AN ACT INSTITUTIONALIZING THE LIFELONG LEARNING DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK, BROADENING THE MANDATE OF THE PHILIPPINE QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORK - NATIONAL COORDINATING COUNCIL (PGQ - NCC), AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NO. 10968, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE "PQF ACT", APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

View printer friendly version Manila Bulletin, October 29, 2025 p.8; 121 OG No. 45, 12834 (November 10, 2025) [ REPUBLIC ACT NO. 12313, October 23, 2025 ] AN ACT INSTITUTIONALIZING THE LIFELONG LEARNING DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK, BROADENING THE MANDATE OF THE PHILIPPINE QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORK - NATIONAL COORDINATING COUNCIL (PGQ - NCC), AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NO. 10968, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE "PQF ACT", APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled: SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Lifelong Learning Development Framework (LLDF) Act". SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is hereby declared the policy of the State to create an environment free from poverty, hunger, violence, and war, and to ensure equity, inclusion, and a healthy environment for everyone. To this end, the State shall promote lifelong learning as a means to achieve full, productive, freely chosen, and decent work for all, and to promote a more sustainable national, regional, and local development. The State shall promote universal literacy and the constitutional right of all citizens to quality and accessible education at all levels, and prescribe duties in this regard. SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act: (a) Basic literacy refers to the ability of a person to read, write, and compute; (b) Community Learning Center (CLC) refers to a venue outside the formal education system, including, but not limited to, learning hubs, reading centers, libraries, and e-libraries, to provide lifelong learning opportunities for community development and improvement of the quality of life; (c) Functional literacy refers to the ability of a person to read, write, compute, and comprehend. The skills must be sufficiently advanced commonly occurring in his or her life situation that require a reasonable ability to communicate by written language and other digital means; (d) Learning city, municipality, or barangay refers to a city, municipality, or barangay which effectively mobilizes its resources to: (1) promote inclusive learning in all education levels; (2) encourage learning in families and communities; (3) facilitate continuous learning for and in the workplace; (3) facilitate continuous learning for and in the workplace; (4) extend the use of modern learning technologies; (5) enhance quality and pursuit of excellence in learning; and (6) foster a culture of learning throughout life; (e) Lifelong learning refers to a principle that recognizes learning as a continuum and not confined to a particular period in life or the school system but takes place in all modes and locales, at all stages of life, which results in improving knowledge, know-how skills, competencies, and/or qualifications for personal, social, and/or professional reasons. As a conceptual framework and organizing principle for educational policy, lifelong learning, also known as lifelong education, encompasses all modes of learning and all types of formal, non-formal, or informal educational activities; (f) Lifelong learning provider refers to any establishment, corporation, organization, or public or private institution for lifelong education providing lifelong vocational training or offering supplementary education for school curricula. It also refers to a center or an office attached to an exiting educational institution that offers lifelong education to persons other than its regular students; and (g) Tertiary education refers to the stage of education following the secondary cycle which covers post-secondary non-degree diploma, technical-vocational education and training, and higher education programs, including graduate studies. SEC. 4. Guidelines. - The following guidelines shall be respected at all times: (a) All citizens shall be guarantees equal opportunities for lifelong learning; (b) Lifelong learning shall; be conducted based on the willingness of the learner to voluntarily participate and study accordingly; and (c) Lifelong learning shall not be exploited as a tool for political propaganda or personal prejudice. SEC. 5. Lifelong Learning Development Framework. - A Lifelong Learning Development Framework (LLDF) shall describe and set the standards for the development of action components and desirable measures for success to promote and implement lifelong learning in cities, municipalities, barangays, and lifelong learning providers. (a) The LLDF shall have the following objectives: (1) Promote functional literacy at all levels of society; (2) Promote inclusive learning in the educational system; (3) Revitalize learning in families and communities; (4) Facilitate learning for and in the workplace, with the participation of industry and other stakeholders; (5) Extend the use of modern learning technologies; (6) Ensure the quality of learning; and (7) Foster a culture of learning throughout life. (b) The action components and corresponding success measures shall include the following: (1) Promotion of Literacy at All Levels of Society. - This component upholds the importance of promoting basic and functional literacy for all and includes activities that provide every citizen the opportunity to become literate and obtain foundational and transversal skills, Adult literacy rate shall be the corresponding success measure for this action component; (2) Promotion of Inclusive Learning in the Educational System. - No person, regardless of ability, sex, social background, language, ethnicity, religion, or culture, shall be excluded from participating in the lifelong learning system. The following activities and corresponding success measures shall fall under this component: (2.1) Expanding access to early childhood carer and education, with the net enrollment rate in pre-primary education, as its success measure; (2.2) Scaling micro-credential initiatives, promoting and transferable skills development, and recognizing alternative learning certifications through the Philippine Credit Transfer System (PCTS), as the success measure; (2.3) Promoting inclusivity and equity in education by expanding access to and participation in alternative education programs for underserved groups, with the number of beneficiaries reached and the quality of programs provided, as success measures; (2.4) Expanding access to formal education from primary to tertiary level, with the average number of years of formal education by people aged twenty-five (25) and older, as success measure; (2.5) Expanding access to and participation in adult education and technical-vocational education and training, with the percentage of citizens aged twenty-five (25) to sixty-four (64) who were monitored and reported to have received education or training in the last twelve (12) months, as success measure; and