Amendment to E.O. No. 273 s. 2000 Re: Abolition of the National Coordinating Council for Education (NCCE)

July 10, 2007

EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 632

AMENDING EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 273 (SERIES OF 2000) AND MANDATING A PRESIDENTIAL ASSISTANT TO ASSESS, PLAN AND MONITOR 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 to further strengthen the role of education in accelerating national development and global competitiveness; TAEcSC

WHEREAS, Executive Order No. (EO) 273 (Series of 2000) created a National Coordinating Council for Education (NCCE) 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 PCER;

• To establish, oversee and monitor the implementation of the National Educational Evaluation and Testing System 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;

WHEREAS, in EO 273, the chair rotates every two years among the heads of the Department of Education (Dep Ed), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA);

WHEREAS, CHED and Dep Ed vehemently opposed the TESDA Chairmanship;

WHEREAS, EO 273 was shelved;

WHEREAS, the need to synchronize and harmonize the government's educational policies, programs and initiatives becomes all the more urgent given our country's ranking in world competitiveness;

NOW, THEREFORE I, GLORIA M. ARROYO, President of the Republic of the Philippines, do hereby amend EO 273 (Series of 2000) by abolishing the NCCE and mandating a Presidential Assistant to exercise its functions.

All executive issuances inconsistent with this Executive Order are hereby repealed or amended accordingly.

This Executive Order shall take effect immediately.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 10th day of July, in the year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Seven.