Looming legislation that will harm private school stakeholders

Private educational institutions have a critical role in Philippine society. The majority of the skilled human resources that are needed by all sectors of society are produced by private schools.

The prestige and advantage of acquiring academic credentials from these reputable private schools are valued by industries as a credible accreditation of a person’s skills and competence.

All parents want the best education for their children. But quality education is not cheap and is a major investment that parents are willing to work hard for – a dream of one day seeing their children graduate with a degree that will hopefully start a successful career towards a prosperous life.

However, not all families are financially stable and are vulnerable to crises that will disrupt their income and ability to sustain the cost of education of their children. 

This is perhaps the motivation of the proponents of two bills that both Houses of Congress have passed seeking to prohibit the No Permit, No Exam policy among private educational institutions.

These bills seek to allow students with unpaid tuition and other school fees to take assessments and examinations. House Bill 7584 covers basic private institutions while Senate Bill 1359 covers all public and private institutions, from elementary to tertiary and short-term vocational courses.

The bills also provide that educational institutions must adopt policies that will accommodate and allow learners that are unable to pay due to emergencies, force majeure and good cause or other justifiable reasons. These are now up for deliberation at the Bicameral Conference Committee, the last step before being transmitted to the president for signing into law.

On the surface, and in the very immediate term, the measures will indeed help students from financially struggling families who are not able to make timely payments to private schools.

Unfortunately, this is just one side of this scenario. It does not show how the smaller private schools are also struggling to survive and the risks to the financial viability of these already cash-strapped schools that these bills will create. In the long run, however, they will have very real and very serious repercussions on the quality of education that private schools can give their students.  

The timely and adequate collection of tuition and other fees is critical to the day-to-day operations of private schools – the maintenance of facilities, the salaries of teachers, and the procurement of educational materials. If the cash flow is heavily disrupted, schools will cut corners in order to stay financially afloat and eventually be forced to close. 

Students and parents will be disenfranchised. Teachers and other school personnel will lose their jobs. The small enterprises that rely on the micro-economy driven by school operations will lose business and shut down.

Imagine the toll that this would take on the small private schools, especially in the provinces. The consequences of not being able to collect fees on time, given the already dwindling number of students and after the economic challenges already posed by the pandemic, could be brutal.

Private schools already resort to various ways to make the payments easier on students who may be having financial difficulty. Guided by Department of Education Order 15 s. 2010, they offer installment plans and accept deferred payments that could lighten the burden on students’ parents. 

But to ask private schools to keep on going when they have nothing with which to go on would be unrealistic – and unfair. 

Private schools are a business, yes, but the owners went into the business with loftier things than profits in mind. They sincerely took up the mission of helping shape and mold the minds of the youth and prepare them for the future. But unlike state funded public schools, private educational institutions must pay for all their operating costs.

School owners are not oblivious to the difficulties faced by ordinary families, especially in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Though times are hard, parents will strive to give their children the best education they can afford. And so, the schools try to step up to the plate and provide that kind of education.

The biggest umbrella organization of the private education sector in the Philippines, the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA), has already appealed to lawmakers for a sense of balance in looking out for the welfare of young Filipino learners. The schools must be enabled to provide the best education for their students and must not be denied their lifeblood.

COCOPEA has expressed willingness to dialogue with lawmakers regarding this matter, so that they can present their case and articulate their own struggles.

We hope that at the very least, and with genuine concern about Filipino students who are the future movers and shakers of our country, our honorable legislators – representatives of the people – would heed the appeal of the country’s private schools to take a pause and convene consultations with the private school stakeholders and come up with more creative and holistic solutions to the financial challenges of the educational sector.

As co-convenor of CitizenWatch Philippines, we support the appeal of COCOPEA and urge our legislators to defer the deliberations until all stakeholders in the private education stakeholders are heard.

Atty. Teofilo Abejo is a co-convenor of CitizenWatch Philippines.