Philippine Normal University
The Philippine Normal University is a public research university in Manila, Philippines established during the early days of American colonial rule. Pursuant to Republic Act No. 9647, it is now funded and operated as a National Center for Teacher Education.
History
Early history
The Philippine Normal University was originally established as the Philippine Normal School by virtue Act No. 74 of the Philippine Commission, which traces its roots to the Escuela Normal de Maestros or Normal School for Teachers, created by a Spanish Educational Decree of 1863. Enacted on January 21, 1901, the Phlippine Commission mandated for the establishment of a normal and trade school. The Philippine Normal School formally opened on September 1, 1901 on the site of the former Spanish Normal School in the Escuela Municipal in Intramuros. It served as an institution for the training of teachers.Conversion into college
For more than two decades, PNS offered a two-year general secondary education program. In 1928 it became a junior college offering a two-year program to graduates of secondary schools.When PNS was converted into the Philippine Normal College in 1949 through Republic Act No. 416 the four-year Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education program was introduced. Subsequently, other undergraduate programs started, such as the Bachelor of Science in Education with specialization in Elementary Education; a BSEE major in Home Economics; and a three-year Combined Home Economics diploma.
In 1953, the Graduate School was established. Equipped with a legal mandate, PNC included the Master of Arts in Education curriculum in the academic program. The organization of a full-fledged Graduate School came five years later.
In 1970 the Bachelor of Science in Education curriculum, offering major and minor subjects, was introduced. The passage of Republic Act No. 6515 in July 1972, which amended Republic Act No. 416, paved the way for the offering and conferment of the Doctor of Education and the Doctor of Philosophy degrees and the provision of other academic programs relevant to the in-service training of teachers, school supervisors, administrators, researchers, and other education specialists and personnel. Curriculum development, revision, adaptation played an important role in ensuring high scholastic standards for the institution.
As it gained its foothold in teacher education, PNC established branches in Agusan del Sur, Isabela, and Negros Occidental by virtue of Republic Act No. 4242 of 1965.
Aside from the creation of campuses, the college expanded its services, most significant of which was its designation as the Curriculum Development Center for Communication Arts under the Language Study Center-Educational Development Projects Implementing Task Force Project and afterward as Center of Excellence in English, Filipino and Values Education. Its major functions included the development of English and Filipino textbooks and teacher manuals for use in public elementary and secondary schools nationwide, and the conduct of national level trainers-training programs for the Bureau of Secondary Education, Department of Education, Culture and Sports, and the Fund for Assistance to Private Education.
University status
The school was elevated to university status on December 26, 1991, under Republic Act No. 7168. A fourth campus was born in Quezon province. It continues to serve as collaborative partner in government and private-sector education projects. In further recognition of its leadership role, the university was designated as Center of Excellence in Teacher Education for the National Capital Region and Center of Excellence in Filipino at the national level.On September 1, 2001, the university celebrated its centennial founding anniversary.
In 2008, it was declared the country's National Center for Teacher Education by virtue of Republic Act No. 9647. Dr. Fe Hidalgo, an alumnus and former Department of Education undersecretary, served as officer-in-charge of the university until December 31 that year. On November 16, 2010, Dr. Ester B. Ogena, a director from the Department of Science and Technology was elected and appointed by the university's Board of Regents as the 10th president. She assumed office on January 1, 2011. Dr. Maria Antoinette C. Montealegre, the Vice President for Academics, served as Officer-in-Charge of the university from 2018 until December 2019. On December 10, 2019, Dr. Bert J. Tuga, the Vice President for Finance and Administration was elected and appointed by the Board of Regents as the 11th president of the Philippine Normal University.
Campuses
Manila
The Manila Campus is the flagship and oldest campus of the university. In 1909, American architect William E. Parsons was tasked by the Philippine Commission to draw up designs for schools to be established in the Philippines. In 1911, he designed the Philippine Normal School, which was completed in 1914. It was designed using the California Mission style to juxtapose with the capiz window panes and ornately grilled ventanillas. It was erected at the corner of Taft Avenue and Ayala Boulevard. The building, three storeys in height, followed a V-configuration plan, where an auditorium was at the apex, while the rest of its segments were used as classrooms and laboratories linked by corridors. The construction, then budgeted at P374,000, was made of reinforced concrete. The exterior was relieved by panels of glazed polychromatic glazed tiles set in concrete.University hubs
PNU North Luzon – Hub for Indigenous Education
The PNU North Luzon is the third regional hub of the university based in Cagayan Valley in the flourishing municipality of Alicia, Isabela. RA 4242 became the legal basis of its creation, principally authored and sponsored by former Congressman Delfin Albano.On July 26, 1971, the PNC Isabela Campus was established. From the curricula offering of Bachelor of Elementary Education, new curricular programs have been added, enrolment has increased, the physical plant has grown and services have been established. To date, the campus offers graduate programs that cater to the needs of teachers in the nearby public and private schools.
Today, the campus has strategically placed itself as one of the most respected teacher training institutions in the region responsive to the changing demands of the times. In the process of meeting these societal and national needs, it has grown and developed into its present status.
PNU South Luzon – Hub for Technology and Livelihood Education
The PNU South Luzon is the fourth regional campus of the University based in the CALABARZON region in the flourishing town of Lopez, Quezon. It started in a consortium program in Teacher Education with another emerging campus of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in 1980.When the consortium agreement expired in 1993 after almost 13 years of education partnership, the leadership of PNU headed by then President Gloria G. Salandanan, penned a memorandum of agreement with the provincial and local government of Quezon and the Department of Education, Culture and Sports to continue the operation of the PNU Teacher Education Program in Lopez, Quezon.
Hence, the fledgling campus stayed in the compound of the Lopez National Comprehensive High School from 1993 to 1999. In a span of six years, the young campus had gradually acquired its own one-hectare site through a land donation from the provincial government. For its part, the municipal government had pledged another hectare for future expansion. In 1999, the campus transferred to its own site where a two-story building has been constructed.
Presently, PNU South Luzon provides education services and opportunities to students and educators coming from areas in the Southern Tagalog and Bicol regions. Over 1,000 of its teacher graduates are now gainfully employed here and abroad. Gradually, PNU South Luzon is fulfilling its vision of being the Center of Excellence in Teacher Education in Region IV.
PNU Visayas – Hub for Environment and Green Technology Education
The PNU Visayas in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental came into existence with the enactment of RA 4242, which was approved on June 9, 1968. This act provided for the establishment of regional branches of PNU. Upon its approval, the late Congressman Armando C. Gustilo immediately worked out the establishment of the branch in the Visayan region. With the help of former Mayor Heracleo Villacin, the PNC Negros Occidental Branch in Cadiz City was opened on July 22, 1968.From Bachelor of Elementary Education and Bachelor of Secondary Education, its program offerings expanded to include master's degrees and, more recently, doctorate. For a few years, it also offered engineering courses in consortium with Technological University of the Philippines – Visayas.
The performing groups, the Dalawidaw Chorale and the Makawiwili Dance Troupe, have continued with the tradition of keeping a love for the arts alive. In 2016, Cheryll Faldas, cum laude of Class 2005, ranked second in the PRC National Licensure Examination for Teachers.
PNU Mindanao – Hub for Multicultural Education
The PNU Mindanao in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur was established as a college on August 12, 1968 with the passage of RA 4242 through the efforts of Hon. Jose C. Aquino, then congressman of the lone District of Agusan del Sur.In the first year of its founding, Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education was offered. A couple of years later, because of the demand of the locality, it ventured into another course, Bachelor of Science in Community Development. A new course, Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education with major in English Language Teaching was opened in 1982 and the course offerings expanded with Mathematics, General Science, Home Economics, Filipino, and Social Studies as alternative fields of specialization. Graduate education followed with offering of specialization courses such as Educational Management, English Language Teaching, Filipino Literature, Science Education, Mathematics Education, Non-Formal Education, Home Economics, and Physical Education.
The Mindanao Hub community has immersed itself in national and local government concerns. It continues to provide leadership in cultural activities for the preservation of folk arts: the music, dance and rituals of the Manobos and Higaonons of the province. For some years, the performing groups managed the staging of rituals and dances of the Manobo tribesmen for cultural festivals, both local and national.
Through all the years, PNU Mindanao, having gained support from the provincial and municipal officials, has served the many young people who have decided to join the country's teaching force.
Academics
Philippine Normal University was formerly composed of four colleges: College of Arts and Social Sciences, College of Education, College of Languages, Linguistics and Literature, and College of Science. In 2013, the university underwent a new organizational structure by the approval of the Board of Regents establishing three colleges and three institutes.Colleges and institutes
College of Flexible Learning and e-PNU (CFLeX)
The College of Flexible Learning and e-PNU functions as a degree and non-degree college that manages the university's online undergraduate and graduate degree programs, and continuing education programs.College of Graduate Studies and Teacher Education Research (CGSTER)
The College of Graduate Studies and Teacher Education Research of the Philippine Normal University is the largest graduate school of education in the country with 12 doctorate programs and 62 masters programs in fields of specialization. It has only one faculty, the Graduate Teacher Education Faculty. CGSTER is in the Pedro Orata Hall of the university.College of Teacher Development (CTD)
The College of Teacher Development is the undergraduate school of the university that offers bachelor's degree in early childhood, elementary, and secondary education with fields of specialization. The College Dean is assisted by four associate deans of faculties — Arts and Languages that houses the fields of English, Filipino, Literature, Music and Arts, and Speech and Theater Arts; Behavioral and Social Sciences that houses the fields of History, Psychology, Social Sciences, and Values Education; Education Sciences that houses the fields of Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education and Nutrition and Dietetics; and Science, Technology and Mathematics that houses the fields of Biology, Chemistry, General Science, Mathematics, and Physics.Institute of Knowledge Management (IKM)
The Institute of Knowledge Management is concerned with the entire process of discovery and creation, dissemination, and use of knowledge. IKM has one degree granting unit: the School of Information and Knowledge Management that manages and supervises academic programs such as Library and Information Science and Information Technology Education.Institute of Physical Education, Health, Recreation, Dance and Sports (IPEHRDS)
The Institute of Physical Education, Health, Recreation, Dance and Sports offers the bachelor's degree in Physical Education and Health, and spearheads the athletic, recreation, and dance events in the university.Institute of Teaching and Learning (ITL)
The Institute of Teaching and Learning is the basic education unit of the university. It houses the kindergarten, grade school and junior high school students and serves as the training ground for the Field Studies of the Pre-Service Teachers of the university.Administration
Philippine Normal University - Manila is the seat of administration of all the campuses of the university, directly governed by the Board of Regents and other university officials. The highest official that administers the main campus is the university president while each hubs is administered by its own director. The president is assisted by four vice presidents — for Academics, Finance and Administration, Research, Planning and Quality Assurance, and University Relations and Advancement.Board of Regents
The Philippine Normal University Board of Regents is the highest decision-making body of the university. Constituted by the Republic Act 8292 the board is composed of distinguished members and is vested with general powers of administration and the exercise of title powers of the corporation.| Position | Board Member | Designation |
| Chairperson | Hon. Perfecto A. Alibin | Commissioner, Commission on Higher Education |
| Vice chairperson | Hon. Bert J. Tuga | President, Philippine Normal University |
| Secretary | Mr. Gerard G. Manuel | Officer-in-Charge, Office of the University Board and Secretary |
| Member | Sen. Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva | Chairperson, Committee on Education, Arts, and Culture, Senate of the Philippines |
| Member | Rep. Mark O. Go | Chairperson, Committee on Higher and Technical Education, House of Representatives |
| Member | Hon. Jose Miguel R. Dela Rosa | Undersecretary, Central Support Office, National Economic and Development Authority |
| Member | Hon. Lutgardo B. Barbo | President, PNU Alumni Association |
| Member | Hon. Jose D. Lina | Private Sector Representative |
| Member | Hon. Antonio V. Ferrer | President, Federation of PNU Faculty Association |
| Member | Hon. Juan Miguel M. Luz | Private Sector Representative |
| Member | Hon. Alexis Q. Sebote | Chairperson, PNU National Union of Student Governments |
Student publication
Founded in 1912, The Torch is the official student publication the university. It publishes periodicals and other printed materials funded, managed, and written by the students. The Torch publishes at least seven issues annually with the option of supplements, a special Filipino issue, called Ang Sulo, and a literary folio, called Aklas.It also holds activities, contests, and events, such as the annual "Liyab", a citywide journalism training seminar for high school publications, the "LitSem" or Literary Seminar workshop, and the Gawad Genoveva Edroza-Matute awards.
Its editorial staff upholds the standards and ethics of journalism and functions as a catalyst to tap the holistic development of the students, exposing them to the objective social realities and to the people's right and welfare, and contributes to the development of responsible and committed student leaders and journalists. The publication is a member of the Progresibong Lupon ng mga Manunulat ng PNU and the College Editors Guild of the Philippines. The latest set of editors is as follows:
| Position | Editor | Year and section |
| Editor-in-Chief | Kyril Jon Velasquez | Bachelor in Social Science Education |
| Associate Editor in Filipino | Jersey Cacalda | Bachelor in Filipino Education |
| Associate Editor in English | Dominic Kean Calavia | Bachelor in English Education |
| Managing Editor | Emmanuel Vecino | Bachelor in Values Education |
| Assistant Managing Editor | Ma.Nathalie Avendano | Bachelor in Filipino Education |
| Features Editor | Alizsa Martinez | BSMA Straight Program in Psychology with specialization in GUidance Counselling |
| Literary Editor | Micarl Abrantes | Bachelor in English Education |
| News Editor | Justine Ian Patricio | Bachelor in English Education |
| Research Editor | Shaine Christian Ocampo | Bachelor in Social Science Education |