Photo from the website of the Colegio de San Lorenzo.
MANILA, Philippines — A private school in Quezon City has expressed willingness to absorb senior high students — those in Grades 11 and 12 — from Colegio de San Lorenzo, which announced its permanent closure recently.
Department of Education (DepEd) spokesman Michael Poa disclosed this Tuesday, but did not identify which school is willing to absorb students affected by the closure, only that it “got in touch” with the agency.
The Colegio de San Lorenzo announced its permanent closure on Aug. 15, Monday, the same day it was supposed to start classes for the school year 2022-2023.
“On the part of DepEd, our primary concern is the learners. There is already a private school in QC that got in touch with DepEd and informed us that they are willing to absorb students, particularly Grades 11 and 12 at the same tuition rate as that of Colegio de San Lorenzo,” Poa told reporters in a Viber message.
“We hope more schools would do the same,” he added.
Poa said the Colegio de San Lorenzo did not formally inform DepEd of its intent to close, making it a “voluntary closure.”
He said DepEd will only issue an acknowledgement of closure once there is an assurance that the transfer credentials of the affected students are processed and released by the school.
The closure of the school drew outrage from students and parents.
The school management explained the move was “due to the financial instability and lack of financial viability brought about by the ongoing pandemic and exacerbated by consistent low enrollment turnout over the past years.”
