On School Partnership and Linkages

A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments or combinations.

            With the many programs of the schools, the meager Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) of every school is not enough to fund the many flagship programs of the department. This is where the schools can make initiative to reach out to external partners through partnership and linkages.

            In order to cater the needs of the schools the Department of Education (DepED) promulgated the revised implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for Republic Act 8525, or the Adopt-a-School Act of 1998, on 18 January 2013. DepED Order 2 series of 2013 is the latest revision to Department Order No. 80 s. 1998 – the first IRR issued for RA 8525.

            The said law aims to improve access to quality education by promoting private sector participation in school building, rehabilitation and development. Under RA 8525, an adopting private entity (APE) must enter into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with a public school. The MOA must be for at least two years and shall contain the terms of the ‘adoption’. Under such a MOA, the APE may provide training to a school’s faculty or construct or upgrade school facilities. It may also donate educational materials to public schools, whether elementary, secondary or tertiary. In return, the law allows the APE to have its name displayed below the name of the adoptee school apart from an additional deduction to gross income equivalent to half of the expenses incurred and representation in the local school board.

            The revised IRR clarifies the meaning of the allowable assistance an APE may provide to a school. In contrast to the old rules, it now specifically includes donation of cash, physical facilities, real estate, reading materials and devices for children with special needs apart from infrastructure, training, learning support, food assistance, and computer and science labs. Public schools are also defined more broadly to include government learning institutions.

            It also adds the criteria for adopting private entities – a provision not found in the old rules. Under Rule 2 of the revised IRR, in particular, an APE must have existed for at least a year from registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the Cooperative Development Authority with a credible track record. It should not have been prosecuted and found guilty of illegal activities, particularly money laundering. The rule states that the APE must possess these qualifications “at any time” during the term of the MOA. The wording of this particular provision is unfortunate as it could lead to absurd interpretations, such as an entity wishing to avail of the tax incentives could adopt a school under the program and then comply with the qualifications later, or it may keep a clean record at the beginning of the program and then use the corporate vehicle for money laundering activities later on. This is obviously not the intent of the revised IRR.

            One of example of a flagship program by the Department of Education that needs partnership and linkages is Brigada Eskwela. Though the Brigada Eskwela espouses the spirit of volunteerism and bayanihan, it is the initiative of the school to source out materials to be used for the preparation of the school before the opening of classes. Partnership with the local stakeholders, private entities and other internal and external partners should be established in order to mobilize each one for a successful conduct of Brigada Eskwela. After all, the concerted efforts of the school and its stakeholders will directly contribute to the academic improvement of the school children.

            The art of partnership has to be learned by our schools. It is not just enough to rely on funds downloaded because the truth is these funds are not enough. We have to reach out to our partners. While it is true that some institutions have usually their corporate social responsibility (CSR), the schools should market and advocate their needs for assistance from them. Profiling the needs of the school which matches the kind of assistance given, a healthy relationship with the entity partner and a well-crafted partnership proposal surely mean a closed negotiation for the school. Nowadays, all schools should be innovative on how they market their projects, programs and activities in order to avail of  these assistance given by various partners.