Pursuant to Article 44 of Republic Act 9520 (RA 9520) and Section 5 of Rule 7 of its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR), this Authority hereby adopts and promulgates these Guidelines on the Accreditation of Cooperative Training Providers.

Section 1. Title - This shall be known as the Guidelines on the Accreditation of Cooperative Training Providers.

Section 2. Definition of Terms

Accreditation - for the purpose of this document, accreditation refers only to the accreditation of providers of education and training services to cooperatives;

The Authority- refers to the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA);

Trainers - are individual persons who belong to the pool of trainers and possess the qualifications required for the trainer;

Training provider - refers to institution or organization providing/offering training courses either short courses, skills programs and full qualifications

Section 3. Scope and Objectives -  This Circular shall apply to organizations/ institutions conducting training to cooperatives, such as:

1. Advocacy and Education cooperatives;
   
2. Cooperative federations;
   
3. Cooperative unions;
   
4. Training institutions;
   
5. Government Organizations (GOs) and non-government organizations (NGOs);
   
6. Local Government units (LGUs); and
   
7. State Universities & Colleges (SUCs) and academe

Primary cooperatives which are not registered as advocacy and education cooperatives are not covered by this Circular.

The Accreditation Program aims to institutionalize the conduct of well-coordinated, rationalized, and standardized education and training for cooperative and its officers and members pursuant to the provisions of RA 9520.

Section 4. Initial Requirements

a. Qualifications

The applicant must possess the following minimum qualifications:
-Must have juridical personality;
-Must have cooperative development program/s;
-Must have a pool at least five (5) competent cooperative trainers who possess the following minimum qualifications:

- Must be of legal age;
- Must be a Filipino residing in the Philippines;
- Must be a holder of at least a Bachelor ™s degree;
- Must have attended/completed training course for cooperative trainers; and
- With at least two (2) years experience as resource person on cooperatives and must be knowledgeable on basic philosophy of cooperatives.

b. Documentary Requirements

An applicant who seeks to be accredited as cooperative training provider must file a letter-application directly to the Cooperative Development Authority - Extension Office (CDA-EO) where such applicant is based, attaching thereto duly certified true copies of the following documents:

b.1. For Cooperatives, Federations and Unions

i. Certificate of Good Standing (CGS) issued by the CDA specifically for purposes of accreditation;
ii. Organizational profile

a.  Basic Information (Name/address/contact details);
b.  List of programs and services;
c.  Historical profile of cooperative training conducted
d.    Affiliations, if any;
e.  List of Key Officers and staff; and
f.  List of Trainers with their Individual profile/bio-data

iii. Cooperative Annual Performance Report (CAPR) and Audited Financial Statements of the Immediate Preceeding Year

b.2. For Training Institutions/NGOs/Academe:

i. Certificate of Registration from the concerned Philippine Government Agency;
ii. Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws where cooperative development is one of its objectives and purposes or cooperative development is one of its identified program thrusts;
iii.  Business Permit;
iv. Organizational profile

- Basic Information (Name/address/contact details);
-  List of programs and services;
- Historical profile of cooperative training conducted;
- Affiliations, if any;
- List of Key Officers and Staff; and
- List of Trainers with their individual profile/bio-data.

v. Annual Reports and Audited Financial Statements for the last 2 years:

b.3  For GOs/ LGUs/SUCs:

i. Certification from head of the agency that such office/unit has cooperative development program, in lieu of the Certificate of Registration; or appropriate local issuance/s creating the office (in the case of LGUs);

ii. Organizational profile

- Basic Information (Name/address/contact details);
-  List of programs and services;
- Historical profile of cooperative training conducted;
- List of Key Officers and Staff; and
- List of Trainers with their individual profile/bio-data.

Section 5. Adoption of the prescribed Cooperative Training Curriculum  - For purposes of standardizing the minimum knowledge and information that the cooperative officers need to acquire, the accredited cooperative training provider must submit an undertaking to adopt the CDA prescribed cooperative training curriculum for cooperative officers.

Section 6. Accreditation Fee

 

Application Fee	- Three Thousand Pesos (P3, 000.00)
Renewal Fee	- Five Thousand Pesos (P5, 000.00)
Re-application Fee	- Five Thousand Pesos (P5, 000.00)

Section 7.  Renewal of Accreditation - The accredited cooperative training provider may apply for renewal of its accreditation two (2) months prior to the expiration of its accreditation by submitting the following documents to the concerned CDA EO:

a. Letter-application for renewal;
b. Annual Report and latest Audited Financial Statement;
c. List of Trainings Conducted including the names of the participants, dates/
venues of the training;
d. Updated list of Trainers; and e. Renewal fee.

Approval of the Renewal for accreditation shall be subject to the Authority ™s power to review and evaluate their training activities and qualification on the assessment to be provided by the CDA.

Non-conduct of training within the accreditation period shall be a ground for non-renewal of accreditation.

SECTION 8. Accreditation Jurisdiction - The accreditation and revocation of the accreditation of Cooperative Training Provider shall be the authority of the CDA Board of Administrators (BOA) through the Office of the Executive Director (OED) and the Institutional Development Department (IDD).

Section 9.  Validity of Accreditation -

Initial Accreditation

Initial accreditation will be valid for one (1) year from the date of approval, unless earlier revoked by the Authority.

Renewal of Accreditation

The renewal of accreditation shall be valid for a period of two (2) years from the date of approval, unless earlier revoked by the Authority

Section 10. Cancellation/Revocation of Accreditation -  Non-compliance with any of the provisions of this Circular, rules and regulations issued by the Authority and the requirements for accreditation shall be a ground for the revocation/cancellation of the accreditation.

A Cooperative Training Provider whose accreditation has been cancelled may re-apply for accreditation. Provided, that no further re-accreditation shall be granted after two (2) cancellations.

In the re-application, the procedures and requirements for renewal shall be observed.

Section 11. Report Requirement - A copy of the Annual Report on the training activities conducted including the participants trained shall be submitted to the Authority by the Accredited Cooperative Training Provider within ten (10) days after the close of every year, for information and guidance.

Section 12. Miscellaneous Provision -  The list of all Accredited Cooperative Training Providers shall be made available to the cooperative sector and shall be posted at the Authority ™s website.

The CDA shall not be held liable for any damage or loss that may arise from the selection of the accredited cooperative training provider that will be engaged by the cooperatives for their training.

Section 13. Repealing Clause - Memorandum Circular No. 2004-10 dated June 10, 2004 and the Guidelines for the Recognition of Non-Government Organizations issued on September 24, 1991 and all other issuances that are inconsistent with these Guidelines shall be deemed repealed.

Section 14. Effectivity - This Circular shall take effect fifteen (15) days upon receipt by the Office of National Administrative Register. (ONAR).

Approved by the CDA Board of Administrators on February 22, 2011 per BOA Resolution No. 39, Series of 2011.

Adopted: 22 February 2011



FOR THE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATORS:

(SGD.) EMMANUEL M. SANTIAGUEL, PH.D.
Chairperson