Should enrichment classes during vacation be voluntary?

Enrichment classes are useful to students since they serve as their remedial classes, especially for those students who are Learners with Special Educational Needs (LSENs). Teachers should separate the names of students who will undergo enhancement classes. This is the best thing teachers do to make the students learn.

According to a DepEd announcement, all public schools will offer enrichment classes. However, while the students and teachers are on a break from school, these enrichment classes are still optional. Without the parents’ permission, the students will not be made to attend the enhancement classes If the parents agree to let their children attend the classes, the parents will sign the letter.

The Department of Education released a memorandum on the conduct of remedial and enrichment classes for the school year 2021–2022. Learners with grades ranging from 75 to 79 must attend enrichment classes for 15 days only, from Mondays to Fridays, during the EOSY class period.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers called on the Department of Education to give extra pay or at least service credits to teachers who will handle enrichment classes. “Our teachers are all for addressing the learning crisis and raising educational quality, but this noble cause should not be used as a ticket to violate the labor rights of our teachers,” Raymond Basilio, the group’s secretary, said. However, as stated in DO No. 25 s. 2022, said enrichment classes remain voluntary.

Read the excerpt of the order below for clarification:                       

• Learners in grades 1–10 who failed no more than two learning areas at the end of the school year despite educational intervention.
• Learners who got a grade ranging from 75-79 were described as fairly satisfactory based on DO No.08 s. 2015 policy guidelines on classroom assessment for the K to 12 basic education program, in any learning area, shall attend enrichment classes instead of remedial classes as the latter is designed for those learners who failed in not more than 2 learning areas.
•  The conduct of enrichment learning classes is one of the strategies in the learning recovery plan of the department. They are designed to improve learners’ level of attainment on the most essential learning competencies (MELCS) to ensure their readiness for transition to the next grade level. Their grades will no longer be recalculated, and they will only have to go to school if their parents or guardians agree.                                                                                                   

For further information, refer to the DepEd memorandum to let the students, parents, and teachers know what to do in these enrichment classes. To make the students recover or cope with the missed days or months that they were not able to get and return the modules, now they still have a chance to learn by answering the learning modules and attending the face-to-face enrichment classes. – Doki | Helpline PH