READ HERE: Full text of Civil Service Commission Resolution #2300615
(NOTE: Last July 2023, the Civil Service Commission released CSC Resolution #2300615 which explicitly allows honor graduates of higher education institutions that offer programs through open and distance learning including the University of the Philippines Open University automatic eligibility to seek government jobs even without taking the civil service examinations in line with the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos’ Presidential Decree 907. a follow-up article will be posted regarding this soon. In the resolution, the CSC acknowledged that the UPOU University Student Council led the clamor for this policy change.
GRANT OF CIVIL SERVICE ELIGIBILITY UNDER SPECIAL LAWS AND CSC ISSUANCES
Re: Inclusion of Honor Graduates of Bachelor’s Degree through Open Distance Learning in the Grant of Honor Graduate Eligibility
CSC Resolution Number: 2300615; Promulgated: 28 July 2023
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Section 12(2), Chapter 3, Subtitle A, Title 1, Book V of the Revised Administrative Code of 1987′ provides that the Civil Service Commission (CSC) shall prescribe, amend, and enforce rules and regulations for carrying into effect the provisions of the Civil Service Law and other pertinent laws;
WHEREAS, the CSC is empowered to grant civil service eligibility as provided for by laws and CSC issuances to individuals who meet the prescribed qualifications and fulfill certain requirements, without taking the regular Civil Service Examinations;
WHEREAS, the Honor Graduate Eligibility (HGE) is one of the types of eligibility granted under special laws and CSC issuances, particularly Presidential Decree (PD) No. 907, as amended, conferred to individuals who graduated summa cum laude, magna cum laude, or cum laude in their bachelor’s degree/s from colleges and universities recognized by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). upon submission of required documents specified in Item VII (A) and Item B (1) of CSC Resolution No. 1101645 dated 29 December 2011;
WHEREAS, PD No. 907 stipulates that the government is convinced that a student who has pursued his/her collegiate course as a scholar and has graduated with honors, has sufficiently shown that he/she is fit to hold a position in the public service and competent to discharge its duties and responsibilities. It also provides that graduating with honors earned under the competitive atmosphere of the academic community is as good as gamering a qualifying mark in a competitive examination to determine merit and excellence for public employment;
WHEREAS, based on the preceding premises of PD No. 907. CSC categorically ruled in Item No. 5(b), II (A) of CSC Resolution No. 1101645 that distance education’s inherent limitations, particularly the separation of teacher and student, restrict the extent to which a competitive environment that characterizes conventional education and schooling can be realized and carried out, hence, for purposes of the grant of HGE pursuant to PD No. 907, the nature and workings of Distance Education fall short of the contemplation of PD No. 907 such that honor graduates of Distance Education were not considered qualified for the grant;
WHEREAS, as all processes evolve and mature, Republic Act (R.A.) No. 10650′ was enacted on 09 December 2014, which expands and further democratizes access to quality tertiary education through the promotion and application of open learning as a philosophy of access to educational services, and recognizes the use of distance education as an appropriate, efficient, and effective system of delivering quality higher education and technical educational services in the country;
WHEREAS, Section 3 (e) of R.A. No. 10650 provides for merging of the methods of “Open Learning” and “Distance Education” into one with the concepts of open learning and flexible learning which is called “Open Distance Learning (ODL)”. Further, Section 6 (b) of the same law states that all courses or subjects offered in the ODL shall be equivalent in challenges and depth to the conventional classroom or traditional programs in nonconventional delivery;
WHEREAS, Section 3 (g) of R.A. No. 10650 sets the qualification of Higher Education Institution (HEI) that can offer ODL by clearly defining open university/college/institution as a degree-granting HEI recognized by CHED which has at least a Level III accreditation in the programs offered in the conventional classroom or traditional mode, and which employs operational procedures and strategies of an open learning institution;
WHEREAS, the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU), as the pioneer and leading institution in Open and Distance e-Learning in the country, through its Chancellor, submitted a position paper to include graduates with Latin honors through ODL in the grant of HGE ratiocinating that competitive atmosphere provided by residential universities is mandated to be present in distance education universities. According to UPOU, the distance mode of learning makes use of live discussions, and various group activities that foster dialogue and community-building, among learners;
WHEREAS, the UPOU University Student Council appealed for the CSC to revisit and amend the existing policy on the grant of Honor Graduate eligibility to include graduates of open distance learning.
WHEREAS, the global education system has provided a technological change, and progressive development in academic standards and performance by using information and communication technologies through virtual or remote learning; and
WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic has sped up the adoption of digital technologies for teaching and learning which is now at the core of present and future education;
WHEREFORE, in view of the recent technological developments in the education system, the CSC hereby RESOLVES to include in the grant of the HGE, as Civil Service Eligibility, the honor graduates through ODL with distinction such as summa cum laude, magna cum laude, or cum laude, in their bachelor’s degree from colleges and universities recognized by CHED.
Applicants for the grant of HGE through ODL must meet all of the following qualification requirements:
1. He/She graduated from school year 2015-2016, upon the promulgation of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of R.A. No. 10650 on 29 February 2016, and thereafter;
2. He/She graduated with a Latin honor of either summa cum laude, magna cum laude, or cum laude, in their bachelor’s degree through ODL, regardless of the number of years of completion; and
3. He/She graduated from an open university/college/institution recognized by the CHED as a degree-granting HEI. The said university/college/institution should have at least a Level III accreditation or CHED equivalent in the programs offered in the conventional classroom or traditional mode of learning, pursuant to Section 3 (g) of R.A. No. 10650.
Further, the Application Form for the grant of HGE, CSC Form 101-D (Revised September 2013), is hereby revised to conform with the herein policies (Annex A). Said form will now be referred to as CSC Form 101-HGE (Revised 28 July 2023).
This Resolution shall take effect after fifteen (15) days from its publication in a newspaper of general circulation.
Quezon City.
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