LYCEUM NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

Institute of Graduate and Professional Studies

BASIC EDUCATION
SECTOR REFORM
AGENDA (BESRA)
KIETHLEE TUGADE
Discussant
I. Introduction
The Philippine development and
poverty reduction strategy is
articulated in the Government’s
Medium –Term Development Plan
(MTPDP ) 2004-2010. It gives high
priority to achieving universal
basic education.
What exactly is the Basic Education
Sector Reform Agenda or BESRA?
 BESRA is a package of interrelated
policy actions intended to bring about
a fundamental change in how
education is delivered across the
basic education sector, and in how
reforms in the basic education sector
are planned and implemented.
II. Objectives of BESRA
 Universal Adult Functional Literacy

 Universal School Participation and Elimination of

Drop-outs and Repetition in First Three Grades

 Universal Completion of the Full Cycle of Basic

Education Schooling with Satisfactory
Achievement Levels by All At Every Grade or Year

 Total Community Commitment to Attainment of

Basic Education Competencies for All
 Key Reform
Thrusts (KRTs)
of BESRA
1. Strengthened School-
Based Management (SBM)
 The first KRT relates to the reform
principle that the best people to
improve the quality of schools are
the people most directly affected by
the school’s operations – namely
the school heads, the teachers, the
students’ parents and others in the
community.
 Ex. Implementation of School and
Annual Improvement Plans
 MOOE maintenance/ operation of
expenses based on needs
2. Improved teaching
effectiveness and teacher
development
 The second KRT focuses on the
important role of the teachers
as driving force in improving
student learning and
educational quality at the school
level.
 Ex. Teachers’ in-service
trainings, seminars and
scholarships.
3. Enhanced quality assurance
through standards and assessment
 The third KRT is focused on ensuring
wide social support for learning in
schools. People from all sectors of
society play an important role not only in
supporting the work of the teachers, but
also in supporting schools and all the
curricular processes that aim to promote
student learning.
 Ex. Brigada Eskwela, GPTA, Govt.
Officials, Private sectors and NGOs
4. Improved access and learning
outcomes through alternative
learning, etc.
 The fourth KRT emphasizes the
variety of educational experiences
that can help learners attain the
learning goals. This includes
having early childhood learning
experiences, alternative learning
systems, and other varied learning
experiences to help students attain
highest levels of learning.
5. Institutionalized culture
change in the DepEd
 The fifth KRT refers to the
Department of Education’s
institutional culture to have a
change from prescribing actions
through orders and memos to
facilitating school initiatives and
assuring quality.
POSITIVE QUALITIES OF BESRA
 BESRA focuses on the improving student
learning processes and outcome.

 BESRA affirms the need to employ diverse

approaches to facilitating learning in the
classroom.

 BESRA locates the reform interventions at

the level of the school and the classroom.
POSITIVE QUALITIES OF BESRA
 Locating the reform initiatives at the
school level also creates stronger
accountabilities to the community, and
allows for more responsive and more
relevant school programs.

 BESRA recognizes the important role

of teachers and teacher development in
improving student learning outcomes.
POSITIVE QUALITIES OF BESRA
 BESRA builds on community-school
relationships, and aims to strengthen
such relationships by looking at the
community as a resource for improving
schools, and by ensuring that schools
are accountable to the community.
DepEd’s Achievements
BESRA focusing SBM

(SBM is the lynchpin of

BESRA)
III. Summary
 School – Based Management ( SBM ) is a key
component of the DepEd’s Basic Education
Sector Reform Agenda ( BESRA ) which is a
widely- accepted reform initiative which
recognizes that schools as they are the key
providers of education, should be able to
continuously improve by being empowered to
make informed and localized decisions based
on their own unique needs.
 The school heads and teachers are given the
chance to create linkages with the local
government and the private sector, which can
help improve local schools.
IV. Conclusions
The underlying principle in SBM under
BESRA is that the people directly involved
and affected by the school operations are
the best persons to plan, manage and
improve the school. So the people involve
must work hand in hand to reach the goal
to bring about positive change in the form
of governance and management of the
school to effect improvement in the quality
of education for the students.
THANK YOU
for listening!