CHEd closes failing schools

The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) is cracking down on substandard courses in schools of higher learning, closing poor quality programs in at least two institutions in less than a week.

CHEd Executive Director Julito Vitriolo said more schools would follow, including those with low graduation and passing rates in licensure exams, in the next few weeks.

“Sunod-sunod na ’yan. There will be more to follow.  This is in response to our program for quality assurance in schools.  Our representatives have been visiting schools to rate their performance,” Vitriolo said.

Substandard

“This is part of our power to monitor schools and recommend the closure or phase out of substandard programs. We’re taking it seriously because there are already too many substandard schools,” he said in a phone interview.

The commission announced Wednesday it had shut down six courses at Harvardian College in San Fernando City,  Pampanga, “in view of the gross and serious violations and continuous defiance” of CHEd standards.

The courses included undergraduate programs in education, elementary education, political science, English and commerce, and a master’s program in education.

The courses would not be continued in the next semester.  Vitriolo said CHEd’s central Luzon office would help move students currently enrolled in those courses to another school meeting CHEd standards.

Graduating students may still receive their degrees if “certified as having completed all requirements of the course enrolled” before the closure order was issued on Oct. 25.

‘Colorum’

“We will transfer them (students)… we have already served the order. We will no longer recognize those courses. They have to comply, otherwise we will consider them [to be] colorum [operations],” Vitriolo said.

Before Harvardian College, CHEd closed the marine transportation and marine engineering programs at PMI Colleges in Manila and Quezon City for failure to meet quality standards.

The courses will be discontinued in the second semester of this school year, CHEd said.