Guidelines on School-Based Management (SBM) Grants

To fast track the the attainment of the Education For All (EFA) and Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets by 2015, the Department of Education (DepEd) through the Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA) shall continue providing the School-Based Management (SBM) Grants to public elementary and secondary schools. Funds for this purpose will come from the FY 2011 General Appropriations Act (GAA) and the Support to Philippine Basic Education Reforms (SPHERE) Eligible elementary and secondary schools shall be entitled to receive this grant, subject to the enclosed guidelines on the availment, release, utilization, and liquidation of the SBM grants.

For inquiries and other concerns, please contact Ms. Miriam N. Coprado, Planning and Programming Division-Office of Planning Service (PPD-OPS), 2nd Flr. Rizal II Bldg., DepEd Complex, Meralco Avenue, Pasig City at telephone no.: (02) 633-7216; telefax no.: (02) 638-8634 or at e-mail address: sbmgrants@yahoo.com.

Provisions contained in previous DepEd Orders inconsistent with this Order are revoked.

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Table of Contents

1. Purpose and Coverage
2. Definition of Terms
3. Prioritization, Selection, and Allocation
4. Amount of School Grant
5. Eligible Activities and Expenses
6. General Procedures on the Availment of the Grant
7. Releases of Funds
8. Liquidation of SBM Grants
9. SBM Management Support
10. Procurement Process
11. Effectivity
    

Annexes

1    -  Summary of FY 2011 SBM Grants Allocation-GAA by Region
1a  -  Allocation for FY 2011 SBM Grants-GAA by Region and Division - Priority I
1b  -  Allocation for FY 2011 SBM Grants-GAA by Region and Division - Priority II
2    -  Allocation for FY 2011 SBM Grants - SPHERE
3    -  Sample Format of the School Proposal for SBM Grants
4    -  Form for Listing the SBM Grants Recipient Schools for FY 2011
5    -  Sample School Grant Award Agreement
6    -  Summary Sheet for National Program Support for Basic Education Statement of Expenditures - Division
7    -  Format for the Report on SBM Grant Utilization
8    -  Format for Action Plan on Program Support Fund (Region/Division)
9    -  Format for Accomplishment Report on Program Support Fund



1.0 Purpose and Coverage

1.1 School-Based Management (SBM) Grant is a funding facility extended to public elementary and secondary schools by the Department of Education (DepEd) to help accelerate improvements in learning outcomes that will redound to achievement of EFA and MDG targets by 2015. Improved learning outcomes are measured in terms of student participation, completion, and achievement.

1.2 The SBM Grant shall be used to: (a) support activities that will lead towards the formulation of a 3-year School Improvement Plan (SIP) that has been agreed upon among school authorities, the community and the DepEd Division Office; and/or b) implement the approved SIP translated into Annual Implementation Plan (AIP).

1.3 All regions and divisions are covered by the Grant. However, prioritization of divisions is based on a set of criteria bearing considerations for achieving greater results for universal access and quality education. To qualify for the SBM Grant, the school's formulated SIP must demonstrate the principles of effective school-based management as espoused by the SBM Framework and Standards.

1.4 These guidelines shall provide the rules for availment, release, utilization, and liquidation of SBM Grants and shall form part of the Program Implementation Plan (PIP) of the National Program Support for Basic Education (NPSBE) and Support to Philippine Education Reforms (SPHERE) Projects.

2.0 Definition of Terms

For purposes of these guidelines, the following terms shall be construed to mean as follows:

2.1. Bank - refers to World Bank (WB), the lending agency for the NPSBE Project.

2.2. National Program Support to Basic Education (NPSBE) - US$200M program support loan secured by the government from the World Bank to finance in part the various key reforms thrusts outlined in the Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA).

2.3. Support to Philippine Basic Education Reforms (SPHERE) - A grant fund from the Aus AID Trust Fund amounting to AUD 41,000,000.

2.4. School Based Management (SBM) - the decentralization of decision-making authority from central, regional and division levels to the individual schools, with the intent of bringing together the school heads, teachers, students as well as parents, the local government units, and the community at large in bringing about improved learning outcomes through effective schools.

2.5. Grant - the funding facility authorized to be used by the schools in SBM operations, also known as the SBM Support and Installation Fund or the SBM Grant.

2.6. School Improvement Plan (SIP) - an education development plan that shows the intent and design that the schools will undertake to introduce improvements in learning outcomes within the context of SBM in a prescribed period and at a given cost;

2.7. Annual Improvement Plan (AIP) - Based on SIP, it identifies the problems and objectives for one school year and the intervention programs that include strategies and learning activities, time frame for implementing the activities, persons responsible, and resources needed which are appropriate to achieve the objectives set.

2.8. Qualified recipient schools - are public elementary and secondary schools with Grant applications submitted to their respective Division Offices and found to be eligible under the terms and conditions of this set of guidelines.

2.9. Eligible Activities and Expenditure items - are activities and expenditure items within the parameters set out in the NPSBE Loan Agreement and which are recognized as reimbursable by the WB.

2.10. School Grant Proposal - A school program/project proposal that primarily focuses on the development of ideal or educationally maximal learning environment for children based on the accepted/approved SIP/AIP submitted to the Division Office that outlines a proposed project and shows budgetary requirements and requests monetary assistance in the form of a grant.

2.11. Implementing Units (IUs) - refer to secondary schools that maintain separate books of accounts;

2.12. Non-Implementing Units (Non-IUs) - refer to public elementary and secondary schools without separate books of accounts that are under the direct supervision of the Division Offices.

2.13. High Priority Divisions - refers to the 40 highly challenged DepEd divisions whose performance indicators, namely Completion, Drop-out, Achievement, and Participation Rates for the last three years (BEIS and NAT Data: SYs 2006-2007, 2007-2008 and 2008-2009) have been computed as way below standard.

2.14. 4Ps Program - Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) is a poverty reduction measure of the Philippine government that focuses on human capital investment in the poorest of the poor households in the country.

2.15. 4Ps school - public elementary schools within the municipalities covered by the 4Ps Program managed by DSWD;

2.16. Income Classification - Average Annual Income actually realized during the last four (4) calendar years of the Local Government Units (LGUs) as classified through Department of Finance Order No 23-08; it serves as basis for the determination of the financial capability of LGUs to provide in full or in part the funding requirements of developmental projects and other priority needs in their locality.

3.0 Prioritization, Selection and Allocation

a. Two-stage prioritization shall be done through the PPD-OPS in the Central Office to determine the allocation per region and division. The Division Office concerned shall determine the individual school allocations.

b. In general, the prioritization, allocation, and selection of recipients shall be guided by the following principles:

i. Convergence to Address Poverty. Divisions with highest number of schools situated in 4th, 5th and 6th class municipalities and 4Ps areas are given priority.

ii. Capacity of Local Government Units (LGUs) to support schools. Priority are schools under 4th, 5th, and 6th Class Municipalities whose LGUs have lesser financial capability to support education initiatives.

3.1 Prioritization, Selection and Allocation of Division

a. Under GAA, there shall be two sets of priorities: Priority I shall be the 32 of 40 identified High Priority Divisions (HPDs) while Priority 2 shall be the remaining 157 divisions.

i. The two priorities were identified based on division performance computed using the average of Participation, Achievement (NAT), Completion and Drop-Out Rates for SYs 2006-2007, 2007-2008 and 2008-2009.

ii. The allocation she between the two sets of priorities was computed using the mean of the average performance indices of each priority computed in 3.1.a.i.

iii. The allocation she of Priorities I and II shall be as follows:

1. 53% of the allocated school grants shall go to the 32 High Priority Divisions or Priority I;
2. 47% of the allocated school grants shall go to the remaining 157 Divisions or Priority II

iv. ARMM shall be governed by Special Guidelines to be covered by a Memorandum of Agreement.

b. Under SPHERE, the ten divisions from Priority II with the lowest scores in performance indicators and highest number of schools in 4th, 5th, 6th class municipalities and 4Ps areas as computed in 3.1.a shall be the priority.

c. The divisions within Priorities I and II & SPHERE shall be ranked separately. The allocation by division in each priority shall be determined using the 50-50 Formula: 50% weight on the average of the division performance indicators, namely: Participation, Completion, Achievement, and Drop-Out Rates (using SY 2009-2010 BEIS and NAT data) and 50% to the total number of schools under 4th, 5th and 6th class municipalities and 4Ps schools.

d. The divisions with lowest scores in terms of performance indicators and highest number of schools in poor and 4Ps municipalities will get the highest she of allocation. Allocation for Priorities I and II (under GAA), and SPHERE are shown in Annexes 1, 1a and 1b and 2 respectively.

3.2 Prioritization, Selection and Allocation of School Recipients

a. Under GAA:

i.  All schools under Priority I divisions, within the 4th, 5th, 6th Income Class Municipalities as well as 4Ps schools shall be given SBM Grants;

ii. For Priority II divisions, schools within the 4th, 5th, 6th class municipalities and 4Ps areas, with the highest number of drop outs for the last three years shall be prioritized.

iii. For Priorities I and II, the recipients must be at least 80% elementary and 20% secondary schools respectively.

b. Under SPHERE, schools within the 4th, 5th and 6th class municipalities and 4Ps areas in the ten lowest divisions in Priority II shall be ranked giving priority to schools with the highest number of drop outs for the last three years. The recipient schools must be elementary only.

c. The recipient schools may include those which previously availed of SBM Grants under GAA-NPSBE, SPHERE, and STRIVE provided that they have already liquidated the previous SBM grants.

4.0 Amount of School Grant

4.1 The amount shall range from P50,000 to P200,000.

4.2 The Division Office shall determine the amount that each qualified school shall receive based on the following: 1) ranking to be computed using the mean of the absolute number of drop-outs based on BEIS data for the last 3 years, giving priority to schools with highest number of drop outs; 2) approved School Grant Proposals as reflected in the SIP/AIP, subject to criteria in 3.2 taking into account other fund sources for schools (Nationally-Funded Programs, Foreign- Assisted Projects, Special Education Fund, Congressional Allocation, Private Sector Donations, NGO, etc.).

5.0 Eligible Activities and Expenses

5.1. Eligible activities under this Grant shall be those related to:

a. establishment and strengthening of school based management, such as SIP review/ enhancement, AIP Preparation, strengthening of school  community organizations e.g. School Governing Council (SGC)/Parents Teachers Association (PTA), etc.; and/or implementation of certain innovation/improvement program which have direct link to the achievement of EFA/MDG Goals as lifted from the approved/accepted SIP/AIP (e.g. Alternative Delivery Modes, Drop Out Reduction Program, etc.);

5.2. All expenses incurred in support of 5.1 are eligible as long as the expenses are classified under Maintenance and Operating Expenses (MOOE) as prescribed in Annex A of COA Circular 2003-001 on Revised Chart of Accounts under the New Government Accounting System (NGAS), existing DepEd Orders (e.g. DOs No. 112 and 119, s. 2009 on Approved Supplementary Materials), and subject to exclusions on 5.3 of this guidelines.

5.3. Not eligible expenses items shall include:

1. hiring and payment of salaries of additional staff;
2. purchase of equipment;
3. payment of honorarium;
4. payment of utilities;
5. purchase and reproduction of NAT reviewers;
6. Activities funded by other special or national programs or subsidies

6.0 General Procedures on the Availment of the Grants

6.1 The Schools Division Superintendents shall call for the submission of School Grant Proposals based on the accepted/approved SIP/AIP to determine the eligible schools using the prioritization criteria described in Item 3.2. Annex 3 shows a sample template of School Grant Proposal which the division offices may adopt for the purpose.

6.2 The Division Office shall evaluate the School Grant Proposals in accordance with established needs and priorities of schools and based on the eligible activities and expenditures as contained in these guidelines.

6.3 The Division Office shall endorse the list of qualified schools to the Regional Office, on or before July 30 of the current year using the template on List of SBM Grants Recipient Schools as shown in Annex 4 with the ranking/prioritization discussed in Item 3.2.

6.4 The Regional Office shall then evaluate the submission of the Division Office as to whether the grants were awarded in accordance with the guidelines and consolidate the lists of qualified schools for submission to PPD-OPS, 2nd Flr., Rizal II Bldg., DepEd Complex, Meralco Avenue, Pasig City, or send it to email address: sbmgrants(ayahoo.com on or before August 15 of the current year. Copies of approved School Grant Proposals shall be retained at the Division Office and shall be made accessible/available to monitoring teams from central and regional levels.

6.5 The Regional lists of qualified schools shall be consolidated by PPD-OPS for endorsement to Budget Division-FMS, Central Office to effect the transfer of funds.

7.0 Releases of Funds

7.1 The Department of Budget and Management Central Office (DBM-CO) shall
release the Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) to the DepED-CO.

7.2 Upon receipt of the SARO and based on the listing of recipient schools submitted by PPD-OPS, the FMS-Budget Division shall immediately effect the transfer of the allotment received from DBM to the respective units thru the issuance of Sub-Allotment Release Order (Sub-ARO), as follows:

a. Division Offices (DOs) for non-implementing units (Non-lUs); and
b. Implementing Units (IUs)

7.3 For newly created divisions, the SBM grants shall be released to their mother divisions. The Regional Office is authorized to decide on the distribution of the funds between the mother and the newly created division/s using the 50-50 formula described in Item 3.1.c. A copy of said decision by the Regional Office must be sent to OPS within a month the distribution was made.

7.4 Upon receipt of the Sub-ARO, the Division Offices and/or the IUs shall record such receipt and obligation of allotment in the Registry of allotments and Obligations for MOOE (RAOMO) being maintained by the respective units.

7.5 For GAA (Priorities I & II), the Division Office and/or IUs shall request the concerned DBM Regional Offices for the release of Notice of Cash Allocations (NCAs), supported by copies of Sub-AROs corresponding to the allotment released by the Central Office.

7.6 For SPHERE, the Accounting Division-Financial Management Service (FMS) at the Central Office will issue the funding check to Division upon endorsement by PPD-OPS of the list of recipient schools.

7.7 Prior to release of SBM Grants to recipient schools, the Division Office shall undertake the following:

1. Prepare a School Grant Award Agreement (Annex 5) that spells out the rules and conditions that will govern the use of the grant to be signed by the SDS, School Head, PTA/ SGC and community representative;
2. Instruct the heads of recipient schools to apply for fidelity bonds; said bonds shall be sourced from the regular MOOE of the recipient schools.
3. Conduct training of school heads and/or finance staff on simplified accounting procedures in coordination with DepEd Central and Regional Offices.
   

7.8 After complying with the pre-requisites mentioned in Item 7.7, the Division Office shall effect the transfer of the amount of SBM Grant to the heads of the Non-IUs in the form of cash advance. The cash advance shall specify the name of the school to which the SBM Grant is allocated and the purposes for which the SBM Grant is to be applied.

7.9 For Implementing Units, the funds shall be disbursed in accordance with the schedule as indicated in the approved School Proposal.

7.10 No succeeding releases shall be made unless previous releases of SBM Grants have been fully liquidated and accounted for. Subsequent cash advance(s) may be given, provided that at least 75% of the previous cash advances have been liquidated. The remaining amount must be fully liquidated immediately or not later than December 31 of each year as stated in the Manual of. Simplified Accounting Procedures.

7.11 In cases where school heads could not draw cash advance due to legal and administrative impediments, the Schools Division Superintendent shall take immediate appropriate action to ensure that such schools will not be deprived of the grant.

7.12 All grants received by the recipient schools shall be spent in accordance with Item 5.

8.0 Liquidation of SBM Grants

8.1 For purposes of reimbursement to World Bank. Immediately upon release of the checks to the schools, the Division shall prepare the SOE which shall include reports from the Implementing Units (Annex 6). The Division will submit this to Region for consolidation and final submission to Accounting Division-FMS, Central Office Attn. Ms. Molyn L. Dionela at telefax (02) 633-7201 or at email address sbmgrants@yahoo.com.

8.2 For purposes of booking up and liquidating the cash advance:

1. Every 10th day of the month, after the conduct of an activity, the Non-IUs shall submit their utilization and/or liquidation reports to their respective DOS using disbursement report form for proper reporting, monitoring and consolidation.
2. The supporting documents needed for liquidation are the following: 2.1 Official Receipts/Cash Invoice;

2.2 Reimbursement Expense Receipts (RERs);
2.3 Petty Cash Register (PCR);
2.4 Other supporting documents to vouch for related transactions

3. Supporting documents of IUs regarding the utilization and/or liquidation reports shall be retained in their respective schools. However, a copy must be submitted to the Division Office. All supporting documents of Non-IUs shall be retained in their respective Divisions.
4. The Division Office shall review the reports and the supporting documents received from the recipient schools to ascertain their eligibility under the Grant. It shall then prepare a consolidated Utilization and Liquidation Report (for IUS and Non-IUs) using format in Annex 7 and submit this to their respective Regional Offices. Deadline for the submission of consolidated report from Division to Region shall be the 15th day of every month.
5. The Regional Office shall monitor and consolidate the Utilization/Liquidation Report from its respective Division and submit these to Accounting Division-FMS, Central Office at the contact details stated in Item 8.1.. The deadline for submission of the consolidated reports from the Regions shall be the end of every month.
   

9.0 SBM Management Support

9.1 Structures. The existing SBM Task Forces at the regional and division levels shall coordinate, monitor and/or oversee the SBM Grant using the Guidelines.

a. At the Division Level, the Division Task Force shall oversee the overall implementation of SBM. Specifically, its functions are to: 1) identify the school recipients of SBM grants based on criteria that have been set; 2) monitor and evaluate SBM grants utilization; 3) awareness building/advocacy; 4) conduct training, orientation and 5) provide Technical Assistance to the schools pertaining to: project planning, assistance in resource generation; submission of required reports, supervision and monitoring of project implementation, and documentation, evaluation, and dissemination of lessons learned. The Schools Division Superintendent as the Chairman of the Division SBM Task Force shall be accountable as the overall SBM implementer.

b. At the Regional Level, the Regional SBM Task Force shall: 1) monitor and evaluate SBM grants utilization; 2) conduct research/studies relative to SBM grants; 3) conduct orientation/training; and 4) provide technical assistance to the divisions. The Regional Director as the Chairman of the Regional SBM Task Force shall be accountable as the overall SBM implementer.

c. At the national level, PPD-OPS shall take charge of the overall implementation of the SBM Grants, in close coordination with the

SBM-TWG, FMS and Project Coordinating Office for SPHERE. The functions of this Committee are to: 1) formulate guidelines on SBM grants utilization; 2) allocate SBM grants for each division based on criteria that have been set; 3) monitor and evaluate SBM grants utilization; 4) conduct research/studies relative to the SBM grants; and 5) provide technical assistance to the regions.

9.2 Program Support Funds

a. To support the operations of the Divisions, Regions, and the Central Office in ensuring smooth implementation of the SBM Grants, ten percent (10%) of the SBM Grant Installation and Support Funds (FY 2011 GAA) shall be distributed among the different administrative levels of the Department. This shall be called Program Support Fund (PSF).

b. At the Division Level, the allocation is 5% of the total school grant allocation per division as shown in Annexes 2a and 2b. In addition to the conduct of functions stated in 9.1.a., provision of Division Technical Assistance must be based on identified needs (e.g. arriving at results of assessment of the level of SBM Practice, solving difficulties in liquidating SBM grants, orientation of newly assigned School Heads).

c. At the Regional Office, the funds shall be used in formulating policies at the regional level and quality assurance, in addition to the functions stated in 9.1.b. The total amount of Regional PSF is P30 Million prorated based on the total division allocation per region as shown in Annex 1. The release of the Regional PSF shall be subject to the submission of the Regional Action Plans (Annex 8) and Accomplishment Report of previous PSF (Annex 9).

d. For the Central Office, the funds shall be P25 Million which shall be used for conduct of activities in aid of policy formulation, monitoring and evaluation, technical assistance to regions, conduct of consultations, orientation, and payment for external audit firm to conduct validation outside of the functions stated in 9. 1.a.

e.    All expenses incurred in support of the functions stated above are eligible as long as the expenses are classified under Maintenance and Operating Expenses (MOOE).

10.0 Procurement Process

10.1 The school's existing Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) shall be responsible for the procurement of supplies and materials. In the absence of a committee, the school head shall create one through a memorandum. The school's BAC shall be composed of five members consisting of school personnel and representative/s from the PTA/SGC. In the interest of check and balance, the school head shall not be a chairperson or member of the school's BAC. School BAC's recommendations on award shall be subject to the school head's
approval. Purchase orders shall be signed by the school head or his/her authorized representative.

10.2 For procurement of goods and services amounting to P50, 000 and below, refer to Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) Resolution No. 09 - 2009 on Guidelines for Shopping and Small Value Procurement.

11.0 Effectivity

11.1 These guidelines supersede any or all DepEd Orders on SBM Grants that are inconsistent herewith. It shall become effective immediately, for SBM Grants implementation from FY 2011 to FY 2015, unless sooner amended, modified or superseded.

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