“With the doors of Colegio de San Lorenzo now closed, it is now up to QC (Quezon City) officials and agencies like the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to open windows of opportunities for students who want to continue their education.”
This is according to Quezon City First District Rep. Juan Carlos “Arjo” Atayde, who on Wednesday said that he had reached out to CHED Chairperson Dr. J. Prospero “Popoy” de Vera to request the commission’s assistance in identifying and coordinating with schools that could accommodate former Colegio de San Lorenzo students.
The freshman lawmaker also pointed out that “intervention may be needed so that these students will not be required to pay the tuition of their new schools until they can secure refunds from Colegio de San Lorenzo.”
Colegio de San Lorenzo, located in the district represented by Atayde, on August 15 announced its sudden closure in a general assembly for students and parents––parents that had already paid for their children’s tuition.
According to the legislator, “our priority, of course, is to ensure that the school’s former students will be able to transfer to other schools, and CHED Chair de Vera assured us that they would extend assistance in this matter.”
“Sa tingin ko kailangan talaga ng tulong para ma facilitate ang paglilipat; there may be delays in the processing of the students’ transfer requirements given how many of them need these documents,” said Atayde.
The freshman lawmaker also pointed out that “intervention may be needed so that these students will not be required to pay the tuition of their new schools until they can secure refunds from Colegio de San Lorenzo.”
He also stressed that students vying for academic awards should not be prejudiced by the school’s sudden closure, to be fair to students who worked hard for years in order to qualify for academic distinctions like Latin honors.
“We will make every effort to request the schools accepting these students to hopefully consider crediting them for the grades they earned while in Colegio de San Lorenzo; hindi naman kasalanan ng bata na nagsara ang eskwelahan,” said Atayde.
The solon lamented that the Colegio de San Lorenzo episode was “not just an inconvenience––it is a traumatizing experience.
As more details about the sudden closure come to light, Atayde said that the sanctions on the school should be explored to hold it accountable for the “traumatizing inconvenience” its closure caused.
The solon lamented that the Colegio de San Lorenzo episode was “not just an inconvenience––it is a traumatizing experience. Isipin nyo, one day you’re ready to start school, the next day you learn that you will have to look for another school and enroll in another course. Transferring schools is usually a months-long process, but in this case, they had to do it in days.”
“I recognize that times have been tough on many businesses because of the pandemic, but contingency plans should have been put in place by Colegio de San Lorenzo management to ensure that its students would not suffer from the school’s financial difficulties.”
