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 …

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. — 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.

SEC. 2. Powers and Duties of the Secretary. — To
carry out the aforementioned policy, the Secretary of Education and
Culture has the authority:

1. To promote and conduct or cause to be conducted national
   entrance examinations in accordance with this Decree;
2. To determine the method, form, content, date
   and place or places of examination;
3. 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;
4. To determine exemptions from the provisions of this Decree;
5. To charge a reasonable fee to cover the cost of
   examinations.

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.

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.

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.