three rules matter more in a small school:

• Quarterly releases. “Non-IUs receiving monthly MOOE of Php20,000.00 and below” receive three months’ requirements at once, “within the first week of every month/quarter, subject to availability of cash allocations” (DO 008, s. 2019, Sec. V.B.3).
• The TIC reports too. The reporting duties, from declaring every source of funds to keeping the transparency board, are addressed to “Principals/School Heads/Teachers-in-Charge” (Sec. VI.A).
• The School Innovation and Improvement Fund (SIIF). For FY 2026, “All non-implementing public elementary, junior high, and senior high schools shall be eligible”, and “No recipient school shall receive an allocation lower than P50,000”; schools of 500 learners or fewer receive PHP 50,000, or PHP 55,000 in third- to fifth-class municipalities. The fund pays for activities in the School Improvement Plan and Annual Implementation Plan that “focus on literacy and numeracy goals”, and it is released “Consistent with” DO 029, s. 2019 (DepEd Memorandum No. 048, s. 2026, Encl. Secs. III.1–2, Table 1, V.2 and V.3.a).

Allowed uses and liquidation are in the school MOOE guide; a TIC taking over a school’s funds should first read the turnover steps in the teacher-in-charge guide.

Administrative support

Under DO 002, s. 2024, “School Heads and non-teaching personnel shall have the sole responsibility” for six areas of administrative work, from personnel and property to finance, records and programs (Sec. V.A.1). For schools without enough non-teaching staff, SDOs cluster deployed personnel, “with each cluster being composed of a maximum of three (3) schools”, and may hire contract-of-service or job-order staff (Secs. V.A.2 and IX). The guide to DO 002 gives the 2026 staff and funding terms.

Records and reports

• School forms. Teachers prepare only the forms tied to their ancillary tasks and teaching-related assignments (DepEd Order No. 006, s. 2025, para. 4). The school records guide covers custody and requests.
• The eSF7. The school head accomplishes School Form 7 at the beginning of the school year, with non-teaching staff assisting (DepEd Memorandum No. 052, s. 2023, Encl. item 1). DO 005 makes it the “basis for future management action and decision on workload assignments or request for additional manpower” (Sec. V.A.4, item 3).
• BEIS data. For SY 2025–2026, schools encoded their profiles from May 7 to June 15, 2026. “It is the responsibility of the school head to ensure the integrity and accuracy of the data reported”; division planning officers assist schools, “especially those with no internet connectivity”, and the division specialist for multigrade validates learner data (DepEd Memorandum No. 028, s. 2026, paras. 2 and 6 to 8). The BEIS form records each multigrade class by the grades it combines (Encl. No. 2), and the hardship allowance rests on BEIS data and on the pure multigrade list (DO 039, s. 2021, Sec. VII.3).
• School-based management. The school head is the School SBM Coordinator, a role that “shall not be delegated nor reassigned, especially to any teaching personnel”; the self-assessment checklist is the record, and means of verification are “no longer necessary” (DepEd Order No. 007, s. 2024, Secs. V.E and V.F.1). The revised SBM guide covers the cycle.
• The PTA. A multigrade school does not fit the order’s table of board sizes, so its board follows the general rule: every grade-level PTA representative sits on the board, at least two-thirds of it, and teacher representatives make up at most one-third (DepEd Order No. 013, s. 2022, Sec. 11.2).

A small-school head’s calendar

No DepEd issuance sets a weekly routine. As a suggestion only, a head can visit classes from Monday to Thursday and use the samples’ Friday collaborative session for planning. The dated duties come from the issuances:

The rest of SY 2026–2027 runs as follows (DO 009, s. 2026, Annex B):

• Term 2: term examination December 3–4, 2026; End-of-Term Block December 7–18, with the PTA meeting and distribution of progress reports on December 15 and INSET on December 17–18; year-end break December 19–31.
• Term 3: January 4 to April 8, 2027; early registration January 30 to February 26; ELLNA for Grade 3 March 1–5 and NAT for Grade 6 March 8–12; term examinations March 15–16 (moving-up and graduating learners) and March 22–23 (other grades); End-of-Term Block March 24 to April 8.
• End of the year: end-of-school-year rites April 6–7, 2027; the PTA meeting, report cards and the end of Term 3 on April 8; the teachers’ 30-day break from April 9 to May 9, 2027.

When to handle, coordinate with the cluster or district, or refer to the division

A useful order of questions, which no issuance prescribes: if a learner or teacher is at risk or a deadline is running, act within your authority and notify. If an issuance gives the decision to the school head, decide and keep the record. If the school needs outside expertise but no approval, coordinate with the district or cluster. If the decision belongs to the SDS or Regional Director, or needs items or funds, refer it in writing with the evidence.

For class suspensions, see the school DRRM guide; for bullying and child protection under DepEd Order No. 006, s. 2026, the child protection guide; for discipline, Who Disciplines DepEd Teachers and School Heads?.

A request states the issue, the learners affected, the facts, what the school has done, and the decision needed by a date: not “We need a teacher” but “Grades 3 and 4 have had 37 learners in one class since October 5; we ask for a teacher item or approval to reorganize classes (eSF7 and enrollment attached).”

What this means for school heads

• Know your designation. Read your designation order for your duties, authority and the schools it covers. A new head can follow A New School Head’s First 90 Days.
• Keep class organization within DO 96. Check each class against its limits and send any change to the SDS with the enrollment figures. The 2026 sample schedules do not cover Kindergarten.
• Plan from the 2026 samples. Start the class program from DO 009’s Tables 7 to 9 and accept integrated lesson plans.
• Protect teachers’ time. Keep administrative work off teachers, ask the SDO for support staff, record every load in the eSF7, and keep the BEIS class data accurate.
• Records to keep: the designation order; class programs and the SDS approval of any non-standard combination; the eSF7 and teaching-related assignment orders; the cash disbursement register and liquidation papers; the SIIF monitoring entries; the SBM checklist; LAC records; written requests to the district and division with their replies.

These tasks serve the Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads (PPSSH), adopted by DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020. A serving school head works at Career Stage 2 or above, for example indicator 2.4.2, “Manage staffing such as teaching load distribution and grade level and subject area assignment in adherence to laws, policies, guidelines and issuances based on the needs of the school”. For an aspiring school head, Career Stage 1 asks for knowledge of the same rules, as in indicator 2.4.1, “Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of laws, policies, guidelines and issuances on managing school staff”. See the guides to managing school operations, teaching and learning and distributed leadership.

Frequently asked questions

What is the maximum class size for a multigrade class in DepEd?

Thirty-five learners. DO 96, s. 1997 sets “The minimum enrolment of 8 pupils and the maximum of 35 pupils per class” and says a class of more than three grades should become one of at most three grades when teachers and facilities allow (Sec. II). Schools whose multigrade classes exceed 35 learners or three grades get priority for teacher items (Sec. III.c).

Do multigrade teachers receive a hardship allowance?

Yes, on one of two bases. In a pure multigrade school, one that offers only combined classes apart from Kindergarten, multigrade teachers and the school head qualify. In a hardship post (Hardship Index of 0.33 or more), every teacher qualifies, whatever the class organization. The allowance is 25% of monthly salary for ten months a year, computed on the days the teacher is present (DO 039, s. 2021, Secs. III.i, V.1–2 and VI.2.b; DO 017, s. 2023; DM 045, s. 2024).

Can one lesson plan cover two grades?

Yes. DO 016, s. 2026 allows multigrade teachers to “use integrated lesson planning templates that accommodate two (2) or three (3) grade levels simultaneously, provided that all essential lesson plan components are maintained” (Encl. item 14). No office may require extra templates or forms (item 21).

Does a teacher-in-charge of a small school have to teach?

Not as a rule. DO 005, s. 2024 relieves a TIC “of teaching and other related duties”. A TIC may be given a load only in the exigency of service and only after every teacher carries the two-hour maximum overload, and that load counts as regular work hours (Sec. V.A.1, item 5).

Sources

DepEd issuances on multigrade classes

• DECS Order No. 96, s. 1997, Policies and Guidelines in the Organization and Operation of Multigrade (MG) Classes, November 14, 1997, Secs. I–V.
• DepEd Order No. 81, s. 2009, Strengthening the Implementation of Multigrade Program in Philippine Education, July 24, 2009, item 2.
• DepEd Order No. 63, s. 2010, Enhancing DepEd Order No. 81, s. 2009, May 17, 2010.
• DepEd Order No. 021, s. 2019, Policy Guidelines on the K to 12 Basic Education Program, August 22, 2019, paras. 57–59 and 81.
• DepEd Order No. 036, s. 2021, Guidelines on the Release, Utilization, Monitoring, and Reporting of Program Support Funds for Multigrade Schools for Calendar Year 2021, September 8, 2021.
• DepEd Order No. 039, s. 2021, Guidelines on the Provision of Special Hardship Allowance for Public School Teachers, September 22, 2021, Secs. III, V, VI.2–3, VII.3; DepEd Order No. 017, s. 2023, its amendment, July 19, 2023; and DepEd Memorandum No. 045, s. 2024, August 12, 2024, para. 3.

DepEd issuances on curriculum, calendar, planning and assessment

• DepEd Order No. 010, s. 2024, Policy Guidelines on the Implementation of the MATATAG Curriculum, July 23, 2024, and DepEd Order No. 012, s. 2024, its amendment, September 18, 2024, paras. 2, 4 and 7.
• DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2026, Guidelines on the Implementation of the Three-Term School Calendar in Basic Education, April 16, 2026, para. 4; Encl. paras. 13, 21, 22, 25, 27; Annex A, Tables 7–9 and Part C; Annex B.
• DepEd Order No. 016, s. 2026, Guidelines on Lesson Planning and Learning Design, June 4, 2026, Encl. items 7–9, 14 and 21.
• 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, Annex H, item 8.
• DepEd Order No. 35, s. 2016, The Learning Action Cell as a K to 12 Basic Education Program School-Based Continuing Professional Development Strategy, June 7, 2016, items 12, 17.3 and 17.5.

DepEd issuances on personnel, workload and leadership

• DepEd Order No. 1, s. 2003, Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 9155, January 6, 2003, Rule IV, Sec. 4.3 and Rule V, Sec. 5.1.
• DepEd Order No. 77, s. 2010, Guidelines on the Allocation/Deployment of New Teaching, Teaching-Related and Non-Teaching Positions for FY 2010, June 4, 2010, item 2 (Teaching-Related Positions), b–c.
• DepEd Order No. 002, s. 2024, Immediate Removal of Administrative Tasks of Public School Teachers, January 26, 2024, Secs. V.A and IX.
• DepEd Order No. 005, s. 2024, Rationalization of Teachers’ Workload in Public Schools and Payment of Teaching Overload, April 29, 2024, Sec. V.A.
• DepEd Order No. 013, s. 2024, Revised Guidelines on the Grant of Vacation Service Credits for Teachers, September 18, 2024, Secs. V.A.3 and V.B.3.
• DepEd Order No. 005, s. 2025, Additional Implementing Guidelines on the Grant of a Teaching Allowance for Public School Teachers, March 20, 2025, Encl. Sec. V.A.
• DBM–DepEd Joint Circular No. 01, s. 2025, February 19, 2025, Sec. 9.1, and DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2025, Guidelines on the Implementation of the Expanded Career Progression System for Teachers and School Heads, August 28, 2025, Encl. No. 1, Secs. 29, 34 and 36.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 055, s. 2026, Clarificatory Guidelines on the Designation of Learner Formation Officers in Schools, September 17, 2026, Secs. I–II.
• DepEd Order No. 006, s. 2026, Guidelines on Ensuring a Safe and Motivating Learning Environment, March 24, 2026.
• DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020, National Adoption and Implementation of the Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads, September 7, 2020.

DepEd issuances on funds, records and governance

• DepEd Order No. 008, s. 2019, Revised Implementing Guidelines on the Direct Release, Use, Monitoring and Reporting of MOOE Allocation of Schools, May 2, 2019, Secs. V.B–C, VI.A and VII.2.
• DepEd Order No. 029, s. 2019, Procedural Guidelines on the Management of Cash Advances for School MOOE and Program Funds of Non-Implementing Units, October 17, 2019.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 048, s. 2026, Allocation and Release of the School Innovation and Improvement Fund to Non-Implementing Unit Public Schools for Fiscal Year 2026, August 3, 2026, Encl. Secs. III.1–2, Table 1, V.2–4.
• DepEd Order No. 007, s. 2024, Policy Guidelines on the Implementation of the Revised School-Based Management System, May 16, 2024, Secs. V.E–F.
• DepEd Order No. 013, s. 2022, Omnibus Guidelines on the Regulation of Operations of Parent-Teacher Associations, March 18, 2022, Sec. 11.2.
• DepEd Order No. 006, s. 2025, Guidelines on the Streamlining of School Forms and Reports Accomplished by Teachers, March 20, 2025, para. 4.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 052, s. 2023, Adoption of the DepEd Electronic School Form 7 (eSF7), September 5, 2023, Encl. items 1 and 9.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 028, s. 2026, Guidelines on the BEIS Data Collection and Validation for School Year 2025–2026, May 6, 2026, paras. 2 and 6–8.
• DepEd Order No. 022, s. 2024, Revised Guidelines on Class and Work Suspension in Schools During Disasters and Emergencies, December 23, 2024, item 5.h.
• DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2022, Adoption of the Basic Education Development Plan 2030, May 30, 2022, p. 60.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 059, s. 2019, Prioritizing the Development of the Last Mile Schools in 2020-2021, May 22, 2019, para. 2.

Laws and executive issuances

• Republic Act No. 9155, Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001, August 11, 2001, Sec. 7.
• Republic Act No. 11997, Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act, May 31, 2024, Sec. 4.
• Republic Act No. 12288, Career Progression System for Public School Teachers and School Leaders Act, September 12, 2025, Sec. 6.
• Republic Act No. 12321, Last Mile and GIDA Schools Act, July 22, 2026, Secs. 3, 4, 9, 10 and 14.
• Executive Order No. 130, s. 2026, framework for the suspension and resumption of classes, October 28, 2026, Sec. 4(c).

Reports and data

• EDCOM II, “EDCOM pushes for 2027 budget to close the gap in school principals nationwide”, news release, October 18, 2026, edcom2.gov.ph.
• DepEd Learner Data and School Personnel Data, SY 2023–2024 (Project BUKAS), public schools with learners; the cleaned files are described in Download Cleaned DepEd School Data.

Written by Mark Anthony Llego for NASH Reviewer. Sources: DECS Order No. 96, s. 1997; DepEd Orders No. 81, s. 2009, No. 039, s. 2021, No. 012, s. 2024 and No. 009, No. 015 and No. 016, s. 2026, with the other issuances listed above; DepEd Memoranda No. 045, s. 2024 and No. 028, No. 048 and No. 055, s. 2026; Republic Acts No. 9155, No. 11997 and No. 12321; DepEd Learner and School Personnel Data, SY 2023–2024; EDCOM II.