DO 11, s. 2002 – Registration Procedures on the May 2002 Nonformal Education Accreditation and Equivalency (NFE A& E) Tests

April 4, 2002
DO 11, s. 2002
Registration Procedures on the May 2002 Nonformal Education Accreditation and Equivalency (NFE A& E) Tests

To: Undersecretaries
Assistant Secretaries
Regional, Bureau and Center Director
Schools Division Superintendents
Heads of Private Schools

1.  The May 2002 Non-formal Education Accreditation and Equivalency (NFE A&E) Tests will be administered in approved designated Testing Centers on May 2002 to qualified Filipino citizens, Balikbayans and Foreigners, in the approved sites of the Philippines Non-formal Education Project sites and other identified sites with NFE A&E implementation in the following regions:
Project Sites
National Capital Region  – All Schools Divisions
Region IV – Oriental Mindoro and Romblon
Region V – Catanduanes, Masbate and Sorsogon
Region VI – Aklan, Antique and Capiz
Region VII – Cebu City, Lapu-lapu City, Mandaue City, Bohol and Negros Oriental
Region VIII – Southern Leyte, Northern Samar and Western Samar
Region IX – Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur and Basilan
Region XII – North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat
Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) – Abra and Ifugao
Autonomous Region for Muslim   – Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur
Mindanao (ARMM)
Depends on the peace and order situation
Non-Project Sites
Region I – La Union and Pangasinan II
Region II – Cagayan and Isabela
Region III – Bataan, Tarlac and Pampanga
Region IV – Batangas and Cavite
Region V – Camarines Norte
Region X – Cagyan de Oro City and Misamis Oriental
Region XI – General Santos, South Cotabato, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur
and Davao City
Region XII – Cotabato City
2.  The prospective NFE A&E examinees are Out-of-School Youth and adults, aged 15 years and above (as of 12 May 2002) who are basically literate. To be eligible as a potential test taker, the prospective registrant must be out of school for at least three (3) months on the date of the registration. Any misrepresentation made by any registrant with regard to his/her identity, age and status (out-of-school for at least three months) will render the registration and the test result invalid.
3.  The NFE A&E Tests are open to prospective examinees from either of the following categories:
  • Learners who have attended or are attending learning sessions conducted by Service Providers contracted under the NFE A&E System, or
  • Qualified individuals who are basically literate and have not enrolled in nor attended the NFE A&E learning sessions but have been found to be qualified to take the tests after undergoing the screening process to be conducted by the Test Registration Officer (TRO) assigned in the area, or
  • Learners or individuals who have taken previous NFE A&E Test but have not passed the test, or
  • BP-OSA learners who may wish to take the NFE A&E Tests in the approved testing centers.
4.  The potential NFE A&E examinees should be those who are ready for and prepared to take the National Standardized NFE A&E Test both in the elementary and secondary levels. Those who have met the above-mentioned qualifications will be allowed to register upon presentation of two copies of recent 1” x 1” photographs (taken within the past twelve months) and any authentic proof of identification. Applicants without photographs and authentic proof of identification will not be registered. They should be advised to register at any day within the registration period when they can present these requirements.
5.  The Test Registration Officer (TRO) should see to it that the registrants have gained basic literacy skills, can accomplish the registration forms by themselves and have met the above-mentioned qualifications before they are allowed to register. Passing the NFE A&E Tests means that the NFE A&E Elementary and Secondary Level passers have gained learning achievement comparable to the graduates of the formal elementary and secondary education system.
6.  There will be two levels of the NFE A&E Tests – Elementary Level (approximately three and a half hours) and Secondary Level (approximately four hours and fifteen minutes) which are paper and pencil-based tests with multiple choice type questions based on the skills and competencies detailed in the NFE Curriculum Framework and authentic writing assessment.
7.  The Registration Period for the NFE A&E Tests starts on 10 April 2002 and ends on 28 April 2002, inclusive of Saturdays and Sundays. There will absolutely be no extension of the Registration Period to provide time for processing of the forms and packaging of test materials. No fees shall be paid by the test registrant/examinees.
8.  The Test Registration Centers are public or private elementary or high schools which are designed/recommended by the Schools Division Superintendents. These centers shall have the necessary facilities such as: These Test Registration Centers shall also serve as the Testing Centers so the registrants will know where to go on Testing Day. No change of Testing Centers will be allowed unless absolutely necessary and with written approval of the Undersecretary for Regional Operations and Non-formal Education or the Director IV of the BNFE. In view of limited funds, there will only be one (1) Registration/Testing Center per division except for certain divisions in the National Capital Region (NCR) where there are a big number of registrants.
9.  In project sites which are funded by the World-Bank, Philippine Out-of-School Youth Development Program (DSWD and Child Youth Foundation of the Philippines, Inc.), Region II, funded by Plan, Philippines; Region V, Paracale, Camarines Norte and selected divisions in Region XI which are LGU funded will have to coordinate with BNFE for the registration of their target beneficiaries.
10.  Only the Test Registration Officers (TROs) who may be a District NFE Coordinator or a teacher (preferably those who were assigned as Test Registration Officers in the previous tests) designated by the principal are authorized to register prospective examinees. The District NFE Coordinators or teachers designated as Test Registration Officers who will register applicants on weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays during the registration period will be granted one day service credit for every eight (8) hours of actual service rendered as verified by the school head upon presentation of a duly accomplished Form 48 submitted to the Schools Division Superintendent (SDS) for the grant of the service credit.
11.  The Bureau of Non-formal Education (BNFE), in coordination with the Center for Educational Measurement (CEM), the National Educational Testing and Research Center (NETRC), Bureau of Elementary Education (BEE), bureau of Secondary Education (BSE), EDPITAF, School Health and Nutrition Center (SHNC) will be assigned to the approved designated Registration Centers last week of April 2002 to provide technical assistance to the Test Registration Officers (TRO) in the processing of registration forms and to oversee the preparation of the Test Registration Monitoring Form (TRM-01). The Regional Officers and Schools Divisions shall also oversee the registration activities.
12.  Attached are the following:
No. 1      –               Guidelines in the Registration of the NFE A&E Tests
No. 2      –               List of Designated Registration/Testing Centers
No. 3A    –               NFE A&E Test Registration Form (Elementary Level)
No. 3B    –               NFE A&E Test Registration Form (Secondary Level)
13.  Immediate and wide dissemination of the contents of this Order to all concerned is desired.

                                                                                                                              RAMON C. BACANI
Undersecretary

Reference: DECS Order Nos. 22, 40, 85 and 92 s. 1999
                 DECS Order No. 8, 47 and 61. s. 2000,
DECS Order No. 24. s. 2001Allotment: I – (D.O.M) – 97)To be indicated in the Perpetual Index
under the following subjects:ACCREDITATION
EQUIVALENCY TEST
EXAMINATION
NON-FORMAL EDUCATION
POLICY