CHEd orders Makati school closed

The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) has ordered the closure of a business school on Metropolitan Avenue in Makati City for failing to comply with education quality standards.

In a notice dated Feb. 3 which was released just the other day, CHEd Chair Patricia Licuanan announced the issuance of a final closure order against International Academy of Management and Economics (IAME) for “gross and serious violations and continuous defiance and noncompliance by the institution [with] CHED Policies, Standards and Guidelines.”

The notice specifically directed IAME to stop admitting new students for the three courses it was offering—Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Masters in Business Administration and Doctor of Philosophy in Management—for AY (academic year) 2011-2012.

It also ordered IAME to transfer its students to other schools with CHEd-accredited programs in coordination with the commission’s Metro Manila office.

It added, however, that those currently enrolled should be allowed to finish the academic school year.

Graduating students, on the other hand, will still be conferred their degrees provided they meet the requirements for graduation, it said.

In February last year, CHEd ordered the closure of the school, prompting IAME officials to file an appeal.

However, this was “denied with finality” by the commission during a regular meeting in June.

At the same time, the order also barred IAME from offering extension classes or forging a tie-up with other schools for the offering of courses “since it does not possess the required qualifications under CHEd policies and guidelines,

Since last year, CHEd has cracked down on schools offering substandard programs. Only recently, it ordered the closure of courses which failed to meet educational standards, including several offerings at   Pampanga’s Harvardian College and PMI Colleges in Manila and Quezon City.