Enterprising Pinoys offering college courses — in Saudi

COTABATO CITY — A study mission from the Commission on Higher Education recently found yet another example of Pinoy abilidad (Filipino ability) during a visit to Saudi Arabia: Filipinos there have set up unaccredited schools catering to their compatriots.

The schools, which reportedly charge exorbitant fees, offer four-year courses patterned after the local curriculum but without corresponding permits from the Philippine government, said CHED Commissioner Roqaya Maglangit.

"Some of these schools are offering pre-baccalaureate courses that we have in the Philippines even without licenses from the national government, or from CHED in particular," Maglangit said in a faxed statement.

Maglangit headed the four-member team in Saudi Arabia in a study mission for CHED. She is the former director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Development Academy here.

She identified the fly-by-night schools as Achievers International School, the International Philippine Schools (IPS), the Al-Hemi International School, and the Jeddah Reef International School.

She said the four all offer engineering, nursing, medical and dental courses, and allied fields.

The exported diploma mills extend even to the elementary and high school levels, the commissioner said.

Maglangit said some of the popular but unlicensed Filipino elementary and high school institutions in Saudi Arabia — the IPS, the Al-Mareefa Philippine School, and the Al-Taj International School — are tightly competing with each other.

"If some of their students and pupils would return home and transfer to our local schools, the subjects they have taken in Saudi Arabia will not be recognized and credited by existing schools in the country," Maglangit said.

The owners of the Filipino-owned schools, according to Maglangit, met her in Jeddah on Wednesday and sought her help in obtaining CHED permits and be accredited as legitimate Philippine tertiary institutions.

"They admitted that they do not have permits indeed, except for so-called ‘twinning agreements’ with Manila universities," she pointed out without elaborating.

Maglangit’s team was sent last week to Saudi Arabia by the national government to forge mutual education cooperation with legitimate universities in the kingdom.

Other members of the academic delegation are Dr. Luningning Omar, president of the Basilan State University; Lourdes Lim, director for Central Mindanao of the National Economic Development Authority; and Dr. Zenaida Hadji-Raof-Laidan of the Department of Science and Technology in Central Mindanao.