Definition of Terms.
Section 3
SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act: (a) Basic Education refers to the intended basic learning needs which provide the foundation on which subsequent learning can be based. It includes kindergarten, elementary, and secondary education as well as alternative learning systems for out-of-school learners and those with special needs; (b) Basic Education School refers to learning institutions accredited by the Department of Education (DepEd) to deliver services addressing the intended basic learning needs of students; (c) Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA) refer to remote or marginalized areas or communities with limited access to essential services and infrastructure and may include areas impacted by conflict or insecurity; (d) Indigenous Cultural Communities (ICCs)/Indigenous Peoples (IPs) refer to a group of people or indigenous societies identified by self-ascription and ascription by others, who have continuously lives as an organized community on communally bounded and defined territory, and who have, under claims of ownership since time immemorial, occupied, possessed and utilized such territories, sharing common bonds of language, customs, traditions, and other distinctive cultural traits, or who have, through resistance to political, social, and cultural inroads of colonization, non-indigenous religions and cultures, becomes historically differentiated from the majority of Filipinos. ICCs/IPs shall likewise include peoples who are regarded as indigenous religions and cultures, or the establishment of present state boundaries, who retain some or all of their own social, economic, cultural, and political institutions, but who may have been displaced from their traditional domains or have resettled outside their ancestral domains; and (e) Last Mile and GIDA Schools refer to public schools located in remote, hard-to-reach, underserved, or economically disadvantaged communities where access to safe, adequate, and quality basic education is significantly constrained by limitations in infrastructure, resources, personnel, and prevailing social and environmental conditions.