Short answer. Yes. Republic Act No. 7610 directs the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (now the Department of Education) to design a non-formal education course specifically for working children who never completed elementary or secondary school, so they can still gain intellectual, moral and vocational skills through a learning process suited to their circumstances.
What the law says
shall promulgate a course design under its non-formal education program aimed at promoting the intellectual, moral and vocational efficiency of working children who have not undergone or finished elementary or secondary education
RA 7610, Section 13 — Non-formal Education For Workers. Read the full provision →
What the law says
Such course design shall integrate the learning process deemed most effective under given circumstances.
RA 7610, Section 13 — Non-formal Education For Workers. Read the full provision →
What the provision requires
Section 13 of Republic Act No. 7610 places a direct duty on the education authorities to create a non-formal education track for child workers. Rather than leaving these children without any schooling option, the law requires a course design built specifically around their situation, one meant to develop their intellectual, moral and vocational abilities even though they are already working instead of attending regular classes full time.
Who the program is meant to reach
The text covers working children who have not undergone or finished elementary or secondary education, meaning kids who left school early, were pulled out, or never enrolled because they needed to earn income for themselves or their family. The section does not carve out a narrow age band or industry, so the intent appears to be broad: any child laborer who fell outside the regular school system is meant to be covered by this non-formal alternative.
Which agency is responsible today
The provision names the Department of Education, Culture and Sports, the single agency that handled basic, higher and technical education when Republic Act No. 7610 was enacted in 1992. That agency's basic-education functions were later carried over to what is now the Department of Education, so in practice it is DepEd that designs and administers non-formal learning tracks like the one this section describes for working children.
How this connects to other protections for child workers
This education duty does not stand alone. It sits alongside other parts of the same law covering the hours a child may work, hazardous jobs children cannot be assigned to, and duties placed on employers who hire minors. Read together, the goal is that a child who must work is not permanently shut out of learning, and that whatever schooling is offered actually fits someone who is also holding down a job.
What this section does not do
Section 13 does not create a private right to sue an employer directly, and it does not spell out penalties of its own. It is a directive to a government department to build a program, so a family whose child is not in school because of work is better served by looking at the child-labor and employer-duty provisions of the same law, which do carry consequences, alongside this education mandate.
Related provisions
- RA 7610, Section 13 — Non-formal Education For Workers
- RA 7610, Section 11 — Sanctions On Establishments
- RA 7610, Section 14 — Children In Certain Advertisements