Deputy Chief Education Officer Explains Education Rules Regarding Graduations, Promotions

Neulin Villanueva

Doctor Neulin Villanueva also spoke on promotions and graduations in primary and high school. The Ministry has decided that students will be promoted though exams will not be taken.  Doctor Villanueva says that while the education rules are specific to primary schools, for secondary schools, promotion and graduations are decided by the school’s academic policies and assessment practices.

Dr. Neulin Villanueva, Deputy Chief Education Officer. M.O.E.

“In the case of primary schools students shall normally be allowed to progress each year to the next grade level and schools should develop special assistance programmes for students who did not meet the expected outcome at the end of the grade or division. Repetition should really not be the rule but an exception. So it really should be not applied when students are barely there and they have the opportunity to bring up. The third section of that rule actually says that a primary school shall be required to keep on its enrolment any student who has completed the final year of primary schooling but who does not meet the standard for primary certification provide that the student is less than fourteen years of age.   Now at the secondary level, it is completely different. The regulations say that at the end of the year secondary schools shall determine according to their academic polices and assessment practices students who are to be promoted to the next grade level and in the vase of students who are in the final year of students those who have successfully completed the program of studies and are to be certified. So in no way in the secondary level there is automatic promotion and graduation and the Ministry of Education cannot impose that, however, what we asked the managing authorities since they are the authorities on this to do is to look at their regulations. In the ITVET system the promotion or graduations or certification cannot apply. These students, the trainees are expected to complete their practical and on the job training whenever school reopens.”