Establishment of a Government-Wide Scholarship Program in Public Administration

April 19, 1976

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 395

WHEREAS, the Constitution provides that the Civil Service Commission shall establish a career service and adopt measures to promote morale, efficiency and integrity in the government service;

WHEREAS, I have decreed that the development and retention of a competent work force in the public service is a primary concern of government;

WHEREAS, to attain this objective, it is necessary that government employees be provided with opportunities for professional growth and development;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, do hereby order that a government-wide Scholarship Program in Public Administration be established under the leadership of the Civil Service Commission. It shall be the aim of such Program to support qualified government employees who desire to take up graduate studies in public administration.

The following conditions governing the Program are hereby established:

I. Scope of the Program

The Scholarship Program shall be open to all government employees who belong to the career service, except the third level, who desire to take up graduate studies in public administration, subject to the conditions herein established.

II. Number of Scholars an Agency May Sponsor

Each agency shall be allowed to sponsor a maximum of six (6) scholars at any one time for each academic year. This means that an agency which has six grantees already enrolled under this Program may again sponsor scholars only after all or any of its six scholars shall have been either graduated or dropped from the study grant for valid reasons.

III. Rules for Nomination

A. The head of the agency shall officially nominate candidates to the Program on a form to be prescribed by the Civil Service Commission. For this purpose, a "head of agency" shall mean a person vested with sufficient authority to grant to employees under his jurisdiction the privileges of the scholarship and to commit the agency to the requirements stipulated in Condition V of this Letter of Instructions.

B. An agency shall be allowed to nominate as many candidates as it may deem necessary provided that the nominees meet all the qualifications prescribed by the Civil Service Commission.

IV. Selection of Scholars Through Competitive Examinations

A. The Civil Service Commission shall give competitive examination annually for the purpose of selecting scholars under the Program. Passing of such competitive examinations shall be considered valid in the year it is taken and may not be availed of from future year's scholarship grant. The Civil Service Commission shall prescribe the necessary qualifications for admission to such examinations.

B. The dates and places of competitive examinations shall be announced by the Civil Service Commission central office and its regional offices.

C.  Nominees from the provinces shall take the competitive examinations at the provinces designated by the Civil Service Commission Regional Office where the nominations has been filed.

D.  In instances where the number of nominees of an agency who passed the competitive examinations exceeded its scholarship slots which are available pursuant to Condition No. II of this Letter of Instructions, candidates of that agency who obtained the higher examination ratings shall be preferred over those with lower ratings.

V.  Responsibility of the Nominating Agency

A. The agency concerned shall shoulder all of the grantees' school expenses as officially billed by the university. Availability of agency funds for this study grant shall therefore constitute a prerequisite for nomination.

B. The agency shall entitle the scholars to book allowances, rates of which shall be prescribed by the head of the agency upon the recommendation of the university. If there are two or more scholars in an agency, the head of such agency shall set up a program scheme regarding the purchase and use of books by the grantees.

C. After the first semester of satisfactory academic performance, the agency shall allow the scholar to work in the office on half-day basis. The agency shall allow full-time study leave in the last semester for thesis writing. casia

VI.  Responsibility of the Scholar

A. The grantee shall enroll within one year after passing the competitive examination. Failure to do so shall be a ground for forfeiture of the scholarship.

B. Each scholar shall enroll for not less than nine (9) units per semester and not less than six (6) units during the summer if he choses to avail of summer classes in the period of his study grant. In no case, however, shall the scholar be allowed more than three years, from the date of original enrolment, to finish to the course.

C. Each scholar shall be required to submit periodic progress reports of his studies to the Civil Service Commission, copy furnished his agency. This report shall contain information on: 1) where the scholar enrolled and the subject enrolled in, at the beginning of every semester; 2) subjects completed with the corresponding grades and weights in units, at the end of every semester; and 3) other matters pertinent to the scholarship which shall be required from time to time by the Commission. Failure of the scholar to obtain passing marks in any subject shall automatically discontinue the scholarship grant.

D. At no instance during the scholarship period shall a grantee be entitled to collect overtime pay for the time spent while in class attendance.

E.  Books purchased out of agency funds shall be surrendered by the scholar to his sponsoring agency upon the termination of his scholarship. Such books shall be the library property of that agency.

F. Upon termination of the scholarship, the grantee shall be required to render service in any branch of the government for a period of at least Two (2) years for every academic year of scholarship enjoyed by him, unless he shall prefer to reimburse to the government all the expenses paid by the latter in connection with such study grant.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 19th day of April, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Seventy-Six.