DepEd Order No. 9 s. 2023 | An Order Updating the Multi-Year Implementing Guidelines on the Conduct of the K to 12 Basic Education Program End-of-School-Year (EOSY) Rites

Date: March 28, 2023

To: Undersecretaries, Assistant Secretaries, Miniters, Basic, Higher and Technical Education, BARMM Bureau, Service and Regional Directors, School Division/City Superintendents, Public Elementary and Secondary School Heads, All Others Concerned

1. The Department of Education (DepEd) issues the enclosed "An Order Updating the Implementing Guidelines on the Conduct of the K to 12 Basic Education Program End-of-School-Year (EOSY) Rites" as an amendment to and reissuance of DepEd Order (DO) 2, s. 2O2O, entitled Multiyear Implementing Guidelines on the Conduct of the K to 12 Basic Education Program End-of-School-Year Rites, which provides guidance to both public and private elementary and secondar5r schools nationwide in the annual conduct of EOSY rites.

2. In the annual conduct of full in-person EOSY rites, observance of physical distancing and wearing of face mask shall not be mandatory.

3. As stipulated in DO 34 s. 2022, entitled School Calendar and Activities for the School Year 2022 - 2023, the classes shall formally end on July 07, 2023. Each school has the discretion to elect the date for the holding of this year's rites not earlier than July 10 and not later than July 14, 2023. Private schools shall started earlier and public and private schools with an extended school year due to unforeseen circumstances shall be guided by their approved revised school calendar.

4. For this School Year 2022 - 2023, the EOSY rites shall focus on the theme:
Gradweyt ng K to 12: Hinubog ng Matatag na Edukasyon
(K to 12 Graduates: Molded through a Resilient Educational Foundation), which emphasizes that graduation is not only a celebratory milestone but also a symbol of resilience, agency and grit of Filipino learners honed by solid basic education system that is responsive to the changing needs of time. Further, it highlights that every learner's achievement mirrors an education that succeeds amid all difficulties.

5. The subsequent annual themes for these ceremonies shall be published in a DepEd Memorandum.

6. The DepEd reiterates the following policies:

a. Discouraging excessive spending, extravagant attire, or extraordinary venue for the conduct of Graduation and Moving Up Ceremonies;

b. DO No. 66 s. 2017, entitled Implementing Guidelines on the Conduct of Off-Campus Activities;

c. DO  No. 31 s. 2019, entitled The Department of Education Service Marks and Visual Identity Manual (Enclosure 1, pages 44-46)

d.  DO No. 36, s. 2016, entitled Policy Guidelines on Awards and Recognition for the K to 12 Basic Education Program;

e. DO No. 48, s. 2018, entitled Prohibition of Electioneering and Partisan Political Activity; and 

 f. Prohibiting any DepEd personnel to collect any kind of contribution or graduation/ moving up fee.

7. Private Schools, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), Technical Vocational Institutions (TVIs), State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), and Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs) offering basic education or any grade levels thereof, may opt to adopt the provision of this DO as basis in the conduct of their moving up/graduation ceremonies.

8. This order shall take effect immediately upon its approval and shall remain in force and in effect for the duration of the K-to-12 Basic Education Program, unless sooner repealed, amended or rescinded. Certified copies of this Order shall be filed with the University of the Philippines Law Center-Office of the National Administrative Register (UPLC-ONAR), UP Diliman, Quezon City.

9. All DepEd Orders, Memoranda, and other related issuances, rules, regulations, and provisions which are inconsistent with these guidelines are hereby repealed, rescinded, or modified accordingly.

10. Immediate dissemination of and strict compliance with this Order is directed.

(Signed) SARA Z. DUTERTE

Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines

Secretary of the Department of Education