Guidelines for Selecting Honor Pupils/Students

The Order recognizes pupils/students who have shown exemplary performance in school work through due recognition.
The Order establishes amended guidelines for selecting honor pupils/students in public schools.

Any pupil/student, whether graduating or not, may be a candidate for honors even if the pupil/student is a transferee to the school (Section 1(a)).
Candidates for Honorable Mention at all grade or year levels are ranked using academic standing only (Section 1(f)).

Only the top two (2) pupils/students in academic subjects, regardless of whether grades are lower than 80% or not, are ranked to determine the Valedictorian and Salutatorian (Section 1(b)).
Academic standing for Valedictorian and Salutatorian is based on the general average (Section 1(b)).
At the secondary level, ranking for Valedictorian and Salutatorian follows the 7-3 point scheme, where academic excellence is given 7 points and co-curricular activities are given 3 points (Section 1(c)).
At the elementary level, all awards are based on academic standing only (Section 1(d)).
For graduating pupils/students, grades obtained in the Third Year or Grade five are not included in the computation for ranking purposes (Section 1(e)).

Distinctions in curricular and co-curricular activities may be awarded to recognize excellence in specific fields (e.g., “Best in Mathematics,” “Best in Arts,” “Leadership Award,” and similar distinctions) (Section 1(g)).

A separate set of honor pupils/students may be declared for schools with special curricular programs (e.g., special science, arts, sports, SPED) (Section 2).
For special curricular programs, the number of honor pupils/students is determined by the school proportionate to the total enrolment in the special classes (Section 2).
Annexes of secondary schools may be entitled to a separate set of honor pupils/students if they have reached a minimum enrolment of 500 (Section 3).

Private schools implementing the 2002 Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) may follow the same guidelines on honor selection (Section 4).

The final selection and announcement of honor pupils/students must be made not later than fifteen (15) days before the recognition rites/commencement exercises (Section 1(5)).
The head of school, acting as Chair of the Selection Committee, makes the final announcement (Section 1(5)).

Protests, if any, must be filed within five (5) working days before the recognition/graduation rites (Section 1(6)).
Protests must be settled at the division level only and not later than three (3) working days before the recognition/graduation (Section 1(6)).

Provisions of previous issuances that are inconsistent with the Order are rescinded (Section 7).
Compliance with the Order is directed (Section 8).