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

1.  The July 2001 Non formal Education Accreditation and Equivalency (NFE A&E) Tests will be administered in approved designated Testing Centers on 1 July 2001 to qualified Filipino citizens, Balikbayans and Foreigners, in the approved sites of the ADB – assisted Philippines Non formal Education Project in the following regions:

2.  The prospective NFE A&E examinees are Out-of-School Youth and Adults, aged 15 years and above (as of 01 July 2001) who are basically literate or have completed the Functional Education and Literacy Program (FELP). They should have been out-of-school for at least three (3) months on the date of registration.

3.  The NFE A&E Tests are open also to prospective examinees from either of the following categories:

4.  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.

5.  There will be two levels of the NFE A&E Tests – Elementary Level  (approximately three hours and thirty minutes) 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 A&E Curriculum Framework. The Elementary and Secondary Level Tests will also include an authentic writing assessment as previously announced. Both the Elementary and Secondary Level Tests will be administered simultaneously in the morning of  1 July 2001. The test activities will start at 7:30 a.m.

6.  In order to qualify for an Elementary or Secondary Level Certificate, NFE A&E examinees will have to meet the minimum requirements of both  the multiple choice test and the writing assessment to be eligible to receive an NFE A&E Certificate.

7.  The Bureau of Non Formal Education (BNFE) will be conducting limited trials of alternative assessment and certification methodologies in selected testing centers for a small sample of NFE A&E LSDS Learners who have registered to take the test. Further information for those participating in this alternative   assessment research  process, including list of testing centers is included in Enclosure No. 3.

8.  There will absolutely be no change in the date of the NFE A&E Tests.

9.  DECS has contracted the Center for Educational Measurement (CEM) to undertake the development, and administration of the NFE A&E Tests and processing of the test results.

10.  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), Educational Development Projects Implementing Task Force (EDPITAF), School Health and Nutrition Center (SHNC),  Regional Offices and Schools  Divisions shall oversee  this testing activity. The BNFE Director, Regional Directors and Schools Division Superintendents shall ensure the effective supervision and administration of these tests in their respective sphere of responsibility. All these offices shall assist the BNFE in the monitoring of the test administration. A one-day orientation with the aforecited  personnel will be conducted on 22 June 2001 relative to the test administration.

11.  The Testing Centers, which also serve  as Test Registration Centers,  are public or  private elementary or high schools which are designated/recommended by the Schools Division Superintendents. These centers shall have the necessary facilities as detailed in Enclosure No. 1. A complete list of approved Testing Centers is attached in Enclosure No. 2. No change  of Testing Centers will be allowed unless absolutely necessary and with written approval of the Undersecretary for Programs and Projects, the Assistant Secretary for Programs or  the Director IV of the BNFE. The number of examinees per testing room is limited to only  thirty (30) except  for the last room which may have less than thirty examinees. Differently-abled examinees are assigned to a testing room in the ground floor nearest the gate and/or toilet.

12.  No fees shall be paid by the test registrants/examinees.

13.  Two days before the Tests, an Orientation on the Test Administration and the use of the Examiner’s Manual for Test Administration will be conducted by the DECS Central Office staff and CEM staff in the Division Level for the Testing Center Administrators, Examiners and Roving Proctors and other concerned staff on 29 June 2001.

14.  Elementary and Secondary level examinees should be at the designated Testing Centers before 7:30 a.m. on the day of the tests, bringing with them the lower portion of the Test Registration Form for presentation to the Examiner.

15.  Service Credit and Honorarium

16.  Attached are the following Enclosures:

17.  Any breach of security and any violation of policies governing the administration of the NFE A&E Tests, such as allowing   nonqualified persons to register and take the test, reading of the test booklets by persons other than the qualified examinees, photocopying of the test booklets, supplying answers to the test questions to the examinees and other related acts will be dealt with accordingly in accordance with the provisions of DECS Order No. 85, s. 1999.

18.  Immediate and wide dissemination of the contents of this Order to all concerned is desired.