Republic of the Philippines Department of Education ‘14 DEC 2016 DepEd MEMORANDUM No. 223 , s.2016 STRENGTHENING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GULAYAN SA PAARALAN PROGRAM IN PUBLIC ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS NATIONWIDE To: — Undersecretaries Assistant Secretaries Bureau and Service Directors Regional Directors Schools Division Superintendents Public Elementary and Secondary Schools Heads All Others Concerned 1, The Department of Education (DepEd), through the Bureau of Learner Support Services-School Health Division (BLSS-SHD), strengthens the Implementation of the Gulayan sa Paaralan Program (GPP) in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools Nationwide to address malnutrition, and to promote vegetable production and consumption among school children. ‘This Memorandum is issued to sustain school gardens, not only to attain 63% sustainable garden at present, but also to establish gardens in all schools nationwide. The GPP was issued and implemented through DepEd Memorandum No. 293, s. 2007 entitled Gulayan sa Paaralan, to support the hunger mitigation initiatives of the government, and to encourage both public elementary and secondary schools to establish school gardens to ensure continuous supply of vegetables for the School-Based Feeding Program, and other feeding programs. 2. The general objective of the GPP is to promote food security in schools and communities, through self-help food production activities and values among the learners, and appreciation of agriculture as a life support system. Specifically, it aims to: a. promote vegetable production in public elementary and secondary schools; b. establish and maintain school gardens as ready food basket/source of vegetables in sustaining feeding; serve as laboratory for learners; produce in the schools vegetables which have rich sources of protein, vitamins and minerals, and eventually increase vegetable consumption, and improve learners’ nutrition; showcase small-scale food production models; and inculcate among the learners the values of gardening, good health and nutrition, love of labor, and caring for others. pe 3. The Guidelines on the Implementation of the GPP for School Year 2016-2017 is enclosed for reference. 4. All regional directors, schools division superintendents and school heads are enjoined to extend full administrative support to the management of the Program. Dept Complex, Meraen Avenue, Pasig ity 1600 AW 633-7208 639-7228/600-1061 Ml 696-4876/607-6209 wor depedgorph5, For more information, all concerned may contact the School Health Division- Bureau of Learner Support Services (SHD-BLSS), Department of Education (DepEd) Central Office, DepEd Complex, Meralco Avenue, Pasig City, at telephone no. (02) 632- 9935 or through email address: [email protected]. 6. Immediate dissemination of this Memorandum is desired. LEONOR Ki ‘OLIS BRIONES Secretary Encl.: As stated Reference: DepEd Memorandum (No. 293, s. 2007) To be indicated in the Perpetual Index ‘under the following subjects: HEALTH EDUCATION LEARNERS. OFFICIALS PROGRAMS SCHOOLS APA/R-DM- Strengthening the Implementation o 0720/September 23, 2016/12-13-16(Enclosure to DepEd Memorandum No. 223, s. 2016) L IMPLEMENTING GUIDELINES OF THE GULAYAN SA PAARALAN PROGRAM (GPP) SY 2016-2017 Background To address malnutrition and hunger, the Department of Education (DepEd) has put in place poverty alleviation schemes that will help promote food security and economic stability for the affected families. Gulayan sa Paaralan Program (GPP) was then implemented in support to the hunger mitigation initiatives of the government. DépEd Memorandum No. 293, s. 2007 was issued to encourage both public elementary and secondary schools to establish school gardens to ensure continuous supply of vegetables for school feeding. ‘The GPP is one of the sub-programs of the National Greening Program (NGP) of the Department. It aims to promote production of foods that are rich in protein, carbohydrates, vitamin A and iron as major input in school feeding. This serves as a source of vegetables to sustain the School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) and other supplementary feeding in schools, It covers, establishment of vegetable gardens, vegetable and tree nurseries, tree planting, propagation of medicinal plants, composting, school landscape aesthetic vegetable development, crop museum, and related livelihood activities. General Objective: Promote food security in schools and communities through self-help food production activities and values among learners, and appreciation of agriculture as a life support system, Specific Objectives: 1, To promote vegetable production in public elementary and secondary schools; 2. To establish and maintain school gardens as ready food basket/source of vegetables in sustaining supplementary feeding; 3. To serve as a laboratory for learners, 4. To produce in schools vegetables that are rich sources of protein, vitamins and minerals, and eventually increase vegetable consumption and improve learners’ nutrition; To showcase small-scale food production models; and 6. To inculcate among the learners the values of gardening, good health and nutrition, love of labor, and caring for others.IL Definition of Terms 1. Bio-Intensive Gardening Approach - is a biological (as opposed to chemical) form of agriculture in which a small area of land is intensively cultivated using nature’s own ingredients to rebuild and then maintain the soil’s productivity. 2. Crop Museum - is a decentralized facility where teachers, students and community members can view a diverse range of nutritionally relevant and hardy vegetable varieties. It also serves as nurseries (source of planting materials) for surrounding schools and communities, since the mother plants are preserved in crop museums through the entire year. 3. Compost - organic residues, or a mixture of organic residues and soil, that have been mixed, piled and moistened, with or without addition of inorganic fertilizer and generally allowed to undergo biological decomposition until the original organic materials have been substantially altered or decomposed 4. Organic Fertilizers - naturally occurring organic materials that contain sufficient plant nutrients to be of value as fertilizers, (e.g. manure, green manure, worm casting, seaweed, etc.) or naturally occurring mineral deposits 5. Inorganic fertilizers - fertilizers composed of synthetic chemicals and/or minerals, 6. Urban Gardening - is a condition where most schools and houses have limited space, vegetables are grown in containers such as pots, cans, and boxes. 7. Multiple Cropping - growing of several crops on the same land, it is used to increase diversity of product and stability of annual harvest/output. 8 Microbe — an extremely small living thing that can only be seen with a microscope, a germ, microorganism in the soil 9. Indigenous ~ produced, growing, living, or occurring naturally in a particular region or environment III. Program Management 1, Capacity-Building a, Division EPP/TLE supervisors should take the lead in conducting orientation in schools. Technical experts may be invited from DA-BPI, IRR (International Institute for Rural Reconstruction) or Local Agriculture Office, among others;b. Training DepEd shall coordinate with DA-RFU and TIRR in the conduct of trainings. A standardized training module shall be adopted in all regions that will cover topics on vegetable production, urban/container and backyard gardening, organic fertilizer, and seed production and storage. 2. Establishment, Maintenance and Sustainability of School Gardens a. Each school shall have a minimum of 200 square meters area. For schools without available space/flooded area, they can adopt container gardening, b. Schools are encouraged to adopt the “crop museum” technology approved by the IRR. This will promote crop diversification and improve sufficiency on the supply of seeds and seedlings c. Starter seeds shall include preferred vegetable seeds that can help address malnutrition problems in schools (i.e. protein-energy and micro nutrient malnutrition) as follows: * sources of protein- leguminous vegetables such as beans, mongo, peas, ete. * sources of calorie/energy- root crops such as gabi, camote, cassava, ete. * sources of Vitamin A and iron- leafy green vegetables such as tops of gabi, malunggay, saluyot, alugbati, kangkong, sili, kulitis, pechay, etc. 4. The school shall be responsible for the establishment and maintenance of school gardens, as well as the production of seeds for the next cropping and partnership with stakeholders and the community. €. School gardens shall be continuously maintained and sustained thru establishment of nurseries, seed production in partnership with stakeholders. £ School gardens shall be secured to protect the crops from stray animals, g. Organic fertilizer and inputs will be used to enhance soil fertility and improve production yield. Organic inputs may consist of animal wastes (chicken dung), crop residues, food wastes, vermicast, etc. One set of garden tools which may include spade, grab hoe, shovel, sprinkler, trowels, digging bar, rake, bolo etc. shall be required. Schools are encouraged to improvise their own garden tools. h, Each school shall include/involve PTA and stakeholders to conduct and maintain the school garden every summer as a measure to sustain the garden, and to prepare for the opening of the school year. ition of Garden Yields/ProceedsGarden produce shall be used primarily for feeding. However, excess vegetables may be sold for generating income to buy other ingredients for feeding, and other planting needs. 4, Advocacy Campaign a. The nutritional dimension of food production and related messages shall be taught to learners through integration in appropriate subject areas e.g. Health and EPP/TLE in elementary and secondary school curriculum b. The effort to increase vegetable production and consumption shall be vigorously pursued thru quad media like print, broadcast, TV and social media. ¢. Poster-making, slogan writing, and cooking contests can also be conducted at the school level during Nutrition Month Celebration and other school celebrations, This is to create awareness among learners and other stakeholders IV. Eligible Expenditure Items The eligible expenditure items allowed under table 1 are the materials/equipment and other operating expenses to be used for the establishment of nurseries and school garden Table) _ —_ CL ‘CATEGORY ___ ITEM 1 Garden Tools Spade, grab hoe, shovel, trowels, rake, digging bar, bolo, wheel barrow/garden cart, et. ‘Seed and Plant | Propagation Equipment/Materials Assorted vegetable seeds, garden soil, organic fertilizers, etc. __ Dibber/seed sower/widger - Seed Raising/Seedling Seedling trays, soil media mix, garden net/garden sheds, plastic black bags, etc. ‘Watering Hoselsprinkler/watering cans, etc. Waste Management Compost bin/compost pit/compost heap/bucket composting Garden Infrastructure Bamboo post, GI wire, cement, gravel and sand, ete. Personal Protective Equipment and others Garden gloves, twine, garden signs and labels/plant tags, information charts, etc. Miscellaneous Transportation/delivery/rental expenses All expenditure items must fall under MOOE classification only, otherwise, these will be disallowed by the Commision on Audit (COA) upon funds liquidation Eligible expenditure items for fund provided by donor partners such as LGU, Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Plant Industry entitled Agri-Pinoy GPP, NGOs and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are subject to their respective guidelines.V. Partnerships By working cooperatively with partners the GPP can result in greater impact, reform, and sustainability. The DepEd will work with partner-stakeholders in the national, provincial, city and/or the municipality levels (LGUs, NGOs, CSOs and other private sector groups) that will maintain the school garden year-round. Partnerships provide better opportunities to harness the strengths and competencies of each partner. It can also help in finding ways of doing things to achieve a more efficient program implementation. As a rule, a memorandum of agreement/understanding with partners must be done covering the operation on the implementation of GPP VL Roles and Responsibili The following are the roles and responsibilities of each office: A Central Office (CO) (through the School Health Di ices, SHD-BLSS) shal felines that ensure effective implementation of GPP upon recommendation of the Regions on issues and concerns affecting the implementation of the program; 2. Document and promote best practices that can be adopted; 3. Manage the development of training modules; 4, Provide technical assistance; 5. Conduct monitoring and evaluation of the program and implementation; and Perform other functions that may be assigned. jon-Bureau of Regional Office (through the Education Support Services Division, ESSD) shall: 1, Recommend to the CO issues and concerns for possible policy formulation of the program; 2, Analyze issues and concerns affecting the implementation of the program and recommend solutions; Designate a GPP Regional Coordinator, Assist in the orientation of field implementers on the program and their roles and responsibilities; Conduct monitoring on the implementation of the program; Provide technical assistance; Prepare and submit report to CO; and Lead in advocacy for support to the program ae Peery Division Office (through the School Governance and Operations Division SGOD) shall: 1. Designate a Division GPP Coordinator 2. Endorse priority schools to the ROs/BEIS In-charge (Planning Office); 3. Orient the school implementers on the program; 4. Conduct planning, monitoring in compliance of the schools with the guidelines and evaluation of the program in the Division; 5. Provide technical assistance;6. Assist in the advocacy of the Program; 7. Consolidate implementation reports from the schools; and 8 Submit reports to DepEd RO/Regional Planning D. School level 4. 5, 6 The School Head (SH) will lead the sustainability of the program through the adoption of crop museum technology, seed production, nursery management, and other related activities that will keep the program rolling even during summer vacation or even without funding from other sources Designate a School GPP Coordinator who shall: a, Work hand in hand with the feeding coordinator in the preparation of school food production/school feeding plan in the effort to address malnutrition among learners; and b. Prepare planting calendars at the beginning of each school year in order to ensure a year-round supply of harvest for feeding. Target vegetables for production purposes shall be prepared in a Gantt Chart; Involve the parents, community, and stakeholders in school food production for sustainability of the garden to complement with school feeding; Submit progress report to SDO; Include the GPP in the School Improvement Plan (SIP); and Encourage the establishment of home/community vegetable garden Vil. Progress Monitoring A. Monitoring + Regular monitoring shall be done to ensure that the program is being implemented as planned, to attain its objectives of the program. Frequency monitoring shall be as follows, or as the need arises: 1, Division level - Quarterly 2. Regional level = Twice a year 3. National level - Annualy * All key result areas related to the GPP implementation in newly established and maintained vegetable school gardens shall be monitored and evaluated «Issues and concerns shall also be noted and recorded to determine gaps in the GPP implementation and devise possible remedies and solutions B. Recording and Reporting 1 The school GPP Focal Person shall keep records of the of the following using GPP Form 1 > Total area (sq.m) devoted to vegetable school gardens > Type of vegetables grown > Volume of production (kg)> Volume for feeding and other purposes (kg) > No. of parents involved in the program > Best practices shall be documented for possible adoption in other schools, i.e. Bio-intensive gardening, Multiple cropping system, Organic farming, Nursery establishment and management, Composting, Container/Urban gardening, ete 2. Alll records/data of the program should be kept in a conspicuous place, and be made available to the monitoring personnel 3. The school shall submit a Program Terminal Report using GPP Form 2 to the SDO for consolidation. The consolidated report shall be submitted to the RO for consolidation, then to DepEd- BLSS - SHD. Vill. ability Mechanism 1, Partner with LGU-MAO ~ working cooperatively with partners, GPP can result to greater impact, scale reform and sustainability 2, Crop Museum ~ school way to conserve these vanishing genetic resources, utilization of local vegetable is determined in the crop museum 3. PTA involvement — regular conduct of parent involvement and other appropriate should be given priorities. Parents play a significant role in the improvement of school garden and in the feeding. 4, School head - GPP should be included in the performance rating of the schoo! heads for accountability in sustaining the school garden. IX. Program Evaluation A year-end program monitoring review and evaluation shall be conducted. Mid- term evaluation shall be done after two years of implementation to determine its effectiveness, Impact Evaluation shall be done on the six month of the year by a commissioned party evaluator to assess long term impacts of the program on the learners in the areas of nutrition, values and love for agriculture, as well as its impact on the teachers, school heads, parent, and other program target beneficiaries, Searches and Awards: To give recognition to the best implementers of the GPP, a Search for Outstanding Teachers and Best Implementer will be conducted. This could also be an avenue to identify and showcase best practices that can be adopted and replicated in the program in other schools The Search will be conducted at the Division, Regional and National level. Incentive and plaque of recognition shall be given to the winners.~~ GULAYAN SA PAARALAN PROGRAM (GFP) SCHOOL PROFILE Region Division ‘Contact Details : (Telephone or _ Measurement of Sehool ID School Name School Address__| Name of School Head :_ Mobile Number} Vegetables Preferred Prepared by: APPROVED BY. ‘Schoo! GPP Coordinator Sehoo) Head[GULAYAN SA PAARALAN PROGRAM (GP?) GULAYAN SA PAARALAN CONSOLIDATED TERMINAL REPORT ame of Schools ype ot Garden | Toran. of Vegotabes Harvested in| Total Mo, of Vegetables Sld(n] Total No.of Vegetables Used Ror) ‘i ‘les or Feding (no) Wombat oF Swodtngs Types of Seeaings Propanated 1m, seHo0n FEEDING | reer of ene ares Tateonal Sate (UR tore Wer Fesaing — —___ __ Feeding See Wane [Wane Norah Guerweigit TT ‘oie [oa Ivers Wasted i “ fora t ~ ‘School NG? Coordinator ‘School Head