DEVELOPMENT AND DESIGN OF THE MOST ESSENTIAL LEARNING COMPETENCIES (MELCs)

Rationale

The education sector is not spared from the COVID-19 pandemic which continues to gravely
affect various governments and economies around the world. The current global health crisis
poses a profound impact on the basic education system, as approximately 87% of the world’s
student population, or 1.5 billion learners, have been affected by school closures (UNESCO, 2020).
While interim distance and remote learning programs are being put in place in many locations, the
most marginalized, poverty- stricken and vulnerable children are also the most disadvantaged.

In the Philippines, ensuring the welfare of more than 27 million learners in basic education
alone requires indomitable commitment especially amidst this crisis. However, UNESCO reiterates
its stand in spite of the circumstances: “Education cannot wait. If learning stops, we will lose
human capital.” Meeting the needs of the most vulnerable populations during these times is
essential to achieving SDG4 (UNESCO, 2017).

The Department echoes UNESCO’s belief that educational quality, access, and system strengthening
cannot be compromised in times of crisis (UNESCO, 2017) and that doing the opposite will
negatively affect human capital. Thus, the Department of Education affirms its commitment to
sustaining the delivery of quality, accessible, relevant, and liberating Philippine basic education
services anchored on the Sulong Edukalidad framework. It will continue to strive to produce
holistic Filipino learners with 21st century skills. Consequently, the Bureau of Curriculum Development
ensures that learning standards are relevant and flexible to address the complex, disruptive, volatile,
and ambiguous impact of COVID-19 in the Philippines particularly in the basic education sector.

Working on the said premise, the Department came up with the Most Essential Learning
Competencies (MELCs) to be used nationwide by field implementers for SY 2020-2021. The release of
the MELCs is not just a response to addressing the challenges of the current pandemic but
is also part of the Department’s long-term response to the call of SDG4 to develop resilient
education systems, most especially during emergencies.

The MELCs can be used under similar circumstances as a mechanism to ensure education
continuity (curriculum dimension). However, releasing the MELCs does not downplay the standards
set by the K to 12 curriculum guides. Rather, they serve as one of the guides for teachers as
they address the instructional needs of learners while ensuring that curriculum standards are
maintained and achieved. Furthermore, the MELCs intend to assist schools in navigating the
limited number of school days as they employ multiple delivery schemes by providing them
ample instructional space.
The content and performance standards can be found in Annex C. Guidelines on the Use of
Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELCs) of DepEd Order No. 12, s. 2020 for field
implementers to recognize that the MELCs are anchored on the prescribed standards.

Background on the Identification of the MELCs

The Department, through the Bureau of Curriculum Development–Curriculum Standards

Development Division, in collaboration with the Assessment Curriculum and Technology Research
Centre (ACTRC), started working on the identification of essential learning competencies in the
middle of 2019 as part of its review of the intended curriculum. Bureau specialists, academic
experts, and field implementers worked together to reach a consensus regarding the criteria to be
used and mechanisms to adopt in determining these competencies.

Initiated by Secretary Leonor Magtolis-Briones, the K to 12 curriculum review is not just meant to
fulfill one of the provisions of Republic Act 105333 to review the curriculum, but is also part of her
continuing commitment to ensure quality, relevant, and liberating education. After the four phases
of curriculum review are completed, the Secretary will convene the Curriculum Consultative
Committee to present the findings as provided for in Section 6 of the same Republic Act.

The review focused on articulation within and across learning areas and grade levels, which led
to the identification of gaps, issues, and concerns. Moreover, areas for improvement that would
enhance the learning engagement, experience, and outcomes were identified and consequent
solutions were recommended.

Results of the review from the workshop series provided an overview of the articulation of learning
competencies in each learning area. Specifically, the review covered the following:

● Mapping of the essential and desirable learning competencies within the curriculum;
● Identification of prerequisite knowledge and skills needed to prepare students for
essential learning competencies; and
● Analysis of the interconnectedness of prerequisite knowledge and skills among the
learning competencies for each subject area.

Essential learning competencies were defined as what the students need, considered indispensable,
in the teaching-learning process to build skills to equip learners for subsequent grade levels
and consequently, for lifelong learning. On the other hand, desirable learning competencies were
defined as what may enhance education but may not be necessary in building foundational
skills.

A list of the characteristics of essential learning competencies was provided to help participants
decide which among the learning competencies are deemed most important.
Characteristics of an Essential Learning Competency

Learning competency is 1. it is aligned with national, state, and/or local

ESSENTIAL if… standards/ frameworks (e.g., scientifically-literate
Filipinos)
2. it connects the content to higher concepts across content
areas
3. it is applicable to real-life situations
4. it would be important for students to acquire the
competency after s/he left that particular grade level
5. it would not be expected that most students would learn
this through their parents/communities if not taught at
school

These characteristics are based on a US-developed competency validation rubric, which is

intended to assure that learning competencies can reach the highest level of quality and
comparability across schools (New Hampshire Department of Education, 2012); adaptations were
made for relevance in the Philippine context.

From ELCs to MELCs

As the Department anticipates the challenges in employing various schemes in the delivery of
the learning standards due to COVID-19, the number of the identified essential learning
competencies per quarter were further reduced, thus the term “most essential learning
competencies.”

In determining the criteria for the selection of the MELCs, the Department collaborated with
stakeholders from ACTRC, during which the descriptor – ENDURANCE – was considered the primary
determining factor. A learning competency is considered enduring if it remains with learners long
after a test or unit of study is completed or if it is useful beyond a single test or unit of study.
Examples of such learning competencies include research skills, reading comprehension, writing,
map reading, and hypothesis testing, which are essential in many professions and in everyday life
(Reeves, 2002; Many & Horrell, 2014). The Department then identified the MELCs across all
learning areas through the application of these understandings.

Necessary in this process is the decision whether a learning competency is to be retained, merged,
dropped, or rephrased. As a general rule, a learning competency is retained if it satisfies the endurance
criterion which greatly contributes to life-long learning and is a prerequisite skill to the next grade
level. Two or more learning competencies are merged or clustered if they have the same objective or
learning intention and can therefore be combined into one comprehensive learning competency.
However, learning competencies are removed/dropped due to the following reasons:

● They are too specific (and the articulation is similar to that of a learning objective).
● They are deemed appropriate to be introduced in an earlier quarter or grade level or
moved to a later quarter or grade level.
 ● They are recurring.
● They are subsumed in another learning competency.

Finally, a learning competency is rephrased to be more concise. Examine

the examples that follow:

The content and performance standards are directly lifted from the curriculum guides. Its inclusion
is to emphasize that the identification of MELCs is anchored on the prescribed standards and not a
departure from the standards-based basic education curriculum. Thus, teachers are encouraged to
refer to the 2016 Curriculum Guides in unpacking the MELCs.

Field implementers and private schools are encouraged to contextualize the most essential
learning competencies in order to accommodate the varying contexts of learners, teachers,
learning environment and support structures considering both the content and performance
standards. It is advantageous for students to learn the concepts and skills in the MELCs through
meaningful activities and scenarios relatable to them and within the context of the students’ own
environment. The MELCs are implementable as long as the designed activities also teach the
procedures and processes on how and when to apply those knowledge and skills in a given
context. With these, Filipino learners are guaranteed relevant and quality basic education
despite the current health crisis.