OPEN HIGH SCHOOL SYSTEM (OHSS)

Alternative mode of formal secondary education program run by the Bureau of Secondary Education (BSE) of the Department of Education (DepEd)

 Originally, it is called the Open High School Program (OHSP) that was part of the Drop Out Reduction Program (DORP) of the Department of Education and funded by the Asian Development Bank, the OHSP was first started in 1998 and is now offered by an increasing number of public schools across the country.

 The bill was passed to institutionalize the OHSP as an alternative learning system.

 OHSS is approved as a part of House Bill 6086 co-authored by Cavite Rep. Lani Mercado-Revilla It adopts the National Secondary Education Curriculum (NSEC) using the Philippine Secondary Schools Learning Competencies (PSSC).

 It is also a mode of distance learning which seeks to provide equal opportunities for underprivileged students, working students, as well as out-of-school adults particularly in far-flung areas.

 The OHSS encourages self-learning and provides an alternative quality educational system to these students through print, television, radio and computer-based communications, satellite broadcasting and teleconferencing and other multi-media learning and teaching technologies

 The system will allow students who otherwise cannot go to a regular high school because they are working, are disabled, or live very far from a regular high school, to learn, finish high school and go to college. Thus, the students can continue working and study at their leisure, save time going to and from the school, and save on transportation money. It is also open to adults who want to finish high school.

 The OHSS will be supervised and administered by the Department of Education in coordination with the University of the Philippines, which already provides an open educational system, as well as the Department of Interior and Local Government for coordination with local government units.

 The students will be provided study modules which they can take home and from which they will learn their lessons. They dont have to go to regular school but they can go periodically to a mother high school where there are teachers for consultations, instructions, and evaluation of each students progress. The teachers will keep records of each student.

 The learners will be allowed to proceed at their own pace but there will be examinations to determine if each student can be promoted to the next level.

 It would provide for the recruitment of guro (teacher) and gurong tagapatnubay (guidance counselor), who will be given incentives and monetary compensation as determined by the DepEd.

 The para guro (degree holder of college level resident of the community who manages a learning center), gurong kadluan (resource person with specialized skills in practical or industrial subjects), and tagapayong pansamahan (club adviser) will receive honoraria to be arranged with the local school board and appropriate training programs will be extended to them.

"Reaching the Unschooled Wherever and Whenever"