Regulation of Review Centers by CHED

The order implements the State’s obligation to protect citizens’ right to quality education and to take appropriate steps to make education accessible, pursuant to Section 1, Article XIV of the 1987 Constitution (recitals).
The order requires proper supervision and regulation of licensure examinations administered through the various Boards of Examiners under the Professional Regulation Commission (recitals).
The order finds that the lack of a regulatory framework for review centers and similar entities has produced adverse consequences affecting public interest and welfare (recitals).
The order declares an overriding necessity to protect the public against substandard review centers and unethical practices by some review centers (recitals).
The order assigns CHED as the agency best equipped to carry out provisions on regulation of review centers and similar entities due to Republic Act No. 7722 (recitals).

Section 1 directs CHED, in consultation with other concerned government agencies, to formulate a framework regulating review centers and similar entities.
The framework must include policies, standards, and guidelines for the establishment, operation, and accreditation of review centers and similar entities (Section 1).
Section 1 requires CHED to maintain a mechanism to monitor the adequacy, transparency, and propriety of operations.
Section 1 requires reporting mechanisms for review of performance and ethical practice of review centers and similar entities.
The regulation system is designed as an operationalized system under CHED’s leadership (Sections 1 and 4).

The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), Technical Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the various Boards of Examiners under the PRC must provide assistance and technical support to CHED in operationalizing the regulatory system (Section 2).
Other concerned government agencies such as the Department of Justice (DOJ), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) must provide support as needed when tapped later (Section 2).
The order also includes assistance and technical support from other concerned non-government organizations, such as professional societies, in coordination with CHED (Section 2).

CHED must organize a permanent office under its supervision to implement the system of regulation (Section 3).
The permanent office must be headed by an official with the rank of Director (Section 3).
The office must be composed of highly competent individuals with expertise in educational assessment, evaluation and testing, policies and standards development, monitoring, legal and enforcement, and statistics, as well as curriculum and instructional materials development (Section 3).
CHED must submit the staffing pattern and budgetary requirements to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for approval (Section 3).

No review center or similar entity may be established and/or operate review classes without the favorable expressed indorsement of CHED and without the issuance of necessary permits or authorizations to conduct review classes (Section 4).
After consultation with stakeholders, review centers and similar entities must be given a reasonable period, at CHED’s discretion, to comply with policies and standards, with a cap of not exceeding three (3) years after due publication of the Executive Order (Section 4).
CHED must ensure that other necessary procedures and documentation for effective implementation are completed within sixty days (60) from effectivity of the Executive Order (Section 4).

The initial amount needed to develop and implement the system must come from the CHED Higher Education Development Fund (HEDF), subject to usual government accounting and auditing practices, or from an applicable funding source identified by DBM (Section 5).
For the succeeding fiscal year, amounts necessary for the budgetary requirements of implementing the system and the provisions of the Executive Order must be provided in the annual General Appropriations Act in the CHED budget (Section 5).
CHED may tap its Development Funds as a supplemental source when necessary for effective implementation (Section 5).
CHED is authorized to create special amounts in the HEDF exclusively to implement the provisions of the Executive Order (Section 5).

CHED must provide for periodic review of the performance of review centers and similar entities (Section 6).
CHED must make a report to the Office of the President on the results of review, evaluation, and monitoring (Section 6).

Section 7 provides separability: any portion declared unconstitutional must not nullify other provisions, as long as remaining provisions can still subsist and be given effect.
Section 8 repeals or modifies accordingly all rules, regulations, and other issuances (or parts thereof) inconsistent with Executive Order No. 566.