Conversion of Philippine Normal School into Philippine Normal College

June 18, 1949

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 416

AN ACT FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONVERTING THE PRESENT PHILIPPINE NORMAL SCHOOL INTO THE PHILIPPINE NORMAL COLLEGE, CONFERRING THE DEGREES OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION AND MASTER OF ARTS IN EDUCATION, PROVIDING FOR A BOARD OF TRUSTEES, DEFINING THE BOARD'S RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES, PROVIDING PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

SECTION 1. The present Philippine Normal School, located in the City of Manila, Philippines, is hereby converted into the Philippine Normal College, which will offer not only its present two-year general and three-year combined curricula but also a four-year and a five-year courses leading to the degrees of Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and Master of Arts in Education, respectively.

SECTION 2. The purpose of the said college shall be to provide professional, technical, and special instruction, for special purposes and progressive leadership in the field of elementary education. cdt

SECTION 3. The head of this institution shall be known as the President of the Philippine Normal College. He shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines upon the recommendation of the Board of Trustees. The powers and duties of the President of the College, in addition to those specifically provided for in this Act, shall be those usually pertaining to the office of the president of a college.

SECTION 4. The government of said college is hereby vested in a Board of Trustees of the Philippine Normal College. The Board of Trustees shall be composed of the Secretary of Education, who shall be ex-officio Chairman of the Board, the Chairman of the Committee on Education of the Senate, the Chairman of the Committee on Education of the House of Representatives, the Director of Public Schools, the President of the College, and the President of the Philippine Normal School Alumni Association.

Members of the Board shall serve without compensation, other than actual and necessary expenses incurred either in attendance upon meetings of the Board or upon other official business authorized by resolution of the Board.

SECTION 5. The Board of Trustees shall have the following powers and duties, in addition to its general powers of administration:

(a) To receive and appropriate to the ends specified by law such sums as may be provided by law for the support of the College;

(b) To confer the degrees of Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and Master of Arts in Education to successful candidates for graduation; aisa dc

(c) To appoint, on the recommendation of the President of the College, instructors, professors, lecturers, and other employees of the College; to fix their compensation, hours of service and such other duties and conditions as it may deem proper; to grant to them, in its discretion, leave of absence under such regulations as it may promulgate, any other provisions of law notwithstanding, and to remove them for cause after an investigation and hearing shall have been had;

(d) To approve the curricula and rules of discipline drawn up by the College Council as hereinafter provided;

(e) To fix the tuition fees required of students, as well as matriculation fees, graduation fees and fees for laboratory courses, and all special fees, and to remit the same in special cases;

(f) To provide fellowships for faculty members and scholarships to students showing special evidence of merit;

(g) To provide rules for its own government, and to enact for the government of the College such general ordinances and regulations, not contrary to law, as are consistent with the purposes of the College, as defined in section two of this Act;

(h) To receive in trust legacies, gifts, and donations of real and personal property of all kinds and to administer the same for the benefit of the College or for aid to any students, in accordance with the directions and instructions of the donor, and, in default thereof, in such manner as the Board of Trustees may in its discretion determine.

SECTION 6. A quorum of the Board of Trustees shall consist of a majority of all the members. All process against the Board of Trustees shall be served on the president or secretary thereof.

SECTION 7. On or before the fifteenth of June of each year, the Board of Trustees shall file with the President of the Philippines a detailed report, setting forth the progress, conditions, and needs of the College.

SECTION 8. There shall be a College Council consisting of the President of the College and of all instructors and professors of the College. The Council shall have the power to prescribe the curricula and rules of discipline, subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees. It shall fix the requirements for admission to the College, as well as for graduation and the receiving of a degree. The Council alone shall have the power to recommend students or others to be recipients of degrees. Through its president or committee, it shall have disciplinary power over the students within the limits prescribed by the rules of discipline approved by the Board of Trustees.

SECTION 9. The body of instructors and professors of the College shall constitute the faculty of the college, with the President of the College as the presiding officer. In the appointment of professors or instructors of the College, no religious test shall be applied, nor shall the religious opinions or affiliations of the faculty of the College be made a matter of examination or inquiry: Provided, however, That no instructor or professor in the College shall inculcate sectarian tenets in any of the teachings, nor attempt either directly or indirectly, under penalty of dismissal by the Board of Trustees, to influence students or attendants at the College for or against any particular church or religious sect.

SECTION 10. Professors and other regular instructors in the College shall be exempt as such from any civil service examinations or regulations as a requisite to appointment.

SECTION 11. There shall be a secretary of the College, appointed by the Board of Trustees. He shall be the secretary of such Board and also of the College, and shall keep such records of the college as may be designated by the Board.

SECTION 12. Heads of bureaus or offices of the National Government are hereby authorized to loan or transfer, upon request of the President of the College, such apparatus or supplies as may be needed by the College, and to detail employees for duty therein, when in the judgment of the head of the bureau or office such supplies or employees can be spared without serious detriment to the public service.

SECTION 13. The President of the College, with the cooperation of the Superintendent of City Schools of Manila, may use one or more of the elementary schools in the City of Manila, as training or laboratory schools of the College.

SECTION 14. In order not to interrupt the smooth functioning of the two-year general curriculum and the three-year combined curriculum of the Philippine Normal School, the faculty of the school, consisting of the instructors and critic teachers, as well as the other personnel, shall be absorbed by the new College. Salaries of this personnel shall be adjusted at the discretion of the Board of Trustees within the amount available for appropriation.

SECTION 15. For carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Act, the sum of seven hundred fifty thousand pesos is hereby appropriated from any funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated for the fiscal year 1949-1950.

The sum herein appropriated shall not be released except upon the certification of the Secretary of Finance and the Auditor General as to the availability of funds in excess of those necessary for the operation of the Government as provided in the annual General Appropriation Act for the fiscal year 1949-1950.

SECTION 16. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 1949.

Approved: June 18, 1949

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 45, No. 10, p. 4305 in October 1949