QuestionsQuestions (Republic Act No. 9163)
RA 9163 establishes the National Service Training Program (NSTP) for tertiary students. It affirms that it is the government’s duty to serve and protect citizens and that citizens have a responsibility to defend the State. It promotes civic consciousness among youth and develops their overall well-being, inculcating patriotism, nationalism, and involvement in public and civic affairs.
NSTP is a program aimed at enhancing civic consciousness and defense preparedness in youth by developing the ethics of service and patriotism while undergoing training in any of its three components.
The NSTP components are: (1) Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), (2) Literacy Training Service, and (3) Civic Welfare Training Service.
No. Under Section 4 of RA 9163, ROTC is made optional and voluntary upon the effectivity of the Act. Students are required to complete one NSTP component, but ROTC specifically is optional.
Students (male and female) in public and private institutions offering any baccalaureate degree course or at least two (2)-year technical-vocational courses are required to complete one (1) NSTP component as a requisite for graduation.
Each NSTP component is undertaken for an academic period of two (2) semesters. In lieu of the two-semester program, a one (1) summer program may be designed by the DND, CHED, and TESDA.
All higher and technical-vocational institutions (public and private) must offer at least one NSTP component. State universities and colleges must offer the ROTC component and at least one other component.
Private institutions may offer ROTC if they have at least 350 cadet students.
Schools that do not meet the required number to maintain optional ROTC and any NSTP components must allow their students to cross-enroll to other schools, regardless of whether the NSTP components there are administered by the same or another AFP branch, CHED, and TESDA.
Institutions cannot collect any fee for NSTP components except basic tuition fees, and such tuition fees must not exceed fifty percent (50%) of what schools currently charge per unit.
For ROTC, the DND must formulate and adopt a program of assistance and/or incentive for students who will take the ROTC component.
CHED and TESDA, together with the schools as authorized, must ensure that group insurance for health and accident is provided for students enrolled in any NSTP component.
RA 9163 creates a Special Scholarship Program for qualified students taking NSTP, administered by CHED and TESDA. Funds are included in their annual regular appropriations.
School authorities exercise academic and administrative supervision over design/formulation/adoption/implementation of NSTP components. If a CHED- or TESDA-accredited NGO is contracted to formulate and administer a training module, joint supervision applies, and the module must be accredited by CHED and TESDA.
They oversee and monitor NSTP implementation in their jurisdiction to ensure trainings are conducted in consonance with the Act’s objectives, and they submit periodic reports to CHED, TESDA, and DND.
It is composed of graduates of the NSTP non-ROTC components. Members may be tapped by the State for literacy and civic welfare activities through the joint effort of DND, CHED, and TESDA.
DND, CHED, and TESDA jointly adopt the implementing rules within sixty (60) days from approval. They consult other concerned agencies, PASUC, COCOPEA, NGOs, and recognized student organizations, and the IRR must include curricula guidelines and accreditation guidelines.
Such students may continue in their current component or shift to another component. Basic ROTC courses already completed count for completing the NSTP requirement, but once they shift, they must complete NSTP in the new component.
It sets aside ROTC completion as a requisite for graduation for students who, despite completing all academic units as of the Act’s effectivity, were not allowed to graduate due to ROTC requirement.
It takes effect fifteen (15) days after publication in two newspapers of national circulation, but implementation starts in the school year 2002–2003.