TL;DR — Admission at PNJK-IS runs in a fixed order: entrance exam and interview first (PHP 250, held Thursdays), then a Notice of Acceptance from the Student Development Center, then enrolment. No new student or transferee can skip to enrolment. Japanese is a required subject from preschool through senior high, and tuition is not published anywhere on the school's site.
The address, phone number and level coverage sit on the Philippine Nikkei Jin Kai International School profile, and other options in the city are on the Davao City schools page. This post is about how you actually get in.
The order of operations
The school's admission policy is explicit that a student is officially enrolled only after complying with all enrolment documentary requirements and making an initial payment of school fees. Everything before that is application, not enrolment.
- Apply for the entrance examination and interview.
- Sit the exam and the interview.
- Receive a Notice of Acceptance from the Student Development Center.
- Submit the enrolment documents listed in your NOA.
- Pay school fees.
- Claim textbooks and complete the school ID information sheet.
The two general conditions the school applies to everyone are simple: pass the entrance examination and interview, and comply with the admission documentary requirements. It also reserves the right to refuse entry on the basis of the exam result, a poor report from the previous school, or inappropriate behaviour during the assessment.
Step one: the entrance exam and interview
The requirement to apply is a recent report card, and the exam and interview are scheduled every Thursday.
In person. Submit a photocopy of the report card to the registrar's office, fill out the application form, pay PHP 250.00 at the cashier, and collect your exam and interview schedule from the registrar.
Online. Email [email protected] with the subject line ENTRANCE EXAM APPLICATION and attach a scanned report card showing the Learner's Reference Number for incoming Grades 1 to 12. The registrar sends back a link to the online entrance application form. After you submit it and receive a confirmation email, pay the PHP 250.00 fee, email the deposit slip to [email protected], and wait for the cashier to verify it. Only then does the registrar issue your schedule.
That is four separate waits in the online route, each one dependent on a reply from a different office. If your deadline is tight, the in-person route collapses the whole thing into one visit.
Payments go to the school's published bank accounts at PNB and Metrobank, through the Asia United Bank HelloMoney app, or by GCash bank transfer only. Every payment slip has to carry the student's complete name, the amount, and the purpose written on it, or the cashier will send it back.
Bring an ID and a pen on the day. Our entrance exam requirements checklist covers what schools generally ask for and what people forget.
Step two: what the Notice of Acceptance unlocks
The NOA is issued by the Student Development Center after you pass. Two things follow from it.
First, no new student or transferee can begin enrolment without it. The school says this in both the online and face-to-face enrolment procedures.
Second, the NOA carries your specific document list. The published requirements below are the general shape, but the NOA is the authoritative version for your case, so read it rather than working from a generic list.
Step three: the enrolment documents, by level
For returning students, the list is short: accomplished enrolment form, recent report card, a recent 1x1 ID photo with a red background, a Notice of Admission to SHS for incoming Grade 11, and a Special Study Permit for foreign students.
For new students and transferees, it varies by entry point.
| Entering | What the school requires |
|---|---|
| Nursery, Junior Kinder, Kindergarten | NOA, photocopy of PSA birth certificate, three 1x1 photos with red background, Philippine passport or dual certificate if applicable |
| Grade 1 | NOA, original kindergarten progress report or report card bearing the LRN, PSA birth certificate, three 1x1 photos, photocopy of kindergarten completion certificate |
| Grades 2 to 10 | NOA, original recent report card bearing the LRN, PSA birth certificate, three 1x1 photos, elementary completion certificate for incoming Grade 7, ESC certificate for incoming Grades 8 to 10 coming from a private school |
The red background on the ID photo is not a detail you can improvise on the day, and the LRN has to be visible on the report card you submit.
One process note worth knowing: if hard copies are not yet available, the school admits students under provisional status pending receipt of the originals, and requires them before the first quarter ends.
Foreign students and the Japanese language requirement
PNJK-IS is an international school in the sense that it is accredited to accept foreign students, and its curriculum is DepEd's with Nihongo added on top. The school states plainly that Japanese is required from preschool up to senior high school. That is the single biggest thing to weigh before applying: it is an extra subject for the whole of your child's stay, not an enrichment class.
Foreign applicants must be represented by a parent or a legal guardian related by blood, and must present an original report card or transcript translated into English before the entrance application is accommodated. A Special Study Permit is required before enrolment, and the school notes it may accelerate or place a pupil at a lower grade level depending on subsequent performance, citing DepEd Order No. 26, s. 1994.
Incoming junior and senior high students with limited English are required to take the Intensive English Program for non-English Speakers before being accepted as regular students, and the school states this carries a separate payment not covered by enrolment fees. Our guide to foreign students in Philippine basic education covers the permit side in more detail.
ESC, discounts, and the figure nobody publishes
PNJK-IS is an ESC-participating junior high school, and it publishes the programme terms carefully. New grants are awarded only at Grade 7, none at higher levels. The grant continues each year as long as the student is promoted and stays in an ESC-participating school, with no maintaining grade required within a school year. It is terminated by dropping out for non-health reasons, failing to re-enrol, being retained at the same grade level, a suspension of more than two weeks, or transferring to a non-participating school.
Applications go through an ESC form available from the guard on duty or as a download, plus two 2x2 photos, a PSA birth certificate, the Grade 6 report card, and proof of household income. The school accepts a latest income tax return, a certificate of tax exemption, a municipal certification of unemployment, or a barangay certification. Requirements can be handed in at the registrar's office, dropped in the box at the entrance gate in a sealed long envelope, or couriered in from outside Davao City. Our ESC grant guide explains the national programme.
The school also publishes a discount structure that does not depend on ESC:
- Full payment on or before the start of classes: 5 percent off tuition only.
- Family discount: three children enrolled gives 10 percent off the eldest child's tuition, four gives 25 percent, five gives free tuition for the eldest.
- Descendant's discount: 10 percent off tuition per student, for war-displaced Nikkei descendants, on presentation of a certificate of membership from PNJK Inc.
- Achievers' discount: for transferees, Grade 6 Gold Honors (highest) gets 100 percent off tuition, Gold Honors 75 percent, Second Honors 50 percent, with reduced tiers where the graduating class was small. For continuing students the equivalent Achievers Gold and Silver tiers apply.
What is not published is any peso figure. The schedule of fees is emailed to you only after the registrar verifies your enrolment documents, which means you commit to the application before you see the number. Ask the cashier's office for the current schedule for your grade level before you pay the exam fee, not after.
Sources
- Philippine Nikkei Jin Kai International School, School Admission Policy (general conditions, entrance exam and interview steps, PHP 250.00 fee, online payment procedure, enrolment procedures, documentary requirements by level, foreign student policy, IEP-NES) — https://www.pnjkis.edu.ph/admission/school-admission-policy/
- Philippine Nikkei Jin Kai International School, Educational Service Contracting (ESC) (grant terms, application steps, income documents) — https://www.pnjkis.edu.ph/student-services/financial-aids-scholarships-and-grants/
- Philippine Nikkei Jin Kai International School, School Fee Discounts (full payment, family, descendant's and achievers' discounts) — https://www.pnjkis.edu.ph/student-services/school-fee-discounts/
- Philippine Nikkei Jin Kai International School, Senior High School Department — https://www.pnjkis.edu.ph/department-levels/senior-high-school/
