Homeschool Global with Multiple ISO Certification

The mission has always been to serve families in achieving true success through world-class, parent-led, home-based Christian education. While HG certainly continues to attain this, its broader vision is to see countless families transformed by Jesus, through homeschooling, impacting the world through multiple generations.

With over eight hubs across the Philippines, four hubs in the Middle East, and partner schools in the Philippines and the United States, HG has served tens of thousands of students. Among its alumni are students who have been admitted into top universities locally and internationally, and those who are already making their mark as artists, entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers, and professionals. More importantly, these achievements of its students and families are a greater testament to Homeschool Global's consistent commitment to its pursuit of excellence.

HG believes that the path to its goal is best guided by its adherence to its core values of God First, Innovation, Perseverance, Passion, Agility, and Care. In the organization’s commitment to these values, it is no surprise that it is always on the lookout for improvement and innovation to follow through its calling to serve more families in the years to come. With the onslaught of struggle brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, which included the abrupt closure of the physical hubs, a rough transition to remote management, and a sudden and unprecedented surge of homeschool enrollments and inquiries, it became even clearer that HG needed to consistently improve to continue serving excellently.

During this season, the organization understood even further that world class quality management is necessary in upholding its goals and values. HG was thus affirmed and strengthened its pursuit of world class standards and accreditation.

PURSUING ISO CERTIFICATION

During its 20th year of operations in 2019, Homeschool Global began its journey of ISO certification. More specifically, the team pursued the ISO 21001:2018 and ISO 29994:2021 certifications. ISO 21001:2018 is the standard for Educational Organizations Management Systems (EOMS) for Educational Organizations, while ISO 29994:2021 is the standard for Education and Learning Services (Requirements for distance learning). “We set on this journey to really improve our excellence,” says HG President Ryan Gallagher on embarking on the ISO certification journey, “We’re not a perfect organization, and as a team, we knew we could serve our families better. And so we set out on a transformation path to achieve that.” With SGS Philippines as a partner, given their reputation as the global leader in benchmarking for quality and integrity, HG understood that they would best enable the team on such a transformational path.

Through the ISO certification program and with the help from HG’s consultants and SGS Auditors, the HG team was able to gain an exhaustive understanding of the EOMS clauses and how these standards should be applied in the organization’s overall operations. Through the implementation of the management systems, HG became better at identifying crucial transformative tasks and equipping the concerned team members in their roles, enhance training and onboarding of the team, and more regularly update their documents to ensure reliability and relevance. As a result, HG was not only able to validate that the services they provide and the systems that they use are at par with international, world class standards, but they have also gained access to frameworks and guidelines that can support their pursuit for continuous improvement. 

As of Q3 of 2022, after a simultaneously lengthy and rewarding ISO process of training, implementing, and auditing, Homeschool Global was finally awarded both ISO 21001:2018 and ISO 29994:2021 certifications. In fact, it is the first organization in the world awarded by SGS with the certification for the Educational Organizations Management Systems (EOMS) for Educational Organizations standard (ISO 21001:2018), and the first formal education organization in the country to receive the ISO 29994:2021 certification in Distance Learning under Formal Education.

“The (goal) is to improve our education programs, not just from a service perspective, but from a learning perspective, so that they will be more effective and engaging, and that homeschooling and online learning will be viewed as a more viable, more accredited, more credible form of education,” shares Gallagher regarding the awarding of these certifications. “... but as with ISO and its foundation and its fundamentals, we continue to improve all the time,” he said.

LEARNING FROM THE PROGRAM

The affirmation that the work they have done is aligned with international standards continues to bring joy to the Homeschool Global team. Beyond the official certifications, there was much for the entire organization to take from the process itself. For one, the ISO certification journey became a clear reminder to the team on about how the mission, vision, and core values of the organization are intertwined into its processes. HG’s Head of Quality Management, Jane Yulo, shares, “The ISO process has paved the way for us to truly live our value of innovation as well as perseverance to achieve our goals both for the organization and our families.” She adds, “It has been an experience that cultivated our passion for what we do here in Homeschool Global.” Although physically distanced and during a global pandemic, various teams and departments were brought together to rally behind a common goal. This served as validation that in every team member's own way, the mission and the vision of the organization is adhered to, somewhat both personally and professionally. And beyond the affirmation that they are aligned in certain procedural standards, it was greater validation that the team is truly aligned behind the greater goal: to be in service to countless families transformed by Jesus, through homeschooling, and in turn, impacting the world through multiple generations.

Homeschool Global continues to be grateful that the ISO certification journey united the organization in the midst of the pandemic. And the team continues to look forward to how it will continue to ensure a high standard of service to the families they serve, as we all together emerge from the pandemic and into the future.