TO:	The Minister of Education, Culture and Sports The Minister of the Budget The Chairman, Commission on Audit The Executive Director, National Educational Testing Center

WHEREAS, it is the objective of government to help transform the young into adults who are able to realize their full potential, who are responsible citizens and able to be productive persons;

WHEREAS, a basic education consists of knowing how to read and write in the official languages, to perform arithmetic functions and reason quantitatively and to live the value of love of Country, honesty and integrity, self reliance, and others that Filipinos are expected to learn;

WHEREAS, existing measurement and evaluation practices among elementary and high school pupils do not show a full picture of educational achievement in the various School Divisions and various types of schools, such that a strategy of educational improvement cannot be adequately designed or pursued;

WHEREAS, the National Educational Testing Center (NETC), of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports (MECS) is the educational testing arm of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by Law, do hereby Order and Instruct:

1. The NETC shall institute a program of continuing research and assessment of the effectiveness of education at all levels and for all sectors of the education system, for the purpose of identifying areas of educational weakness and evolving strategies, programs and projects that will improve upon these deficiencies;
   
   
2. In the design and implementation of its testing program, the NETC shall give priority to the measurement of the   achievement and learning of public school pupils (Grades I to VI), in communication skills  (English and Pilipino), quantitative reasoning (arithmetic), values, and the formulated  Minimum  Learning Competencies at the various levels of education.  With the approval of the Minister of Education, Culture and Sports, the NETC may also conduct examinations of school teachers, in order to confirm conclusions in pupil and student examinations.  These activities shall cover all Regions and various types of schools, in order to identify specific areas of weakness and the type of correction that may be appropriate;
   
   
3. The research program shall aim to identify potential for improvement, including deficiencies in teacher preparedness, curriculum, textbooks,  enrichment material, and so on.  For this purpose, it may require pupils at various grade levels and graduates of primary and intermediate grades to take written examinations, on a stratified random sampling basis covering all Regions of the country;
   
   
4. The NETC shall call upon private testing agencies (including the Center for Educational Measurement) and other government agencies (such as the Philippine Normal College and the University of the Philippines) for assistance where appropriate and shall not attempt to undertake all the testing and research evaluation activities within NETC.  It is understood that the various staff Bureaus and Regional/Division offices of the MECS shall assist in the work;
   
   
5. The NETC is hereby authorized to receive income from test fees, as Trust Receipts and to use these in addition to its regular appropriations, to cover the expenses of testing and research activities implemented under these Instructions without need for a Special Budget or Cash Disbursement Ceilings, but subject however to standard budget, compensation, accounting and audit rules, including those for the payment of honoraria and other personal services payments, travel per diems and the purchase of motor vehicles;
   
   
6. In the interest of sound fiscal management, the NETC shall remit to the National Treasury the estimated income included in the 1985 and 1986 budget estimates, but may retain as Trust Receipts, amounts in excess of such income estimates.  Beginning in 1987, it may retain as Trust Receipts, income received in excess of the 1986 budget income estimates;
   
   
7. The Minister of the Budget, the Minister of Education, Culture and Sports and the Chairman of the Commission on Audit shall issue the rules and regulations needed to implement these Instructions; and
   
   
8. These Instructions shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 10th day of December, nineteen hundred and eighty-five.