UPGRADING THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION IN THE PHILIPPINES BY REQUIRING ALL HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES SEEKING ADMISSION TO POST-SECONDARY DEGREE PROGRAMS NECESSITATING A MINIMUM OF FOUR YEARS' STUDY TO PASS A NATIONAL ENTRANCE EXAMINATION AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

• Number: Presidential Decree No. 146
• Sections: 6

Preamble

I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by

virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution as

Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines and

pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, and General

Order No. 1, dated September 22, 1972, do hereby decree, order and make

as part of the law of the land the following measure:

Section 1 Declaration of Policy.

SECTION 1. Declaration of Policy. — Pursuant to

Presidential Decree No. 6-A, it is hereby declared a policy of the State

to maintain the highest quality of education for purposes of national

development. To achieve this policy, all high school' graduates shall be

required to pass a national entrance examination as a prerequisite for

admission to any post-secondary academic or professional degree program

necessitating a minimum of four years' study in any private or public

institution of higher learning, whether chartered or unchartered.

Section 2 Powers and Duties of the Secretary.

SEC. 2. Powers and Duties of the Secretary. — To

carry out the aforementioned policy, the Secretary of Education and

Culture has the authority:

To promote and conduct or cause to be conducted national

entrance examinations in accordance with this Decree;

To determine the method, form, content, date

and place or places of examination;

To enter, when desirable or necessary, into agreements or

contracts, and to make payments incidental to such agreements or

contracts, with qualified persons, institutions, organizations, public

agencies, entities and establishments to carry out the purposes of this

Decree;

To determine exemptions from the provisions of this Decree;

To charge a reasonable fee to cover the cost of

examinations.

Section 3 Rules and Regulations.

SEC. 3. Rules and Regulations. — The Secretary of

Education and Culture shall, within sixty days from the issuance of this

Decree, promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to

implement the provisions of this Decree: Provided, That the

full implementation of the program be held for entering freshmen of the

school year 1974-1975. These rules and regulations shall take effect

fifteen days after their publication in the Official Gazette or in one

newspaper of national circulation.

Section 4 Appropriation.

SEC. 4. Appropriation.

— To carry out the provisions of this Decree, the sum of one million

pesos is hereby annually appropriated as part of the appropriation of

the Department of Education and Culture out of any funds in the National

Treasury not otherwise appropriated.

Section 5 Effectivity.

SEC. 5. Effectivity. — This Decree shall take

effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 9th day of March, in the year

of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-three.

(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS

President

Republic of the Philippines

By the President:

(Sgd.) ALEJANDRO MELCHOR

Executive Secretary

In order to facilitate the implementation of this Presidential

Decree No. 146, the Department of Education and Culture issued its Rules

and Regulations, dated April 27, 1973, relative to the giving of

entrance examinations.