MALACAÑAN PALACE
MANILA
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES
[ EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 273, August 07, 2000 ]
INSTITUTIONALIZING THE SYSTEM OF NATIONAL COORDINATION, ASSESSMENT, PLANNING AND MONITORING OF THE ENTIRE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
WHEREAS, the Presidential Commission on Educational Reform, or PCER, was created in 1998 to continue and build on the work of the 1991 Congressional Commission on Education (otherwise known as EDCOM) to further strengthen the role of education in accelerating national development and global competitiveness;
WHEREAS, the major recommendations of the EDCOM have caused the restructuring and trifocalization of the management of the country’s educational system;
WHEREAS, this trifocalization has led to greater focus and depth in the planning and implementation of development programs of the co-equal education sub-sectors-namely, basic education, technical education and skills development and higher education, thus resulting in the enhancement of the capabilities of these three (3) sub-sectors to achieve their respective mandates;
WHEREAS, PCER studies point out, as EDCOM anticipated, that the salutary effects of trifocalization of education notwithstanding, there are perceived concerns and issues arising from possible overlaps and gaps as well as inconsistencies in and non-alignment of policies, plans and programs; and
WHEREAS, in order to ensure effective coordination, planning and allocation of scarce resources among the three subsectors of education and training, PCER reiterates and adopts EDCOM’s recommendation to put in place a National Coordinating Council for Education (NCCE).
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH EJERCITO ESTRADA, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby order:
Section 1. Creation and Composition of the Council. The National Coordinating Council for Education (NCCE) is hereby created and attached to the Office of the President for administrative purposes, to be composed of the following:
Secretary, Department of Education, Culture & Sports (DECS or DBE) – Member
Chairman, Commission on Higher Education – Member
Director-General, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority – Member
It shall be chaired by the members on a rotating basis for a term of two (2) years each.
Section 2. Participation of Other Sectors. As the need arises, the Council may invite as resource persons the Secretaries of NEDA, DBM, DOST and DOLE as well as the participation of representatives from the education, business and other sectors, both public and private and non-governmental organizations, which have direct stakes in education to ensure broad-based consultations and proper dissemination of information and advocacy.
Section 3. Mandates and Functions. – The Council shall discharge its responsibilities in accordance with the following specific mandates:
to serve as the regular forum for trans-subsectoral consultations on cross-cutting policies and programs;
• to harmonize goals and objectives for the entire education system and to dovetail them to national development plans;
• to review existing and proposed programs and projects for tighter inter-subsector coordination;
• to set priorities for the education system and recommend corresponding financial requirements;
• to pursue and monitor implementation of the reforms proposed by the Presidential Commission on Educational Reform (PCER);
• to establish, oversee and monitor the implementation of the National Educational Evaluation and Testing System (NEETS) and its operations;
• to designate and provide guidelines for Philippine representatives in international and national conferences/meetings with cross-cutting themes or concerns in education; and
• to convene a biennial National Congress on Education for the purpose of assessing, updating/upgrading and strengthening of the educational system and its components.
Section 4. It shall be assisted by a small high-powered Secretariat whose main responsibility is to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the NCCE. It shall be composed of a Director, a permanent staff of five (5) and others seconded to the Council as needed from the three (3) member agencies.
Section 5. In the discharge of its functions and responsibilities, the NCCE may commission highly-qualified experts/specialists and/or education consultancy groups to provide specified services.
Section 6. It shall adopt its own internal operating rules and procedures and define the duties and responsibilities of the Secretariat, its staffing pattern, and compensation schedule.
Section 7. The NCCE shall submit an annual performance report to the President, as well as program and policy recommendations affecting the entire education system.
Section 8. In no case whatsoever shall the NCCE detract from the autonomy and independence of DECS, TESDA and CHED.
Section 9. Statistics for Educational Planning – For the purpose of carrying out the mandates of the NCCE, the National Statistics Office (NSO) is hereby directed to strengthen its core or basic unit responsible for the generation and analysis of education and training statistics and to systematize its operational links with the statistical units in the Department of Education, Culture and Sports, Commission on Higher Education and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority. The NCCE shall coordinate with the NSO in all matters pertaining to the generation, analysis, utilization and dissemination of all educational statistics and information.
Section 10. Government agencies are hereby directed to second and/or detail competent individuals to the NCCE as may be requested.
Section 11. The Council is directed to convene the first National Congress on the State of Philippine Education by 2001 in order to, among others, monitor the fulfillment of all the policy and program recommendations of both the EDCOM and the PCER.
Section 12. Initial Funding of the NCCE. – The sum of fourteen million pesos is hereby appropriated from the President’s Social Fund for the initial mobilization and first year of operation of the NCCE. Thereafter, the sum of Ten Million Pesos (P10,000,000.00) shall be included in the General Appropriations Act.
Section 13. Repealing Clause. – All executive issuances inconsistent with this Executive Order are hereby repealed or amended accordingly.
Section 14. Effectivity. – This Executive Order shall take effect immediately.
Done in the City of Manila, this 7th day of August, in the year of Our Lord, two thousand.
(SGD.) JOSEPH EJERCITO ESTRADA
By the President:
(SGD.) RONALDO B. ZAMORA
Executive Secretary
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