I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution as Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines and pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, and General Order No. 1, dated September 22, 1972, do hereby decree, order and make as part of the law of the land the following measure:

SECTION 1. Declaration of Policy. — Pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 6-A, it is hereby declared a policy of the State to maintain the highest quality of education for purposes of national development. To achieve this policy, all high school' graduates shall be required to pass a national entrance examination as a prerequisite for admission to any post-secondary academic or professional degree program necessitating a minimum of four years' study in any private or public institution of higher learning, whether chartered or unchartered.

SEC. 2. Powers and Duties of the Secretary. — To carry out the aforementioned policy, the Secretary of Education and Culture has the authority:

1. To promote and conduct or cause to be conducted national entrance examinations in accordance with this Decree;
2. To determine the method, form, content, date and place or places of examination;
3. To enter, when desirable or necessary, into agreements or contracts, and to make payments incidental to such agreements or contracts, with qualified persons, institutions, organizations, public agencies, entities and establishments to carry out the purposes of this Decree;
4. To determine exemptions from the provisions of this Decree;
5. To charge a reasonable fee to cover the cost of examinations.

SEC. 3. Rules and Regulations. — The Secretary of Education and Culture shall, within sixty days from the issuance of this Decree, promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this Decree: Provided, That the full implementation of the program be held for entering freshmen of the school year 1974-1975. These rules and regulations shall take effect fifteen days after their publication in the Official Gazette or in one newspaper of national circulation.

SEC. 4. Appropriation. — To carry out the provisions of this Decree, the sum of one million pesos is hereby annually appropriated as part of the appropriation of the Department of Education and Culture out of any funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated.

SEC. 5. Effectivity. — This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 9th day of March, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-three.