South Cotabato State College (SCSC) is a public higher education institution located in the municipality of Surallah, province of South Cotabato, Philippines. The institution functions as the primary state-funded college in the province. The college is mandated to provide advanced instruction, research, and extension services across various disciplines, with a foundational focus on agriculture, allied technological sciences, education, and the arts. The institution serves the student population of South Cotabato and the broader administrative region of Region XII, integrating technical-vocational training with traditional baccalaureate degree programs. It originated as a secondary agricultural school in 1975 and operated under the supervision of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) before attaining its current chartered status in 2018 through legislative action. The college is currently the subject of pending national legislation aimed at converting it into a state university.
History Surallah National Agricultural School The institution was originally founded as the Surallah National Agricultural School. It commenced operations as a secondary agricultural school on June 25, 1975, following the enactment of Republic Act No 5704. The physical establishment of the school was dependent on localized community action. The Parents Teachers Association of the municipality acquired a 16-hectare property situated in Barangay Dajay, Surallah. This parcel of land was formally donated to the Department of Education, Culture and Sports to establish a dedicated agricultural educational facility for the municipality. For the initial two decades of its operation, the Surallah National Agricultural School focused exclusively on basic secondary agricultural instruction, catering to the agrarian demographic of the local region. The curriculum was designed to provide foundational farming and crop management skills to high school students in South Cotabato.
Inclusion in the AGRITECH Project and TESDA Integration On August 21, 1995, Ricardo Gloria, the Secretary Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) at the time, issued a formal advisory integrating the Surallah National Agricultural School into the Philippines-Australian Agricultural Technology Education Project, commonly referred to as the AGRITECH Project. This integration was formalized through a Memorandum of Agreement executed between the Department of Education, Culture and Sports and the Commission on Higher Education. Under this agreement, the school was officially designated as one of the Provincial Technical Institutes of Agriculture in Mindanao.
Following this designation, the institution expanded its curricular offerings into tertiary education. Beginning in the academic year 1997 to 1998, the school introduced a ladderized post-secondary course: the Diploma in Agricultural Technology, which transitioned into the Bachelor in Agriculture Technology.
Concurrently, the Philippine government enacted Republic Act No. 7796, which established the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority. Pursuant to this law, the administrative control, supervision, and funding of the Surallah National Agricultural School were transferred from the DECS to TESDA. Throughout this period, the school functioned primarily as a technical-vocational institute within Region 12, aligning its programs with national competency standards for agricultural and industrial trades.
Conversion to a state college The legal transition from a vocational school to an independent chartered state college required specific legislative action by the Philippine Congress. South Cotabato 2nd district Representative Ferdinand L. Hernandez, authored and sponsored House Bill No. 367, the primary legislation for this conversion. The bill was substituted as House Bill No. 6202 after amendments from the Committee on Higher and Technical Education on August 15, 2017. It passed on third and final reading on August 29, 2017 with no objections.
At the Senate, Senator JV Ejercito filed a similar measure, Senate Bill No. 1587. On August 31, 2017, the Senate received the approved copy of House Bill No. 6202. On February 19, 2018, the Senate approved Senate Bill No. 1587 on third and final reading. On May 30, 2018, the House and the Senate convened for the Bicameral Conference Committee on the disagreeing provisions of the two bills until the conclusion of the second regular session of the 17th Congress.
The Bicameral Conference Committee agreed on the harmonized versions on 24 July 2018 upon the opening of the third regular session of the 17th Congress. The House and the Senate both ratified the Bicameral Conference Committee report on August 29, 2018 with no objections.
The final version of the bill was transmitted to the Office of the President on November 15, 2018. On December 13, 2018, President Rodrigo Duterte signed the charter as Republic Act No. 11150 into law. The charter mandated the complete integration of the existing Surallah National Agricultural School into the new entity, stipulating that the main campus would remain at the Barangay Dajay site.
The transition process required compliance with standards set by the Commission on Higher Education. The college administration began compliance preparations in early 2019, eventually submitting a comprehensive five-year development plan and requisite academic documentation in January 2020. The Commission on Higher Education issued an initial approval of the institution's state college status on January 22, 2021, declaring the facility compliant with higher education standards. Formal recognition was granted during an award ceremony on July 23, 2021, led by Commission on Higher Education Chairperson Prospero de Vera III. The institution commenced its inaugural academic year as a fully functioning higher education institution in the period covering 2021 to 2022.
Governance structure The governance, administration, and pedagogical direction of South Cotabato State College are dictated by the provisions of its charter, Republic Act No. 11150, alongside the policies promulgated by the Commission on Higher Education.
Section 2 of Republic Act No. 11150 requires the institution to provide advanced instruction and research in agriculture, allied technological sciences, education, and arts and related sciences. The mandate extends beyond classroom instruction, requiring the college to undertake extension programs and development initiatives, and to provide instructional and research leadership concerning agricultural, environmental, and technological development within the Province of South Cotabato and the wider Soccsksargen area. Section 3 of the charter outlines the authorized curricular offerings. The college is permitted to offer both undergraduate and graduate courses across fields including agriculture, environmental management, engineering, education, and the arts and sciences, subject to the capabilities of the institution and the decisions of its governing board. The law explicitly mandates that the technical-vocational courses previously offered under the supervision of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority must remain integrated into the college's curriculum.
Board of trustees The administration of the college and the exercise of its corporate powers are vested exclusively in the board of trustees and the president of the college, pursuant to Section 4 of the charter. The board serves as the primary governing and policy-making body. Section 5 of the charter dictates that the board shall be chaired by the chairperson of the Commission on Higher Education, with the president of the college serving as the co-chairperson or vice chairperson. The inclusion of specific national and regional officials ensures that the strategic direction of the college aligns with broader economic and educational policies. These officials are the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture, the chairperson of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education, the regional director of the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development Region 12, the regional director of the Department of Agriculture Region 12, the regional director of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority Region 12. The board also allocates seats for a faculty representative, a student representative, and a member of its alumni.
The law stipulates that the two prominent citizens from the private sector are to be appointed by the board from a list of at least five qualified individuals recommended by a search committee. Section 8 of the charter requires the board to convene regularly at least once every quarter. A quorum requires the presence of a majority of all members holding office, with the strict condition that either the chairperson of the board or the president of the college must be present to conduct official business.
Section 7 of the charter enumerates the specific powers and duties granted to the Board of Trustees, which are exercised in addition to the general corporate powers defined under the Corporation Code of the Philippines. The Board is authorized to approve the curricula, instructional programs, and rules of discipline proposed by the internal Academic and Administrative Councils. It holds the power to award honorary degrees to individuals who have made outstanding contributions in fields such as education, public service, arts, science and technology, or agriculture, and to authorize the issuance of certificates of completion. The Board is mandated to establish research and extension centers to facilitate the development of the college. It possesses the authority to develop academic arrangements for institutional capability building with external agencies, both public and private, and to appoint experts, specialists, consultants, and visiting scholars3. The charter allows the Board to adopt modern and innovative modes of transmitting knowledge, explicitly mentioning information technology, the dual training system, and open distance learning.
A significant power granted to the Board is the authority to absorb non-chartered tertiary institutions located within the Province of South Cotabato as branches and centers. This action must be executed in coordination with the Commission on Higher Education and in consultation with the Department of Budget and Management, with the objective of promoting equal access to educational opportunities. Furthermore, the Board is empowered to enter into joint ventures with business and industry entities for the profitable development and management of the college's economic assets, with the proceeds directed toward institutional strengthening. The Board also holds the authority to extend the tenure of the College President beyond the standard age of retirement, up to the age of seventy, provided the President's performance is rated as outstanding.
Administrative and internal governance The daily operations, academic supervision, and financial management of the college are executed by a formalized administrative structure. College President serves as its chief executive officer. Other executive roles include the Vice President for Academic Affairs, a Chief Administrative Officer, a College Registrar, the Director for Instruction, the Director of the Office of the Student Affairs, the Director of Research and Development, the Director of Technical Vocational Education Training, Dean of the Institute of Agriculture, Director for Internationalization and the Director for Extension Services.