 percent of the nation’s secondary schools are private enrolling approximately 32 percent of all high school students (Department of Education, 2003). There are two main types of secondary schools: the general secondary school, which enroll more than 90 percent of all high school students, and the vocational secondary school. In addition, there are also science secondary schools for students who have demonstrated a particular gift in science at the primary level. Vocational high schools differ from general high schools in that they have a heavier concentration in vocational training and practical arts. As in primary school, secondary school students are rated four times a year. If a student fails to get a final rating of no less than 75 percent in a particular subject, he or she repeats the subject the next year, but is, nevertheless, promoted to the next grade. A certificate is issued to secondary school graduates.
Duration: Four years (grades VII – X, age 13 to 17)
Entrance Requirement: Admission to public school is automatic for those who have completed six years of primary school. Some private secondary schools have competitive entrance requirements based on an entrance examination. Entrance to science high schools is also by competitive examination.
General High Schools
Curriculum: Communication arts (English and Filipino), social studies (including anthropology, Philippine history and government, economics, geography and sociology), mathematics, science and technology, youth development training (including physical education, health education, music and citizen army training), practical arts (including home economics, agriculture & fisheries, industrial arts, and entrepreneurship), values education and some electives including both academic and vocational subjects.
Vocational High Schools
Secondary vocational schools offer a higher concentration of technical and vocational subjects in addition to the core academic subjects studied by students at general high schools. These schools tend to offer technical and vocational instruction in one of five main fields: agriculture, fishery, trade-technical, home industry, and ‘non-traditional’ courses while offering a host of specializations.
Curriculum: During the first two years students study a general vocational area (see above). During the third and fourth years they specialize in a discipline or vocation within that area. For example, a student may take two years of general trade-technical courses followed by two years specialization in cabinet making. Programs contain a mixture of theory and practice.
Science High Schools
There are four public science high schools: Manila Science High School, Philippines Science High School (Manila), Cebu City Science High School and Quezon City Science High School.
Curriculum: As well as following the general secondary curriculum, there are advanced classes in science and mathematics.
Leaving Certificate: Students who successfully complete a minimum of four years of secondary education usually receive a Diploma (Katibayan) from their high school and, in addition, are awarded the secondary school Certificate of Graduation (Katunayan) by the Department of Education. Students are also awarded a Permanent Record, or Form 137-A, listing all classes taken and grades earned.
SECONDARY SCHOOL GRADING SCALE
In academic year 2002/03 there were 1,479 institutions of higher education (CHED, 2003) registered in the Philippines, of which 1,305 (88 percent) were in the private sector. In academic year 2000/01 total post-secondary enrollments amounted to 2,637,039 students (of whom 73.1% were in the private sector – DOE, 2003).
Public institutions of higher education include 111 chartered state universities and colleges, 44 local universities and colleges, 12 government schools (usually technical, vocational and education training institutions offering higher education programs), five special institutions (mainly providing training in areas such as military science and national defense), and two Commission on Higher Education (CHED)-supervised post-s