To: Undersecretaries and Assistant Secretaries
Bureau Directors, Regional Directors and Schools Superintendents
Heads of Chartered State Colleges and Universities
Heads of Community Colleges and Universities and Vocational Schools

1. The Government of the, Philippines (GOP) through the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) receives from the Government of Australia (GOA) a Grant of Australian $15.63 M or an equivalent of P281.34 M to assist the GOP to improve and reorient agriculture education services at provincial and regional levels (within Regions II and IV) to better meet the agricultural development needs of the rural communities. The package of assistance, known as the Philippines-Australia Agriculture Technology Education Project or simply AGRITECH, represents the third phase of projects operationalizing the National Agriculture Education System or NAES.
2. Recipients of the grant are selected agriculture institutions in Regions II and IV which shall create and maintain a network of agriculture education institutions with developed capability to effectively deliver or to provide technical, assistance in developing or delivering the Diploma in Agriculture Technology – Bachelor of Agriculture Technology (DAT-BAT) curriculum. The core of the network are hereby established:
   Two Regional Colleges, of Agriculture:
   Region II – Isabela State University (ISU)
   Echague Campus
   Region IV – Don Severino Agricultural College (DSAC)
   Indang, Cavite
   Nine Technical Institutes of Agriculture:
   Region II – (1) Cagayan State University (CSU)
   Lal-la, Cagayan
   (2) Nueva Vizcaya State Institute of Technology (NVSIT), Bayombong Nueva Vizcaya
   (3)Quirino State College (GSC) Diffun, Quirino
   Region IV – (4)Laguna State Polytechnic College (LSPC), Siniloan, Laguna
   (5) Quezon National Agricultural School (QNAS), Pagbilao, Quezon
   (6) San Jose National Agro-Industrial School (SJNAIS), San Jose, Occ. Mindoro
   (7) Mindoro College of Agriculture and Technology (MCAT) Victoria, Oriental Mindoro
   (8) Marinduque State College (MSC) Torrijos, Marinduque
   (9) Romblon State College (RSC) Odiongan, Romblon
3. To adequatelv situate and enable the DECS-supervised TIAs to perform their roles as agriculture institutes, the QNAS, SJNAIS and MCAT are hereby authorized to offer the ladderized DAT-BAT four-year curriculum. Said institutions and the six others are hereby directed to create an organizational structure and staffing pattern befitting a TIA. The respective heads of the TIAs are hereby instructed to prepare an appropriate Manpower and Budget Plan.
4. In the implementation of the AGRITECH, the RCAs and TIAs shall perform their roles and responsibilities described in Inclosure No. I.
5. Consistent with the need for an efficient and effective project implementation, a Project Implementing and Coordinating Team (PICT) in each of the RCAs and TIAs shall he organized to attend to the day-to—day operations and requirements of the project at the institutions level. The team shall be composed of staff representing the detailed components of the project (curri¬culum development, faculty and staff development, research and extension, finance, and civil works and equipment) and relate with and provide needed reports to the Project Management Office.
6. When needed and as may be appropriate, Regional Project Coordinating Committees (RPCCs) or Provincial Project Coordinat¬ing Committees (PPCCs) shall be created in each region or province to assist the RCA or TIA to determine project direction and priorities and to ensure relevance of the institutions’ programs to regional or provincial development initiatives. The concerned DECS Regional Director (in case of the RPCC) and the TIA Head (in case of PPCC) shall be charged the responsibility of organizing and operationalizing the committees.
7. The AGRITECH will be implemented over a five-year period up to August 1998 with the BHE and the EDPITAF jointly managing or executing the same. The Executive Director of EDPITAF shall be the Project Director authorized to appoint managerial, technical and support staff as well as the consultants necessary for the successful implementation of the AGRITECH. The delineation of the roles of BHE and EDPITAF is indicated in Inclosure No. 2.
8. All DECS regulations and other issuances or parts thereof which are inconsistent with this Order are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Incls.: As stated
Reference: None
Allotment: 1-2-3—(M.O. 1-87)

To be indicated in the Perpetual Index under the following subjects:
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION
SCHOOLS
TECHNICAL EDUCATION
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

DO_s1994_011