d 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-secondary education institutions.
Prior to 1994, the supervision of tertiary schools was the responsibility of the Bureau of Higher Education, a division of the former Department of Education, Culture and Sports. With the passage of the Higher Education Act in 1994, an independent government agency, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) was created to exercise general supervision and control over all colleges and universities –– both public and private –– in the country. The commission regulates the establishment or closure of private higher education institutions, their program offerings, curricular development, building specifications and tuition fees. Private universities and colleges follow the regulations and orders of CHED, although a select few are granted autonomy or deregulated status in recognition of their committed service through quality education and research when they reach Level III accreditation.
Similarly, in 1995 legislation was passed providing for the transfer of supervision of all non-degree, technical and vocational education programs from the Bureau of Vocational Education, also under the control of the Department of Education, to another new and independent agency, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). The establishment of TESDA has increased emphasis on and support for non-degree vocational education programs.
In addition to regulating higher education, CHED is also responsible for developing policies to support quality improvement in the higher educational system. As a matter of policy, CHED encourages institutions to seek accreditation and provides a number of incentives in the form of progressive deregulation, grants and subsidies to institutions with accredited programs. However, all educational programs can operate legally if they have government recognition in the form of applying for and receiving a grant of authority and official recognition to operate. Government recognition should not, however, be confused with accreditation.
A CHED database of hi