LAWS GOVERNING STUDENTS ADMISSION IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS, COLLEGES AND

UNIVERSITIES

It is policy of the state to provide for a free and compulsory public elementary education and a free
public secondary education. Conformably, the following must be observed:

No Filipino student shall be refused admission.

The right of any student to avail of free public high school shall terminate if he fails for 2 consecutive
school year in the majority of the academic subjects.

Period of Enrollment

Elementary and Secondary shall not be later than 2 weeks before the opening of the classes.

Scholarship Grants, student loan programs, subsides and other incentives

Admission Requirements

Elementary level

Grade 1-6 years old and above shall submit a birth certificate

Grade 2-6 –enrollees shall submit Form 138-A

Secondary level

1st year – required to submit Form 138

Night (high) school classes

Summer classes

Graduating students who lack 1 laboratory subjects or 2 non-laboratory subjects. Irregular students who
lack minimum 1 laboratory or 2 non-laboratory subjects to be regularized.

Transfers

Grounds:

Displacement of families arising out of natural and man-made calamities.

Transfer of Filipino school children from abroad to Philippines

Displacement due to difficult circumstances Students are required to take the Philippine Validation test
(PVT) for schools that are not accredited by the DECS (Department of Education, Culture and Sports)
 House Bill No, 1378

An Act Providing for a Magna Carta of Students

General Principles

It is hereby declared to be the policy of the State to promote and protect the rights of students to
enable them to participate actively and effectively in the democratic processes of effecting progressive
and developmental changes in society.

Guiding Principles:

The formal education system being the principal institutional mechanism for imparting knowledge and
developing skills shall be given priority attention and support by the government.

Education is a right and not a mere privilege.

Right to Admission and Quality Education

No student shall be denied admission to any school.

Right to competent instruction and relevant quality education.

Right to adequate welfare services and academic facilities.

Right to Organize

Right to organize among themselves

Student Council / Government

Right to Participate in Policy Making

Participation in the policy making process

Student’s initiative and referendum

Right to file and appeal

Right to Free Expression and Information and Right to Academic Freedom

Right to be informed

Freedom of expression

Student publications

Academic Freedom

Right to Due Process in Disciplinary Proceedings

 Right to due process

THE PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTIONS

1935 Constitution Article XIV Section 5

The Government shall establish and maintain a complete and adequate system of public education, and
shall provide a least free public primary instruction, and citizenship training to adult citizens.All schools
shall aim to develop moral character, personal discipline, civic conscience, and vocational efficiency, and
to teach the duties of citizenship.

Optional religious instruction shall be maintained in the public schools as now authorized by law.
Universities established by the State shall enjoy academic freedom. The State shall create scholarships.

1937 Constitution Article XV Section 8

The State shall establish and maintain a complete, adequate, and integrated system of education
relevant to goals of national development. All institutions of higher learning shall enjoy academic
freedom. The study of the Constitution shall be part of curricula in all schools. All educational
institutions shall aim to inculcate love of country, teach the duties of citizenship, and develop moral
character, personal discipline, and scientific, technological, and vocational efficiency. The State shall
maintain a system of free public elementary education.

The State shall provide citizenship and vocational training to adult citizens and out-of-school youth, and
create and maintain scholarships for poor and deserving students.Educational institutions, other than
those established by religious orders, mission boards, and charitable organizations, shall be owned
solely by citizens of the Philippines. No education institution shall be established exclusively for aliens,
and no group of aliens shall comprise more than one-third of the enrolment of any school. Religion shall
be taught to their children or ward in public elementary and high schools as may be provided by law.

1987 Constitution Article XIV Section 1-5

The State shall establish, maintain, and support a complete, adequate, and integrated system of
education relevant to the needs of the people and society. All educational institutions shall include the
study of the Constitution as part of the curricula. The State recognizes the complementary role of public
and private institutions in the educational system and shall exercise reasonable supervision and
regulation of all educational institutions. Academic freedom shall be enjoyed in all institutions of higher
learning. Every citizens has a right to select profession or course of study, subject to fair, reasonable, and
equitable admission and academic requirements. The State shall enhance the right of teachers of
professional advancement. Non-teaching academic and non-academic personnel shall enjoy the

protection of the State. The State shall assign the highest budgetary priority to education and ensure
that teaching will attract and retain its rightful share of the best available talents through adequate
remuneration and other means of job satisfaction and fulfillment.

K-12 and OBE

Is an educational system under the Department of Education that aims to embrace learner’s basic skills,
produce more competent citizens, and compare graduates for lifelong learning and employment. “K”
stands for Kindergarten and “12” refers to the succeeding 12 years of the basic education (6 years

elementary education, 4 years of junior high school, and 2 years of senior high school). At present, the
Philippines is the last country in Asia and one of only 3 countries in the world with a 10-year pre-
university program.

Why Push for K-12 basic Education Program?

K-12 EDUCATION SYSTEM

The K-12 program offers a decongested 12-year program that gives students sufficient time to master
skills and absorb basic competencies. Students of the new system will graduate at the age of 18 and will
be ready for employment, entrepreneurship, middle level skills development, and higher education
upon graduation. The k-12 program accelerates mutual recognition of Filipino graduates and
professionals in other countries. Kindergarten is mandatory for five-year-old children, a pre-requisite for
admission to Grade The new curriculum gives students the chance to choose among three tracks (i.e.
Academic; Technical-Vocational-Livelihood; and Sports and Art) and undergo immersion, which provides
relevant exposure and actual experience in their chosen track.

Old System

Students lack mastery of basic competencies due to a congested ten-year basic education curriculum.
Graduates of the old curriculum are younger than 18 years old and are not legally ready to get a job or
start a business.Foreign countries perceive a ten-year curriculum as insufficient. They do not

automatically recognize Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as professionals abroad. Kindergarten (a

strong foundation for lifelong learning and total development) is optional and not a pre-requisite for
admission to Grade 1. Old education system offers a broad curriculum that does not include enough
practical applications.

Outcome-based Education

Is a model of education that rejects the traditional focus on what the school provides to students, in
favor of making students demonstrate that they “know and are able to do” whatever the required
outcomes are. The emphasis in an OBE education system is on measured outcomes rather than “inputs”,
such as how many hours students spend in class, or what textbooks are provided. Outcomes may
include a range of skills and knowledge. Approaches to grading, reporting, and promoting
The traditional model of grading on a curve (top student gets the best grade, worst student always fails
(even if they know all the material), everyone else evenly distributed in the middle) is never accepted in
OBE or standards-based education. Instead, a student’s performance is related in absolute terms: “Jane
knows how to write the letters of the alphabet ”or “Jane answered 80% of questions correctly” instead
of “Jane answered more questions correctly than Mary”. OBE-oriented teachers think about the
individual needs of each student and give opportunities for each student to achieve at a variety of levels.
Thus, in theory, weaker students are given work within their grasp and exceptionally strong students are
extended. In practice, managing independent study programs for thirty or more individuals is difficult.
Adjusting student’s abilities is something that good teachers have always done: OBE simply makes the
approach explicit and reflects the approach in marking and reporting. Differences with traditional
education method

In a traditional education system and economy, students are given grades and rankings compared to
each other. Under the traditional model, student performance is expected to show a wide range of
abilities. The highest-performing students are given the highest grades and test scores, and the lowest
performing are given low grades. K to 12 Program (R. A. 10533, May 15, 2013)- The K to 12
Program covers Kindergarten and 12 years of basic education(six years of primary education, four years
of Junior High School (JHS), and two years of Senior High School (SHS) to provide sufficient time for
mastery of concepts and skills, develop lifelong learners, and prepare graduates for tertiary education,
middle-level skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship. Each independent education
agency specifies its own outcomes and its own methods of measuring student achievement according to
those outcomes. The results of these measurements can be used for different purposes. For example,
one agency may use the information to determine how well the overall education system is performing,
and another may use its assessments to determine whether an individual student has learned required
material.

Outcome-based methods have been adopted for large numbers of students in several countries. In the
United States, the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills started in 1991. In Australia, implementation of
OBE in Western Australia was widely criticised by parents and teachers and was mostly dropped in
January 2007. In South Africa, OBE was dropped in mid 2010. On a smaller scale, some OBE practices,
such as not passing a student who does not know the required material, have been used by individual
teachers around the world for centuries.

OBE was a popular term in the United States during the 1980s and early 1990s. It is also called mastery
education, performance-based education, and other names.