House approves bill making NCAE a prerequisite for tertiary education

The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a measure mandating high school graduates to take the National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE) as a requirement for admission to tertiary learning institutions.

House Bill 5895 defines the NCAE as a test designed to assess and evaluate the aptitude, skill or inclination of a student in a particular occupational field to pursue a college or university course, a technical-vocational course, or an entrepreneurial course.

The NCAE shall measure the aptitude and skills of the student on Entrepreneurial, Non –Verbal Ability, and General Scholastic Aptitude such as reading comprehension, abilities on scientific, verbal, mathematical, and logical reasoning.

In addition, the test will also assess the students’ Technical-Vocational Aptitude, which includes manipulative skills, and clerical ability.

The NCAE will also include items to gauge students' occupational fields of Interest, such as outdoor, mechanical, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and clerical interest.

The Department of Education (DepEd), through the National Education Testing and Research Center (NETRC), shall administer an annual NCAE to Grade 9 students in all public and private schools.

Unless otherwise previously announced, the NCAE shall be administered throughout the country on the last Wednesday of August of every year, in the place where the schools division office is located but may establish additional examination centers in the province as may be determined by the DepEd.

The results of the NCAE are recommendatory and shall not be used for any purpose other than career guidance.

HB 5895 mandates the CHED and TESDA to adopt programs based on the NCAE results, such as utilization of examination results as basis for the selection of grantees for scholarship programs and in setting the cut-off score for the various CHED and TESDA courses.

Pangasinan Rep. Kimi Cojuangco, chairperson of House Committee on Basic Education and Culture, said the measure will pave the way for the improvement of the Philippine education system “by regulating and monitoring the admission of high school students to courses where they have better aptitude and potential.”

One of the bill's primary authors, Sorsogon Rep. Evelina Escudero, believes the NCAE will act as a tool “to maintain a viable balance among the number of white collar employees, skilled manpower, and entrepreneurs through a provision of career direction to secondary graduates.”

At present, taking the NCAE is not a prerequisite to college admission although the DepEd still recommends considering the test results to guide students in choosing which course or track suits them best. -NB, GMA News